first of all thanks for being there! Mondo or whatever it will be called has a huge potential… it is simply great.
we all travel and we all believe in one single Mondo so I thought that a great feature is the possibility to upload money in different currencies. For example if i have a debit card in Euro, it would be great to upload let’s say 100 euro which will be used in any Euro transaction first and in any GBP transaction if there is no GBP balance.
I guess it will be impossible to store all currencies so it would be a great start to have GBP, EUR and USD
This has been mentioned before in the below post, with @tom’s response being that they are unlikely to do it. Currency purse, any thoughts?[quote=“tom, post:10, topic:3132, full:true”]
Our view is that Mondo customers shouldn’t have to think about FX.
We’ll give you the best rate whether you use your card abroad or want to send money to friends overseas.
FX hedging or trading is not a use-case that 99.9% of consumers currently care about, so we’re unlikely to build it into the core product. But we will eventually offer accounts in a number of currencies, so it’s entirely possible that people could build this functionality on the API.
[/quote]
Thanks! I think the reason why this feature is useful is not for hedging or trading as stated in the response but rather to move money between countries.
For example many of us live between two countries and sometimes earnings are let’s say in Euro but we live here in the UK.
If I want to top up my Mondo card I will have to transfer money from Euro bank account to UK bank account and then top up GBP. Obviously by doing that i will be subject to the loan shark exchange rate of retail banks.
If i have a wallet in Euro i dont need to use the ratail bank at all!!!
Just wondering how big of a issue it is for the majority of people, although I do understand your point of view.
In terms of the ‘loan shark exchange rate of retail banks’ you can always use TransferWise which in my usage offers to best and lowest fees for exchange rates.
Have you looked at the Revolut prepay card? This allows you to upload in GBP / EUR / USD and switch your balance between them at market rates. Card is free to issue / use, downside is cash withdrawals are capped at £500 / month before charges.
Perhaps you could top up your :mondo: card with Revolut for best of both - not sure if this would work as they are both pre-pay though and never tried it…
Yep, transferwise doesnt charge a lot but it does charge some fees. Also transferwise is not real time and it is a bit of a hassle to put the iban, account number etc.
I have seen that revolut have this feature and it is pretty cool and make you feel really international and more than anything extremely easy to top up / convert / withdraw money.
How many people will use it? Not sure … I guess the awareness that can be done might trigger the need
I have a Revolut card and really like it. It’s just a case of typing the amount you want to transfer, and that becomes your balance in that currency. When you use the card, if you don’t have sufficient balance in your source currency, it goes to your next available currency on the card at MasterCard rates.
I am torn between Revolut and Mondo, I like:
Revolut:
No FX fee
Push notifications
Multi-currency balances on single account
Ability to generate and print PDF statement
Mondo:
No FX fee
Push notifications
Contactless
Merchant Info / Maps
Searchable notes
Openness and transparency of staff
Ambition and product roadmap
So for me, Mondo is coming out on top. It would be great to see the multi-currency balances (but I guess that is quite a narrow use case) and PDF statements - guess these will be coming in time though…
I think you are right, so far Mondo comes on top of revolut for the reason that you mentioned:
Intangible:
Openess of staff and ethos/ethics
Tangible
Contactless more than anything else
On the different currencies wallet, when i saw that on revolut i could hardly believe someone was really offering it, this idea is what essentially makes you feel a global citizen, financially speaking.
I mentioned it to few people and all of them got that card, it is simply great and hard to believe someone offers that free of charge.
This leads to answer the question of how many people will use it… I guess the question is how many people who are used to traditional banking believe it can exist?
An additional use case is international students, of which there are (for now) quite a few. Just speaking for myself, as an EU student in the UK for the past five years, a multi-currency card would have been a godsend. I’ve been very happy with Mondo so far, but depending on my future circumstances Revolut may become a better option for me.
I have a revolut card, and would like to switch to Monzo, but holding currencies is very important to me. I was an international student and my family is still based abroad. Ultimately, I expect my life to be somewhat split across different regions and I will need a bank that has different currency accounts as a result. It’s not to trade speculatively, it’s because I’ll likely have sources of income in different currencies, plus I’ll want to avoid the costs of FX swings (cough brexit cough) since I’m not just a holiday-er.
The part of Tom’s comment that Adam missed out earlier in the post was -
& we know that Monzo are already
so this may be possible sooner than I thought. Having said that, I don’t know the complexities of opening Monzo current accounts in foreign countries for citizens in the UK, especially post Brexit.
for best of both - not sure if this would work as they are both pre-pay though and never tried it…