I may be wrong, but I think it comes down to personal preferences.
Monzo have concentrated on the tech side whereas Starling have erred towards traditional banking.
Depending on what you’re looking for in a bank, would sway you to one or the other.
I wouldn’t say one is better than the other, it’s just what you want from your bank.
And that is where you’re mistaken. Rather than be irrational and fanatical, I like to maintain an objective view. Monzo do / have done some things very well. I just don’t understand the fanaticism and irrationality of some of its customers.
I understand what you’re saying and sort of agree. The way I’d put it is that Monzo is a tech firm doing banking; Starling is a bank doing FinTech.
A subtle difference, perhaps, but Starling has Boden’s wealth of banking knowledge and experience and Monzo has Blomfield.
I think both Monzo and Starling have been catalysts, to some extent, in developments in banking apps from legacy players. On the other hand, some of those ‘legacy banks’ have actually been innovative in their own right over the years, such as RBS.
1 Like
Remember, legacy banks are only doing so because of the fintechs. The gap may well close, but I don’t see legacy banks innovating at all out of anything more than a desire to not be left looking like dinosaurs. They’ll wait for the next big feature from fintechs, budget some 100’s thousands and attempt to catch up again. We all remember how long a certain legacy bank celebrated their contactless cards for, right?
I can’t disagree, but remember it isn’t a zero-sum game. Monzo could well launch something and diverge again (as can Starling). I don’t think this ‘race’ will ever be settled - and that’s a good thing!
The next big thing is who’s going to win this?
Monzo adds the option to include other banks and cards into the budgeting.
Starling finally launches their credit card, and you can choose to automatically add funds to a space to cover the monthly bill when spending on it.
Where’s @Peter_G 
1 Like
Starling credit card that uses my overdraft balance would be perfect.
I’d be wary of such a credit card as usually overdraft spending is seen negatively by lenders whereas a credit card is usually a positive if it’s always paid in full. So Starling would have to be able to differentiate when reporting back
Also I can’t quite get an overdraft limit similar to my credit limits on cards meaning a higher utilisation %
1 Like
Well, plainly you don’t, because that was Halifax, not Nationwide.
2 Likes
It would be nice to see what Monzo are working on for 2021 (in terms of products and features). I hope after the poll that finished yesterday we will get to see a product roadmap for the next 12 months
3 Likes
this
So Monzo were really good at that years ago, however back then it was easier for them as they had less customers and it was sustainable back then. They have grown a lot since then and staffing, teams and the way the business is run has changed for it to continue so some things in the past can’t be kept up with now. I think i explained that well
Does Starling have a community / forum?
They binned it because… well… look above.
5 Likes
I didn’t see where that started from but i was just asking out of curiosity. The community here are very friendly, i have been on for nearly a whole year and i love being on this forum every day because of the people that contribute to it
I’ve went ahead and removed posts from this discussion as they were off topic from the OP.
@JamesUK33 has basically asked what has made Monzo special in regards to the number of customers we have. You have the option to comment on our successes and highlight areas where you think we need to work on.
2 Likes
Whilst your connected @AlanDoe. It might not be something that you know the answer too but Monzo used to have a Roadmap page on the website with like a “Status” update. Does Monzo have any plans of bringing this back or will it just be sticking to the Labs & Community 
Edit: Corrected spelling
1 Like
This has come up as part of the poll we ran on what the Community wants to find out more about. The poll closed yesterday so keep your eyes peeled for updates @Jays6
2 Likes
Yes, i voted for this aswell. It was more of a “how would it be implemented” type of question. I look forward to seeing the results appearing in the near future 
In general, I find that the Monzo app user experience is so, so, so, so much better than the Starling app, which I find unintuitive and confusing. Also, Monzo’s budgeting and bill split/request functionality is much better than Starling’s in my opinion.
The big draw to Starling is the free cash deposits and the cheque imaging (I’ve had loads of issues using cheque imaging with Barclays, but non with Starling so far); these are two extremely useful banking features that Monzo doesn’t provide.
Overall, if I had to get a joint account with someone using either Monzo or Starling I would choose Monzo because I think Monzo is better as a day-to-day account because it is much easier to use and has better money management features (bill splitting, requesting, budgeting).
However, I would still (and do) keep a Starling account for cash deposits and cheque imaging since Monzo doesn’t have these features and I find Starling’s implementation to be better than legacy bank accounts - although the money form deposited cheques or cash is immediately transferred to my Monzo account.
6 Likes
This topic was automatically closed 180 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.