Upgrading : Community Feedback

(Jason) #14

One of the reasons my friend is holding off on upgrading isn’t the fact that it’s a new bank but because they have had issues with online fraud. I know when you report it you get the money back but they really like topping the card up and making the purchase, they feel more secure and in control if anything were to happen.

If virtual cards were added with limits or maybe you have to authorise the payments made on that card they would be happy.

Another reason I loved the top up card vs CA is because I have a Personal Assistant who helps me since I have Muscular Dystrophy. So if I needed them to pop out to the shops I could give them my card and feel safe knowing there is only £10 in the account and it can’t be miss-used

(Hugh) #15

I really doubt it would continue to exist if the scale is as bad as it has been implied to me. Banks have a responsibility to protect users against fraud and it would not be good to get a reputation in the industry as a fraud facilitator. Somewhere someone mentioned that a legacy bank had said they automatically rejected Monzo top ups as they saw huge fraud with them…

(Simon B) #16

This is one of the situations where our soon-to-be-released “Pots” feature will solve the problem :grinning:

You could keep the majority of your funds in a Pot and then only transfer what you need into the “main” balance, as you can’t spend from what’s in a pot.

(Jason) #17

That would be awesome. Will there be an option to transfer funds from a certain pot for direct debits to make sure they won’t be declined? Just in case you forget one is due to go out

#18

I had seen 4 versions of your app prior to the upgrade, Android Prepaid Beta and Android Preview, iOS Prepaid Beta and iOS Preview, and an Overdraft option (button or text) appeared in at least one of them but the new post upgrade Android app certainly does not appear to include any overdraft option. Is this coming?

Personally with a overdraft at my legacy bank I could not utilise the new Monzo account without any overdraft facility.

(Simon B) #19

Yes, overdrafts are in staff testing at the moment :grinning:

Applying for Overdrafts
(Simon B) #20

Not in the initial release of the feature, but it’s something that will evolve over time to allow for different needs and use-cases.

Right now - money goes into a Pot and it’s safe. You can deposit to a Pot or withdraw to it. In the future, you could potentially have a pot just for your direct debits, tied to virtual details (ie separate to what’s in your “spending balance” that is connected to the debit card), or be able to allocate a pot to a third party company, like if you had a Savings pot, and we had a partnership with a savings provider. Cool stuff like that :grinning:

But as is our way, we’ll release the MVP (minimum viable product) as soon as we can, then iterate over time based on feedback! We’re really excited to launch this :grinning:

(Eve) #21

I use Monzo for almost everything I spend nowadays but I never have more than £1000 on it, I top up as needed. I keep my legacy for interest and large payments (uni fees, rent) and I’m guessing that’s why people like the ease of topping up via Monzo.me- to avoid this hassle. It’s quick, everything is done quickly within the app vs a FP- it’s not fast and takes ages to log in on my legacy bank, navigating two passwords, secret question, loading/offers page, and at least 6 clicks before I get to the option I need.

On another note: I’m happy to use Monzo and I’m glad it’s evolving into something that is increasingly useful for people to budget/ manage their finances etc. but I don’t think the way I spend on Monzo will change with the CA.
I know people keep talking about the CA having additional protection etc but that was never a concern for me, I recommend it for a bunch of other excellent things- besides the revolutionary features, the ease of use, design (why are legacy bank apps so ugly) and great service is a solid win.

#22

Same for my legacy current account, there for direct debits etc, but my main spending is on cashback Amex and Visa, which won’t change unless my bank provides cashback. Plus I get the Section 75 protection on my purchases with my cards.

I would use the other features of the account such as savings pots as they’re a great idea for saving.

#23

Staff have overdrafts? :hushed:

Then pay your staff more! :wink::+1:

(Matt) #24

You might not open with debit card top ups as a killer feature, but it’s really handy and once you’re used to the convenience you’d be reluctant to lose it.

#25

Having specific pots for specific DDMs would be a real winner (for me at least).

This will be a major positive for people wanting to manage money effectively and for people working their way out of a debt situation.

To be able to use pots Iike the Squirrel app (but without the high cost) is an exciting idea.

(Henry Pedro) #26

I’ve held off upgrading as i feel that even when the CA is launched, like Starling it will be half-baked in missing the features such as debit card top-up and monzo.me (my favourite feature).

The great thing about monzo is that its a real separator from my legacy CA. I can use the app/card without worrying about charges and delayed payments.

(Sacha) #27

My girlfriend and I were discussing it the other day. I advised her to hold off upgrading as I know she regularly tops up small amounts and would get frustrated losing that feature in the current version of the current account app. I’m sure it will launch in the coming weeks.

One other thing, she mentioned how she had previously had invitations to upgrade. But she wasn’t sure where those invitations were now. Is there a way once someone has received an invite of being able to retrieve it easily, perhaps sitting somewhere in the app as a button on the card screen or similar?

(If there's the wrong end of a stick, you'll find me holding it.) #28

Interesting use of “exactly the same way,” IMHO.

For clarity, I had a prepaid card with another provider and came to Monzo because of the ease of topping it up via Apple Pay through the Monzo app. I knew that Monzo were going to provide a current account, but thought it would be in addition to the prepaid card, not in its place.

In order to fund a current account from my main current account, I have to tap my way through screen after screen, and then wait for faster payments to do its thing, whereas with Monzo prepaid, it is simply a few taps and it’s done. It’s not a deal breaker, and I simply intend to wait until funding is available via Apple Pay before upgrading.

#29

Totally agree about topups. Same is true of Monzo.me

(Nick) #30

That was my thought, that people are thinking “Well, I’m happy with my current bank account, I don’t want to switch over to this, so I’ll get rid of it”. I think they ‘current’ means ‘one and only’. Banks with switching incentives have probably helped this misunderstanding gain traction - either by saying “you must switch your main account to us” or “you must use this as your main account/have your salary paid in” to get the incentives. So it’s easy to think this must apply to all bank accounts.

Perhaps you could try saying “Monzo account” instead of “current account” and see if that helps any? Along with emphasising that it can be used exactly the same way as the pre-paid - though having the top-up function live would help more than anything else with that.

tl;dr, a pre-paid card is something separate and easy-to-use, while a ‘current account’ comes loaded with baggage.

#31

Ha ha - this reminds me of when I went down the entire high street aged 17, opening every building society account I could find, so that I could get the windfall when they turned into a bank. Six months later, they all did turn into banks, but I was only 17.5 years old, so I got nothing.

(MikeF) #32

Not related to a personal conversations but a phrase stood out from another thread here where the poster was asking “what’s the point of having Monzo”. For whatever reason it struck me as interesting phraseology which was distinct from the more usual ‘having a Current Account’.

Now, it could be a simple linguistic thing that doesn’t mean much but it could also have been a brand identity thing in which case the mentioned ‘Monzo account’ used in place of ‘Current account’ is interesting.

Potentially anyway…

(If there's the wrong end of a stick, you'll find me holding it.) #33

No, because you are presumably talking to people you’d like to attract from other current accounts.

What Monzo are saying to me is “change your prepaid card to a current account.” This isn’t a problem, but the functionality is different and for me it’s a minor sticking point.