I was just coming to post the same thing!
Leaving aside for a FINTECH company, that a spammy SMS feels old-school, if you are in banking, you don’t want to even joke that your app 'works fantastically 92% of the time".
Go away sums it up - I’m less not more likely to try it again after reading that.
I had the same. Logged in, looks like the same unfinished GCSE IT project it always has. Uninstalled.
I’ve revived an invite… but theres an issue with the link/ somthing to do with mailchimps servers
Well I tried Tandem over the summer and it was a mess. It does seem slightly better now, although the energy switching is slightly flaky. It writes next to the bill transaction that they can save you money, and then when you click it, it asks you who you’re with! You then put all your details in, and it then shows you a bunch of deals, mostly from companies they don’t have a deal with, so it just refers you to their website! Still, I got the credit card today for foreign cashback, so let’s see how that goes…
I’ve just this minute got the invite to apply for the Tandem credit card.
No foreign transaction fees, 0.5% cashback, 18.9%.
Edit: Just applied… it offered me the higher rate of 22.9% even though I earn a good wage, no dependents and have an excellent credit record.
I went to accept anyway, as I pay off every month without fail - and got an ‘oops, something went wrong screen’. Went back into the application and it said I have none saved. Don’t know if it went through or not!
i also got the 22.9 percent and have a good credit score.
enjoying the card so far,
getting instant notifications aswell which is nice on a credit card
Bit annoying - I’m not going to go from the start as it’ll probably credit check me again and I don’t want another check on my file, but can’t phone till Monday because their phone lines are only open till 6pm on weekdays.
It offered me £3,000 at 22.9%, bit odd to offer that much but then say the interest is higher because you’re a higher risk. Surely if they think you’re a higher risk then the limit should be a lot lower.
Even weirder that I know for certain I have an excellent credit record, I earn above average - and American Express, who are supposed to be more stringent and selective gave me the 9.9% card with £6,000.
I wonder if it’s a ploy then it puts everyone on 22.9%? Or the 18.9% needs a ridiculously high wage or something like that?
I just don’t understand what Tandem actually is. It seems to be changing. I can’t see why it might be good for me?
I think their original intention was to be like Monzo and Starling. But then it all went a bit tits up when they lost their banking licence. So they fudged the aggregator app from the wreckage and concentrated on a credit card product.
Now they’ve bought a license (Harrod’s bank) - I think they’re maybe getting back on track.
A few years ago when I got in to all this Tandem was the one I was most excited about.
I like how they’re kind of inbetween the corporateness of Starling and the informality of Monzo. I always liked their design and general look too.
Sounds like a recipe for disaster. I’m out.
I don’t see any risk to the user. If they go under with credit cards then surely someone will have to buy the debt and keep to the terms and conditions.
If they go under with a banking licence you’ll have the £85,000 cover as with all banks.
It would be stupid to let them have any of your money before they have a licence though. I definitely wouldn’t trust it if, say, they launched a pre-paid card.
Why?
They would do just like Monzo did and ring fence the funds from pre paid cards
Dunno, I just assume that without a banking licence and without the government safety net there’s a possibility of losing your money.
I don’t know enough about the workings to be 100%, just what I thought, with my limited knowledge. If there is actually no risk then even better.
They would operate under an emoney licence rather than a bank license.
While deposits are not protected to £85,000 / €100,000 thru the FCSC or equivalent they are normally held in ring fenced accounts separate from the company’s own operating accounts.
This was indeed how the Monzo pre paid accounts were set up, so should Tandem operate a pre paid card it would be no different to the situation Monzo customers were in.
However I do not think Tandem have any plans to do so. A full current bank account, a credit card and an app are what they planned all along.
With the take over of Harrod’s Bank (subject to regulatory approval) they look likely to go back on track
FSCS or equivalent you mean?
Yep. Sorry, jet lag .
Phoned them today - they said it had gone through and everything was fine. The process had stopped at the point of the error but the account was opened basically.
They said they’d send me an activation code (by text) to continue setting up the app as next time I opened it, it would ask for a new PIN, activation code and security questions.
The activation code was sent two or three times but I never received it. They asked me to wait while they looked in to it.
They phoned back this afternoon and I successfully received the activation code after they sent it again (they didn’t give any detail on why it failed this morning but it was obviously something on their end).
So I went back to the app, set my PIN and entered the activation code - all fine. However on the next screen where it asks you to set three security questions… the continue button doesn’t work, it registers a press but nothing happens.
So I phoned them back - he actually said, ‘the continue button doesn’t work now?’ Before I told him what the problem was. He said it was a known bug that randomly appears in the app and it’s just a shame I got it on the very next page after my other problems. They’re looking into it and are going to contact me tomorrow.
I asked if it would require an app update and he said, ‘It might do yes.’, So not sure what happens then, if I have the card but can’t use the app!
Not a smooth process at all. But the good thing is, their customer services are VERY good. I spoke to two different people, they were both able to pick up where the other left off without any fuss and they both seemed to really know what they were talking about.
Shame the developers don’t!
Yeah… I’ve seen a lot of both Monzo and Starling users posting with problems with the in-app set-up/migration though.
So I think they should only be judged on how they deal with it.
They’re in the same phase (behind even) Monzo and Starling remember.
I gave up on the tandem app a couple of months ago 'cos it was so buggy.
I never had either Starling or Monzo constantly crash on me. It really felt like I was alpha testing.
I’d be interested in your impression once you’ve used it a bit, if it’s positive I’ll give them another go.