Turning off debit card top-ups for new users

I remember that time the fees were introduced… there was a huge outcry on the forum with lots of people complaining about it :disappointed_relieved: so maybe if it was removed it would take half a year, or longer (it’s still being mentioned as a reason why Monzo is worse than other options :weary:) for the outrage to die down.

Just like before- it could possibly push people to use other banks out of convenience. There’ll be a lot of complaining for sure but I guess people will just have to get used to it eventually? So Monzo will have to decide if this cost is worth saving or they’d rather not piss off a group of people using this function regularly.

Absolutely. Half of the reason why I always used Apple Pay top ups was because it took about 20 seconds.

If I had to do it in my legacy bank… Login to the app. Use a 2FA authenticator code to log in. Find the payee and details. Do another 2FA thing.

And at some point I changed phones and locked myself out of my banks app. I’ve still not sorted that yet as I’ve run out of patience with their phone lines…

I would rather see Monzo make the app/bank the most compelling bank in the market so people will choose to go #FullMonzo. But it seems the gaps about people not putting all their eggs in a Hot Coral basket?

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Add a fee but give it to charity (potentially one nominated by the Monzo community)

This is part of the problem… Older banks have a terrible app, making it a huge inconvenience half the time (to do a bank transfer).

I can transfer from Starling to Monzo is about as much time as I can top up with Apple Pay.

Same for Nationwide, and the same for First Direct.

If more banking apps made it as user friendly to do a bank transfer, half the battle would be won.

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I’ve used monzo.me for the past year to collect football subs for the 7-a-side game I put on every week. I desperately want the feature to stick around and would potentially even be willing to pay a small fee to be able continue to

That’s about right.

A 0.5% fee would more-or-less cover the cost of card topups. So topping up £100 would cost 50p.

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I think that would be perfectly reasonable to be imposed on existing users…

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If costs would be covered, why then not add it back for everybody and it can be another feature old banks don’t have?

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Yep, this is the way forward.

On another note, can anyone that tops up explain why they need that over bank transfer? I’m not saying anyone’s wrong, but genuinely interested to know why top ups are still a thing.

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Or perhaps some form of “Monzo Premium” subscription?

(If I wasn’t full Monzo) I’d probably be happy to pay a few QUID a month for top up plus other bits. Especially if I got to feel like I was part of an elite club too.

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Because it is/was way way simpler. It’s not a need, per say, but it (was) very very nice to have.

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I don’t think they would do this for 3 reasons:

  • With a 50p charge to top up £100 a lot of people may still use it like a pre-paid card rather than a full current account which is Monzo’s goal.
  • Monzo give the impression they discourage fees and don’t want to be known for “oh by the way there’s a fee for this and a fee for that”
  • Although it’s not a major problem they would be going back on their word of deciding to get rid of it only a few weeks / months ago

But I also see the argument that if they add a 0.5% fee for old pre-paid users and thus it’s free for Monzo to offer, it’s unfair not to give the same feature set across the board.

I edging towards eventually getting rid of the feature for existing users but keep monzo.me and add the 0.5% fee onto that, anyone paying you pays the fee on your behalf.

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Yeah, I thought about that after I posted. Competitors are using the “no fees at all” as a marketing tool now that Monzo have limited overseas withdrawals so that makes sense.

I’m back to no top ups at all but as others have said, I’m not sure why top-ups would be used and maybe there is a genuine reason that I’m missing. Maybe Monzo need to ask them why and go from there.

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@tom what’s the average top up amount per transaction? e.g are people topping up large amounts infrequently or small amounts frequently?

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I’m going to take a completely random guess and say if on average someone tops up £6,666 a year then they top up just over £100 a week? Considering you can only top up by around £3k in a given month.

Like you say it would be interesting to know :thinking:

My best bet (and others above) is their old bank app is clunky or due to 2FA takes a bit of time to transfer money, especially if you’re out and about and don’t have the card reader with you.
Another good point above is that some banks don’t process transfers on the weekends.
Sadly this inconvenience of legacy bank doesn’t seem to enough of a persuasion to switch fully to monzo yet for these people.

I agree that hearing why some of them don’t use them would be a great insight, it may be for reasons we don’t yet know…

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The average (mean) card top-up is just over £100

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I know a few people who will only do top ups as they don’t see any need to move their salary over. Monzo doesn’t offer them anything majorly different other than instant notifications, which they don’t really care much about

Pretty hot “coral” on the stats !!

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Thanks for this. My opinion would be to agree with the above posts and pass the charge to the customer if they really need and value the service. There will be push back but it seems the most equitable system until other processes are available to replace it. e.g. (becoming a PISP)

Have Monzo considered a poll of all members on the way forward or are people more apprehensive about this approach following the ATM withdrawal fee saga?