Switched from Monzo to a legacy bank (Barclays) đŸ’«

Monzo Chat
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After using Monzo as my main account for all income and outgoings moved to Barclays :disappointed:

I moved my salary, direct debits, standing orders and all the spending to Monzo with intent to use Monzo as my only account for all my needs back in September.

I expected some glitches and was prepared to deal with few companies not accepting Monzo DD and card etc
 I have also been recommending Monzo a lot to others but now feel I was a bit naive as ever in believing the hype and also believing in Monzo to be better for me but I am afraid to say this has not been the case in my personal experience.

Monzo has a long way to go and I might be back in few years using Monzo as my main account but for now, Barclays is much better for me. I am also going to wait and see what will N26 bring to the UK:raised_hands:.

Reasons I moved away;

  • I found Monzo customer service extremely slow and also experienced that Chat is not always a quick way to get in touch.
  • Complaints handling is just like a legacy bank even the responses are very corporate.
  • Direct debits should be attempted again on same day
  • Android App lacks some basic stuff which has been part of iOS app from the very beginning. I know the responses will be Monzo are working on parity etc
 but a year ago Monzo was working on this but Android App has not improved much.
  • Lack of Web access, 3rd Party integration (yolt etc
), 3D secure (very important for me personally)
  • Monzo account lacks some basic features which we don’t use every day but when we need to use them this can be a pain and can involve inconvenient processes of posting letters and taking selfies while holding an ID. Why have more security steps for one thing but none for others, I don’t want to go into specifics but it just frustrated me.
  • Monzo are not clear how they will use my data in regards to marketplace recommendations etc
 I know bit premature to make any decisions based on this but I couldn’t get rid of those Bulb ‘Ads’ from my head
  • There are few more minor things but one main thing I experienced was that Monzo do not seem to genuinely interested in feedback and improvements based on feedback. I found the attitude is that ‘we know what we are doing’. I am sure they do know but it’s just a feeling I couldn’t shake.
  • I found Barclays App can do much more than Monzo App which was surprising to me. I know there are no instant notifications but you can see pending transactions as soon as you use your card and can view PIN in-app, freeze card, use pingit.me (like monzo.me) pay cheques in-app, chat in-app, call to CS will be connected without security steps if dialled via in-app and a lot more.

I would be interested to know if there is anyone else like me here :slight_smile: who have switched away from Monzo.
I intend to use Monzo just as prepaid and will definaly follow everything they do hope they do well and make me wanna come back. :raised_hands:

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Thanks for sharing. I think that this forum can be a bit of an echo chamber at times so I think this thread is an excellent opportunity for a “hard” discussion. Monzo cannot be complacent if it’s going to achieve its goals!

Now for me: I’m pretty happy with Monzo as my main account but I am sort of feeling it’s a little stagnant right now and I’m starting to question it’s future a little

More specifically it seems like the spending stuff on Android has been broken for ages and there’s still no indication anything is going to get fixed there - without this working I basically am only getting live notifications and decent support at the cost of no interest and a lot of other normal “bank features”

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This is the one thing that’s annoying me too. My legacy account would text me and let me deposit money by 3pm to get it paid that day. My gym membership has bounced today because I forgot it would be later than normal so I hadn’t moved the money out of my pot. It’s not enough to make me switch away, but I hope they come up with a solution soon.

That, and lack of Apple Pay, but I know everyone’s sick of that coming up by now
 :eyes:

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Actually, there are: I forgot how exactly you do this, but you can set the Barclays app so that you get alerts for transactions over a certain threshold. I have set this threshold pretty high, so I only get alerts for salary coming in and mortgage going out, but for testing I did set it to the lowest acceptable value at some point (which was 1p, I think) and they were indeed instant. (I find instant notifications annoying, though - I already have way too many notifications, and I usually know when I just used my card. I’m not that old, yet 
)

I also have to say, generally, that I find the Barclays app really good and feature rich, with quite good UX, if way too slow.

Indeed, I have the same experience. I know everyone raves about Monzo’s CS, but my experience is: Monzo takes at least half an hour to reply (often longer). Barclays, on the other hand, have always (regardless of time of day or day of week - I tried the middle of the night on Sunday, the middle of the day on a weekday, and various other timings) picked up the phone within 5-10 min for me (usually within 1-2 min), and been extremely helpful and quick to respond. Additionally, despite being a pretty fast typist, I also type much slower than I speak (especially on mobile), so the inevitable follow up question is also faster with Barclay’s than with Monzo. My summary: Monzo CS is less formal, Barclays is faster. I know what I prefer


you know what they say: When you are not paying you are the product. Just to be clear: Most banks include various adverts in their statement envelopes as well, so I don’t think Monzo are unique in this, but I fear that Monzo may in that sense become the Facebook of banking: Free by selling your usage data.

