Wow what a speech and I couldn’t agree more and this is why Monzo really is the future of banking and I’m so glad that we are all part of the journey to the future .
Working within the technology industry really is amazing. Pretty much what you’ve said it can work both ways. Get the technology to evolve around something or get the technology to become something and build on top of it. In my opinion if you want something to become successful, it should be build the technology that is proven to work and future proof and build on top of that and allow it to be expandable without becoming ‘legacy’ at a rapid pace.
From the start I always believed in Monzo, the ethics, transparency the way the community is always involved, it’s us who are shaping Monzo not Monzo deciding what we should have. As others have said here, Starling doesn’t have that same vibe, it’s got more of a corporate vibe and their app isn’t as well polished as Monzo have done and I don’t think they do user research before releasing something like Monzo do? (Correct me if I’m wrong). And finally I was pretty shocked that they ban you for about a year after you shut down the account whereas I’ve seen that with Monzo they’d happily let you back in even if would cost them more to. Not that I’m going to be back with Starling anyways . Even though they seem to be having the first movers advantage on things like business accounts, their marketplace and other payment methods, it’s not about who’s first to the finish line, it’s about who does it best with their users in mind.
where as, the people who want the best apr on loans/overdraft etc, can be bothered. that just generally how finance works it seems pay day loans with minimal checks at the bottom nationwide’s/first directs/clarity cards at the top and more selective.
not saying it’s right though - but they’re not giving you an overdraft to be you’re mate…it’s to make money off you.
I have a Starling account as well as Monzo but I notice that when you spend on the Starling card its quite few minutes before it appears on the App whereas with Monzo the payment is shown on the app immediately and I really like that.
In use anApple X might be different on Android.
Such a waste. They’ve got all these good features like a modern backend, instant notifications, marketplace, etc… but all they advertise is a boring overdraft?
After a few months of deliberation I’ve finally decided to close my Starling account. I’ve had a couple of issues that required CS intervention for resolution and on both occasions it involved a long drawn out string of communication, usually via 2 or 3 attempts to instigate.
My most recent involvement was via desktop chat and after going back and forward for 20 mins I was told to ring them… which I did, and then was greeted with a recording telling me to leave a message!
I feel that as the primary method of communication is via chat that I merely couldn’t afford to go on much longer messing about in this manner. In contrast, Monzo are the polar opposite to deal with and the only “hassle” I have had is a wait of up to an hour a couple of times, but when the query has been looked at it has been dealt with in a fast and efficient manner with minimal fuss.
Starling might look good but it currently falls down in a major way…
I would still recommend that you keep your Starling account open, even if dormant. They have a policy of not reopening accounts for 1 year after you leave.
To be honest I don’t think I’d want to return to them within 12 months anyway. For me the key to the worthiness of a service provider is not the product itself but how it is managed when there is a problem and for me Starling aren’t quite good enough at the moment especially as they are a mobile only platform.
Monzo’s key selling point was the instant notifications - no other bank did that when they launched, and even now only the challengers do so.
I think it will remain a key point until the majority of legacy banks finally do it. Overdrafts on the other hand are something every other legacy bank does just fine. Also when comparing prices to Monzo remember that 1) Monzo’s overdrafts are extremely expensive and 2) those ads are trying to compete with the legacy banks, not Monzo.
I’ve seen this posted a few times, and I think it’s in danger of becoming an “accepted truth”.
I don’t think it is.
For years, Santander have charged me £35+ a month for my overdraft.
My Monzo account could literally never charge me more than £15.50 a month no matter how large the overdraft.
Maybe it’s somewhat expensive if your overdraft is only a hundred quid or something like that. But then, it’s incentivising you to not be in your overdraft, and your overdraft is low enough to where getting out of it is a reasonable possibility.
If your overdraft is high enough and you’re regularly in it to the point where you might rack up the maximum £15.50 charge… you’re not getting hit with a massive fee that’s gonna stop you getting out of the overdraft and penalise you for being in a lot of debt.
I don’t think our charges are extremely expensive, but more importantly, I think they are very easy to understand.
This is a fair rebuttal. A quick google returns the following article from six months ago which presents evidence to show the current average overdraft of users of a debt charity is £1722.
Using Starling’s own handy overdraft comparison tool shows Monzo to be the cheapest at £15 over 30 days.
More expensive are (figures based on £1715 which seems to be the closest you can enter):
£17.87 First Direct
£19.92 Starling
£24.58 Nationwide, all the way up to
£74.90 Lloyds
It’s lazy, simplistic and anecdotal to simply say “Monzo’s overdrafts are extremely expensive”
While that £1722 may be an average so say for sake of example that means some people have a £1500 overdraft and others a £2000 overdraft they will not have their full £1500 or £2000 balance all month long.
If they are paid monthly they may have a small overdraft just after being paid perhaps half their overdraft used up part way thru the month then all their overdraft used up a few days before the their next payday. So on an average overdraft it will not work out equal to the interest being applied to the full £1722 amount over the whole calendar month but less due to the variable account balance.
For those paid weekly or two weekly the figures are more complex but again interest would not be a full month at a level of £1722
The £1722 figure has nothing to do with average overdraft limits. It makes it clear that 2.1m people are “constantly overdrawn” with the £1722 figure being the average owed
You assume that people are paid sufficient that they clear back to above zero every month. It would be possible that they are not paid enough to clear the overdraft, and it simply see-saws around the £1722 amount, but constantly in debt.
Care to stop making up anecdotal scenarios and deal with real evidence?
The points you raise are valid but I was just pointing out to other users that your post implied costs that were based on that level of overdraft over a complete month which is far to simplistic.
Simon agrees the level of overdraft may fluctuate and points out that a customer could perhaps pay only £7.50 rather than the £15.50 everyone keeps talking about.
and this is why Monzo really is the future of banking and I’m so glad that we are all part of the journey to the future 
.
whereas I’ve seen that with Monzo they’d happily let you back in even if would cost them more to. Not that I’m going to be back with Starling anyways 
. Even though they seem to be having the first movers advantage on things like business accounts, their marketplace and other payment methods, it’s not about who’s first to the finish line, it’s about who does it best with their users in mind.
