I agree. Not only is Tom no longer CEO, he’s no longer even a director. He’s now President, -a meaningless role which didn’t exist before, and which has been created specially for him. When Chief Executives resign, they normally leave entirely, they aren’t usually sidelined into a cupboard to go and play with their toys. So, this doesn’t sound an entirely voluntary decision to me. If he wasn’t sacked/ousted, then it’s quite likely that he was at least persuaded/had his arm twisted, to step down, but they’ve kept him on in a non-job to make it look better.
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So, that’s not really accurate in the context. They had it in the works well before Covid, and when people start travelling again it will be useful. And you can still drop your phone in the toilet despite Covid so… 
. . I think that it’s better that they got this out; it’s been delayed enough and it’s better that it exists as an option in their product line-up, rather than waiting for an ideal time to launch. Software that sits around un-launched rots, and you only find all the nitty-gritty bugs when you actually let the users at it. This way they can just move forwards. So perhaps, given that context, it’s a bit less of a “pointless package account”. Now, bear in mind that I think that it is indeed a pointless package account, and I’d rather they hadn’t chased the existing bank’s product line-ups. But then I go and speak to people I know and a significant subset wanted just those things or they wouldn’t switch to Full Monzo. So what can you do, eh? Anyways, I don’t think that you can evaluate this in a vacuum, and come to such an uncharitable conclusion.
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I didn’t evaluate Monzo Premium, I was paraphrasing what that The Times article was implying.
[…] It [The Times] then beats Monzo with a stick for releasing a pointless package account […]
The parts from the article I was referencing.
This week the bank launched its Monzo Premium account, yours for a mere £15 a month. For this you get a metallic card that apparently costs £50 to make, travel insurance and access to airport lounges (are you starting to spot the obvious flaw?).
There’s even mobile phone insurance, which feels very 2013 for a bank that is so on-trend. (Everyone worked out how useless mobile cover was some years ago now).
There is a respectable interest rate of 1.5 per cent, but it is capped to balances of up to £2,000, meaning that you can earn a maximum of £30 a year in interest.
The mobile phone insurance comes with a £75 excess and the travel insurance that you almost certainly won’t be using anytime soon has an excess of £50.
Then there is a minimum six-month term for the account; you must commit £90 to join — half of the £180 yearly cost — and if you cancel within six months you’ll owe Monzo £50 for that metallic card.
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That first one is a good read
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According to one source, the chief executive of one London technology start-up disagreed with the account so strongly that they purchased a copy of the newspaper in order to burn the page featuring the extract.
I can have a good guess at that
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This sentence made me chuckle. I’m not surprised Boden is going on a publicity parade and Monzo just aren’t interested!
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My favourite tweet (and reply) on the whole matter thus far:
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Seems that @Rat_au_van and I have been perusing the same area of Twitter. Might have to revise down my field of guesses
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Any chance of a summary of both articles?
without copying too much from it
She rage fired Tom 3 times before he had enough and quit
The company had reached a deal with investment fund Passion Capital to raise millions of pounds in funding. But that deal fell through after Boden reached a separate agreement with a rival investment business in search of a higher valuation
Anne walked back into the office and fired Tom,” one insider recalls. “She made this big speech about how we were all going to have to give up our equity but would go on long term management contracts. We all just got up and walked out."
It was a mess basically. Worth using the free article you get when you sign up to read it
Haven’t got access to the second but I think it’s Baroness Kingsmill disagreeing with Anne’s version of events
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Sounds like an absolute cluster.
A few more bits:
As January continued, the problems inside Starling became more serious. “She had rage-fired [Blomfield] about three times already,” an insider recalls. “He finally was fed up and quit."
The article also says there were crisis talks led by investors and advisors in February 2015. Allegedly, within days, Anne: a) agreed to step down; b) stay but work on a different floor to Tom; c) become Chair with Tom running the show.
It sounds like they settled on c) - and Passion agreed to invest on that basis, but then the article says that Anne changed her mind and “fired Blomfield for good”.
It also tells a very different story on the “coup”: it says that Anne actually fired everyone:
"She did fire the entire team,” remembers another. “It was a matter of employees being in shock wondering 'What do we do now?’”
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So you’re telling me that her version of events aren’t actually 100% accurate and are being challenged by multiple people?
I’m in shock!
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My takings from these articles is Boden isn’t a “polite person” to work for and fired Tom numerous times so Tom pied her off and started his own Bank which is by far better (My opinion of course)
Edit: Removed a term to keep the 
Snowflakes at bay
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Secret Cam footage of Anne firing Tom:
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Calling a woman running a company a ‘dragon’ is pretty outdated language!
Overall I think we’ll never know the ‘truth’ as it will be a polarised issue - those who work/love Starling on one side and Monzo-fans like us on the other.
Personally I love both my Monzo and Starling account, so it’s worked out well for me and the market that there’s more competition.
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Its not really an outdated term. Customers have always been dragons in my store all the time. Edit: Regardless of Gender or Position in a workplace!
I dont think we will know the full truth unless we get Tom’s side of the story
Dragons Den. 
And even then, we’ll have two differing versions of the same events.
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It’s up to the person reading it to translate that into their own opinion. If you want to decide that the term “Dragon” can only be used to determine a “prickly woman” then that’s your choice, but the term can be used to determine any “negative personality” regardless of gender. I’d love to imagine how you determine a “Male Karen”.