I’m not, as I never switched to Monzo in the first instance, but I’m pretty clear that I will not switch to Monzo, until they at least match what Barclays offers in terms of functionality (that matters to me), and I think your post reinforces my opinion that this is still a long way off.

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I am sort of feeling it’s a little stagnant right now and I’m starting to question it’s future a little

I agree with this a lot, there may have been a lot of backend updates and lots of work done on the move over to the CA but in terms of features it does feel a little stagnant for me. Pots aren’t useful to me particularly without all the features people have asked for.

I use Monzo as my main account but really there isn’t anything that makes it stick out from my legacy account now the “Instant notification excitement” has worn off. I sort of expect it to be instant now so it isn’t anything extra anymore really (imo)

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I think what Monzo is trying to build is fantastic. I understand they are working hard behind the scenes and I don’t want to criticise the effort they are putting in because I know they are, especially moving 400,000 people over to a new system.

The problem I’m starting to see is there is becoming “expectations” versus the actual “reality”. Monzo have an incredible amount of goodwill and support but the ‘release’ of the current account has driven up expectations greatly and you no longer compare Monzo to other prepaid cards. You start to compare them to other banks and what they are offering right now. You compare them to Starling, to the legacy banks and soon to N26. I see new people coming to the forums saying “add this”, “change it like this” which is great enthusiasm, but if nothing moves forward that enthusiasm will start to peter out and people will start looking for those features elsewhere.

2018 is the time to make Monzo the most invaluable app (and bank!) around :sunglasses: .

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I consider them to be the best thing about Monzo. They are especially useful abroad - I get an instant notification in GBP, accurate to a few pennies.

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Notifications are not instant as Monzo if that makes sense but for me personally, Barclays App has enough options and it sends notifications for DD set up and when it goes out also for balances etc
 Integration with Yolt gives me all the budgeting overview just as Monzo. I am also trying Emma by @edo1493 and co. which is pretty cool and made me switch to Barclays without hesitation because of its interface, categories and support.

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It has crossed my mind to switch back to my legacy bank account but seems a bit of a nightmare switching all my DD back over, especially since a couple of them need to be done over the phone. I’m getting kinda fed up with all the hype around Monzo. The only thing I’d miss is instant notifications but my legacy bank can provide pretty much everything else and in some cases more

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Ditto
 Monzo really needs to ramp up it’s features
 else “I’m out”

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That specifically is not always true though, as the rate may change by the time it settles, which could mean substantial differences.

To illustrate: I actually made a purchase for around 100€ on 10th September. Mastercard rate for that day was 0.9203. Transaction finally settled on 15th, when the rate was 0.890106. That was a £3 difference.

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Or it may not, so it can be true.

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Thanks for the mention. For anything, just let me know: edoardo@emma-app.com. :grin:

ps: we should also integrate Monzo this or next month.

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True. But if I can’t rely on it, then what’s the point? I can get a rough idea of the amount in GBP myself - using a calculator if need be. If I need an immediate conversion “accurate to a few pennies”, then I really need to use Revolut (or similar), or opt into DCC - with all the downside that brings. This is one point were you simply can’t have your cake and eat it


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Well, I find it useful and enjoy having it. It is all in the eye of the beholder - the question is I suppose does the average user find it useful?

We can’t answer that, Monzo stand a better chance with their user research so I say we assume they’re doing their due diligence :blush:

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Specifically this has been true on every occasion I have used it. Clearly there could be hundreds of pounds difference depending on the day to day rate difference and size of the transaction, but I was speaking from my personal experience.

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Interesting. Maybe they changed that? It was instant when I tried, but then that’s a while ago.

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Hm, yes, I used the wrong word there. Adjusted it.

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I have got this process sorted now switched about 17 DDs and SOs to Monzo in September and then all to Barclays :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

Not fun but not so complicated. My employer is good so didn’t had problem switching salary as well to and then from Monzo

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I’ve always had a sort of private deadline when I’ll see what Monzo have implemented and if it’s not to my liking, just go elsewhere. I’m a few months off that, although the current account feels very beta right now, and isn’t something I’d feel comfortable recommending to friends.

In 6 months though? Who knows


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