This whole thread needs to be put on Ice for a while, to let people cool off.
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As someone has already said, Mondo’s communication strategy for this could have been much clearer - especially the blog and the email I received. (it sounds as if Plus customers may have got a better version)
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This topic is temporarily closed for at least 4 hours due to a large number of community flags.
That was almost prophetic in its timing! Well done!
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This topic was automatically opened after 19 hours.
I drafted this before the thread was temporarily locked, but on reflection I still feel that it’s a valuable contribution so I have decided to post it now the thread has re-opened. Thanks.
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I get that and I don’t disagree with you, my comment was really more aimed at people saying that in reply to legitimate feature requests which would be “nice to have” rather than essential to their lives. Like if you join Monzo and realise a feature you would like isn’t available, politely requesting it is fine in my opinion - but certain people always say that Monzo should never add the feature as it doesn’t need it (when what they mean is they don’t need it) - and if you do need it you should have an account at a legacy bank as a “workaround”. To then describe yourself as “Full Monzo” when you really mean you use Monzo for most things but also do other things with another bank is funny to me when it is a contradiction in terms. Obviously this isn’t the case for people who actually do only use Monzo. So there was a serious point there, but it was delivered slightly in jest - I appreciate that this nuance may not have been obvious.
My overall point was that if a significant number of users have to do things like this to have a useable account than the business model clearly isn’t working as it shouldn’t need to be necessary for most customers - if it is, then that is a clue to Monzo that this is a feature which a number of your customers really want and would value, and you should consider adding. I believe that to be a successfully profitable company in the long term, Monzo does need to appeal to a broad customer base - meeting the needs of the vast majority of people as a sole account - in order to create sustainable customer growth. I worry that some of these new changes could narrow the market for Monzo into more of a niche product and, if so, I think this would be the wrong direction to go in. I am concerned about potential financial exclusion of customers and when I was asked earlier about cashless shops I feel the same way - if somebody can only pay in cash then they shouldn’t be turned away even if cashless payment is preferred.
I believe that Monzo’s leadership do believe in a broadly similar vision too, but I accept that some may disagree with me on how to get there! That said, I feel some of my earlier posts in the thread have been taken out of context and misunderstood, so I hope this post can make my views clear.
Many times in the past I have stuck up for Monzo on a point of principle where I believe it’s right; but, to be a true supporter and advocate of the company I believe you must also be willing to call out things which may be wrong in order to help keep them on a sensible path. Blind loyalty or jingoistic support does not do this, so I don’t want to approach things that way. Equally, criticism for the sake of it is not helpful, and always being the ‘devil’s advocate’ in any situation does not provide much insight. I hope you can understand this point of view is coming from a position of wanting the revolution in banking that Monzo has started to continue and be a success (and I know that Monzo does listen to users; recent changes to payee functionality have been made in response to users, as just one example).
Thanks again for reading my post. I know times are hard and I understand the need to cut excessive costs, I just hope it can be done sensitively and I think your users can help with that - on the equal/equitable point, then yes, I do believe that a full and definitive list of exceptions should be published. I believe that this list must exist internally anyway and customers should be able to self-check if they are eligible for extra help without the need to approach Monzo chat first. So it would help if this was published.
All the best!
PS:
One idea to help you meet the conditions of a significant banking relationship if you are not the household bill-payer and don’t currently have any direct debits could be to open a savings account which accepts deposits by direct debit. This means you lose the simplicity of Monzo’s pots for (at least some of) your savings, but it would be easy to set up a regular deposit every month and it might actually help you to save more if you think an “out of sight, out of mind” philosophy could be helpful to you. Another idea is to set a credit card to pay off in full via direct debit and simply remember to use it at least once a month.
However, I think the Direct Debit requirement isn’t practical for under 18s so I hope you don’t enforce it for youth accounts?
PPS:
A note on the personalised email. Personally, I think this also risks confusion. Although it was a nice idea, and seems pretty clever, it has made the situation quite complicated as it tells you how future fees are likely to apply to you based on past activity - but there is no guarantee that your past activity will be the same as your post-October activity. So this risks confusion. I think a “straight email” with the new terms may have been clearer, with possibly a personalised bit just at the bottom called something like “how we think this might affect you” to combine the best of both worlds? The version of this email that went out may have actually been a little bit too customised. For reference, I do already have a direct debit set up and I pay enough into my account to meet the new terms so I got the “we think it’s a main account for you” email. Initially, this kind of identification did seem a little odd but I get it now. You might want to include a little note in the future just to explain that the email has been auto-generated using AI to predict what is most relevant to your needs?
Sorry for a mammoth post, I hope the discussion can continue in a useful vein!
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I think you make a lot of fair points in there, @SebH - thank you for clarifying things and posting that.
I agree with your point around Confusion from the email too - to sum a change up as “Don’t worry, it won’t affect you but does affect others” - sort of confused me, and it didn’t really give me much clarity if my circumstances were to change.
Overall, I think the message on the blog could have been clearer - but not sure I can articulate how or why I found the messaging a bit unclear.
