Viola Black Discussion

Are these guys still going?

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Still waiting for the phenomenal demand to end so I can get my card

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Iā€™ve just come across this.

Iā€™m but a lowly Data Analyst/In Training Software Engineer, I donā€™t know much about marketing, butā€¦ the only thing I can think from reading this thread and having had a google is ā€œwho exactly is this card aimed at?ā€.

People who cannot get a bank account
Iā€™m sure there are alternatives for this (likely) very small niche market of people who cannot get a bank account - an alternative where you donā€™t get charged for literally everything but online purchases. Iā€™m also sure that this group probably donā€™t have all that much money to start with and can afford to be charged for this ā€œserviceā€.

Savers
Youā€™d have to be a fool to decide that this is the best way to save - itā€™s akin to having a negative interest rate, being charged Ā£4 a month and an inactivity fee (of which surely, youā€™d be encouraged not to touch your savings?) It doesnā€™t mention the frequency of an inactivity fee after the first charge either.

Travellers
Overseas ATM withdrawals - Ā£2 + 1.5% plus the Mastercard conversion rate +3.05%. Justā€¦ no, stop. Get a pre-paid currency card (I used Fair FX prior to finding out about Monzo and it was great for what it does, still recommend it to people not interested in Fintech)

Everyone
I canā€™t remember what it said in my brief look around, but they touted this as a card for everyone. Ā£2.90 ATM withdrawals, 30p insufficient fund fees and (I have no idea what this even means) ā€œFee for any replacement/additional virtual card: Ā£1.50ā€. What is a virtual card? No, itā€™s definitely not for everyone.

It then tries to rival Monzo directly in their marketing campaign when itā€™s offers are worse in literally every way. Move over? You cannot be serious and not expect ridicule when you put your product side by side, surely? I feel like the comparison that they made themselves killed it before it even had a chance. You are directly challenging a Fintech bank in your advertisement for a group of people who are probably more likely to research you first.

I glanced over the blog, the website, a few articles - the only thing I could think was ā€œpoorly thought-outā€ and ā€œamateurā€. While it may not be a scam, it certainly gives off that impression. Almost like itā€™s being run by people who saw a trend to make a quick few quid and donā€™t really know what they are doing.

The card benefits no-one but Viola, in my opinion.

But then I may just being my overly analytical self and completely off the mark.

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Youā€™d be surprised, Arro quote this number as being around 1.5m but their stats are from 2015 (and theyā€™re trying to Crowdfunding based on them), I would estimate it has at least halved since the advent of digital only banking.

But 750k is enough to run a profit making service on.

Have Arro given reasons for why this 1.5m canā€™t get a bank account? Is it because of things like Cifas markers, or a lack of ID documents? It may be that these people struggle to get an account with the big high street names, but would have more luck with the likes of Monzo - especially when it comes to Cifas markers.

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Essentially a card number for which no physical card was ever made, these can be used for online transactions and can normally be used via Google/Apple pay, but you obviously donā€™t have the physical card to use this anywhere that Google/Apple pay isnā€™t accepted.

Honestly, I donā€™t see any reasonable argument for the fee on this kind of thing where no raw materials and no human time is required.

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Bankrupt, homeless and hard times.

Itā€™s an odd target audience I admit.

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Does monzo (or Starling for that matter?) offer accounts to people who have gone bankrupt?

Not sure.

The advice generally seems to be to just apply and see.

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Yes Monzo does as thereā€™s no credit check on opening. You wouldnā€™t get an overdraft so would qualify as a basic bank account

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I thought Monzo does run a credit search? Marking it as an enquiry, no?

Only soft, but still the same data.

Soft search is a glimpse at present finances.

Hard search is more access to historical data.

The result of that doesnā€™t determine if you get an account, I think itā€™s just a layer of verification

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All the big banks offer basic bank accounts to these people.

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I think most of the people who canā€™t get bank accounts are homeless. They would need to visit a branch much more frequently than the average person.

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Thatā€™s definitely going to be the name of my debut album.

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Looks like someone doesnā€™t share the Viola love

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Or did they discover that that was the part of the bike that wasnā€™t worth anything :joy:

Wheels have come off, utterly useless, devoid of value and quickly forgotten.

And the bikeā€™s not doing too good either

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The EU mandates the existance of ā€œbasicā€ accounts that can be accessed by anyone without restrictions provided they donā€™t already have other accounts. Hereā€™s just one of them: https://www.hsbc.co.uk/current-accounts/products/basic-bank-account/

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