I guess I should have said a proper way of depositing cash rather than a round about way that has been criticised heavily for not working due to poor training in the remaining NatWest branches if you can find one.
The embarrassment comes for them fact that Starling have been dangling Cash Deposits like a carrot for well over a year now and still have nothing to show for it.
I just hope that when they do launch it, it meets everyone’s expectations.
Monzo have just said they would need to change all their cards to offer PO deposits… Starling have been working on doing that very same thing (whilst offering the NatWest deposits in the meantime).
I’m not sure “proper way” of depositing cash with PayPoint (or Post Office for that matter) is accurate either - PP, PO and NatWest are all 3rd parties that Monzo/Starling rely on.
I’d expect Starling to offer cash deposits for free - Although I wouldn’t use it anyway (and I also expected Monzo to do it for free, so my track record is 0 from 1 so far )
I doubt cash deposits have been high on Starlings radar because… They have been offering it for months.
So the fact they went to the effort of changing the cards over, and working with the PO (which sounded painful), is testament to how much they want to offer it to their customers.
It’s win win for everyone that Monzo and Starling customers will both be able to deposit cash soon
Just out of curiosity what would happen if i lost my card abroad with Monzo? Do you know cause i dont? Id just freeze the card and reorder when i get home.
I have backups in place (Monzo/Starling/Legacy/Credit)
I havent gone #fullmonzo in the same way i havent gone with Starling. I just use it for when I need to take more cash out on holiday than Monzo allows for free.
If anything the fee for cash deposits has made my want to use my legacy bank for pay/deposits and other core banking things even more
Monzo do send free foreign card replacements (when abroad).
Don’t know what the delivery time is like, but I’ve seen people report back that they were very happy with the service.
But comparing foreign card replacements to cash deposits is just ridiculous… 1 will possibly never be used, and the other is a basic banking feature (at least it has been for many many years).
Thanks Nick, yeah I cant ever see myself using that because neither Monzo/ Starling have done enough to warrant me using them as my sole Current Account, so ill always have a backup ( and never be away longer than 3 weeks to merit the need to send the card to me)
I agree its a core banking functionality and one that shouldn’t be charged for in my personal opinion.
Lets hope it is revisited down the line although I wont hold my breathe.
Honestly I haven’t felt as disengaged from Monzo in the way I have today since the prepaid days, makes me think Monzo may never make that step to being my sole bank and replace my legacy bank completely without me making some sacrifices.
Different users will have different needs of course, but it’s very close for me.
In fact, if it wasn’t for the potential issues around CRA’s (only reporting to one), and the fact I’m OK with managing multiple accounts… Monzo would pretty much do everything I need.
I’ve come around to the conclusion that Monzo doesn’t want to be your sole account, and will never be able to offer things that others can - So if you are happy to maintain different accounts for different purposes, I think you are in the best position to take advantage of what is on offer to you!
Again I agree and think we should all play the market to get the best deals to match our own personal needs.
I use all the below at the moment in order to manage my own best needs:
Monzo (Budgeting/Predicted Payments)
Legacy (Free Cash Deposits to branch and Post Office, 0% interest Student Overdraft)
Starling (100% Free Foreign ATM Withdrawals)
Barclays Credit (0% Interest on purchases for 24 months)
Marcus (1.5% interest on instant savings)
I may be being naive here but my end goal was to consolidate as much as i could here and have as little accounts as possible and today feels like a backwards step towards this goal.
Anyone know what happens when all the ‘Invite to Starling’ hearts are filled up? Noticed today that I’ve got four out of the five done. Is this when I get the famous Starling socks?
Starling have been teasing this for months, I don’t think anyone can be certain when they’ll release it. But, regardless, whenever they do it will beat Monzo if it’s free. I’ve been somewhat critical of Starling and I haven’t really seen them resolve any of the issues I have, but in all fairness they seem to acknowledge what they have to provide as core banking functionality and do so free (as we have come to expect in the UK, and as all the other major banks do).
I do use Monzo more because it just clicked me with better, but I wouldn’t consider Monzo a ‘bank’ based on the way it operates. I’m not too keen on little charges being added here and there, limits set, etc. It reeks of the way pre-paid cards have worked for years, and I don’t find it customer friendly.
Both have upsides and downsides, and only time will tell which approach is best. Personally, I’ll continue to use both and eventually settle once they’ve had time to establish themselves more.