My own reflection after this post has reopened is:
- Most of my feedback comes from a place of Monzo’s original mission statement - “Monzo makes money work for everyone” - I’d just generally like clarity on that piece, and for specific user groups who this change may not work for. (And I think it’s fair to ask that, when terms like this pop up).
- The same goes for the “No Barriers to Banking” campaign, which hasn’t had any update in >1 Year.
- Beyond introducing terms like this, I’d also like to understand how Monzo will change their marketing to ensure consumers don’t believe this is a “spending card” when they sign up. On reflection, I have a feeling that most of the adverts I’ve seen from Monzo, do give the impression of “spending card” rather than “use me as your full time bank”, especially during the huge period of growth between 1M and 4M users. Maybe that’s just a me-feeling though.
- On the bit around Features Monzo don’t have - I find it interesting that the Blog talks about “we think it’s fair to charge for upkeep of features, if you have access to cash elsewhere” - given there’s always a general Forum murmer of “keep another bank open if you need cash / cheques / etc”. Not sure my point, I just find this contrast interesting.
- In a bit of meta-review, I get a little frustrated by the ‘this doesn’t affect you, why are you complaining’ (my summary) commentary that some times comes on the forum - I do think it is fair to (reasonably, constructively) call out a change even if the change does not affect the user personally.
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Even though I’m not “Mull Monzo” this change actually still doesn’t affect me.
I also feel like I have to add the obligatory disclaimer that Monzo needs to be profitable and can do what it wants…
That said, it’s just not a change that inspires confidence or leads me to think that Monzo is headed in the right direction.
Maybe I’m being unfair but over the past few years it feels like there have been a few too many of these decisions which only affect a small number of people:
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Paying to pay in money
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Limits on taking out money
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No cheque imaging
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Removing debit card top ups
There’s probably a few more I can’t remember. I’m not interested in arguing the merits of each of these and whether or not they’re fair, but it’s a trend that doesn’t inspire confidence.
Recent events make it feel like everything is either about revenue generation or cost cutting. This isn’t a criticism and as an accountant I very much understand the impetus for this, but as a customer I don’t care and only see the downsides.
Since moving away from Monzo I still keep an eye out for a sign of renewed momentum that will make me switch back. But I’m yet to see it.
As has been said by others, I really do feel that at this point Monzo should revise their mission of making money work for everyone. You clearly have to be a very specific customer to have all your needs met by Monzo.
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This isn’t true.
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These changes won’t affect me personally unless I lose my card (which has happened once in the past) but your post does remind me of the First they came… poem and how in effect Monzo are reducing their customer appeal bit by bit which concerns me as a shareholder.
Of course, I understand the need to be profitable and increase brand loyalty/usage but there are so many other ways to reduce costs without the same potential impact on customers
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2 posts were merged into an existing topic: Removed Posts - September 2020
This and @ravipatel’s post speaks to my chief concern that Monzo are, in more corporate-speak, narrowing their “addressable share” of the market.
There are fewer people who Monzo would appeal to than if it also offered all the services of a traditional bank - now, it may be a necessity due to the economic imperatives of the market, but it is also a bit of a problem long term. So I hope it doesn’t go too far.
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Hey @N26throwaway & @BritishLibrary 
I’ve just popped in and seen this, but I’ve just got home and I’ve got dinner cooking - so I promise to give you a proper answer tomorrow morning! Hope that’s okay 
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After yesterday’s posts. I’d like to ask Monzo how they expect to get people to use this as their main bank.
This seems like a great move… for a bigger bank.
- You don’t offer mortgages
- you don’t offer ISAs
- you don’t offer credit cards
- you don’t offer insurances.
You’re basically saying. Use us as your main account otherwise we’re going to take benefits away from you. Almost like blackmail.
Monzo isn’t a bank. It might be that on paper but In reality it’s still just a glorified cash card with some fancy perks. Monzo is in a fortunate position that their app is very very good. The industry is catching up though and it’s catching up quick.
I think personally this is a wrong move and I am sure it’ll damage your user base or damage growth. I’d bet money on it.
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Thanks for popping in @jackcully!
It’s much appreciated that you are looking to answer these questions fully, I will look out for your post tomorrow.
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Didn’t fancy elaborating?
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Why is this a wrong move?
I seen plenty of businesses make a move to introduce costs or raise costs towards customers who cost them the most.
Monzo is a business.
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Is it better to serve less customers and make a profit or serve everyone and make a loss? I think monzo are going through a phase of maturing and making those tough decisions. You can’t keep everyone happy. There was lots of anger when the withdrawal limits abroad were changed still did not prevent the massive growth the last few years.
From the outside looking in it monzo needs to widen its product offering otherwise it is a current account with money supermarket bolted on the side.
Current accounts are not that profitable in the UK it must be operating as a loss leader for legacy banks with their old systems, branch network and switching bribes.
Its not unreasonable to expect a contribution to costs if I’m running at a loss or expect other customers to cross subside
If it was free debit card replacements for all or services at the post office which would the majority pick maybe you can’t have 2 slice of cake
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Profit is sometimes seen as a dirty word
How much you beting?