This really has now just become a circular discussion of people that dont like any fees, and people that dont have a problem with fair usage fees.
We are all just saying the same thing repeatedly over the last 700 odd posts
Monzo have decided how they want to proceed , I dont think the few on here that are banging the drum for cancelling them are going to change their minds, I suspect Monzo won’t either , judging by some twitter responses to fair usage fees, some people will close their accounts because of this , which really is their choice , there are plenty of other providers that will accommodate their use case
That’s what I mean, I was using it as an example of where Monzo had got something right - and made a standard experience better by further digitising it.
I’d like to think that Monzo have done their research and the vast majority of the significant minority who do this are those using Monzo in a way which is unprofitable for Monzo - and that the small minority of edge cases who don’t meet the criteria and are using Monzo as their main account, in good faith, will find that a chat with customer service will sort this.
I’m actually guilty of similar behavior with Starling - I use them for cheque imaging and a linked card for my mum to give to her shoppers. I’d not be surprised or offended if they took issue with that.
I have no problem with some fees, but believe they should be carefully applied.
I think the limits on ATM withdrawals specifically are too low for customers not meeting the conditions and should be increased at least slightly. I think this would make negligible difference to costs but help support those users. It’s a balance.
both you and I dont know what "negligible cost " is , Monzo have decided its a significant cost to them when “a few” were “abusing” the cash withdrawal ATM limits …I dont know , I dont have Monzos cost calculations 20% of customers making up 80% of Monzo costs for cash withdrawals doesnt seem negligible per customer withdrawing cash
Increasing those limits is going to make a significant difference to costs. It’s the entire point of this change.
They’ve gone out of their way to strike a fair balance. They count all kinds of income, Plus, and even a single Direct Debit. You’ve got no case here I’m afraid. The imaginary people you are arguing on behalf of simply do not exist.
I was actually fairly lazy last night – had a pizza with some garlic bread (if you’re a meat eater and you’ve never tried it – the “BBQ Chicken & Bacon” pizza from Co-op is the best shop bought pizza you can buy – you heard it here first!)
Just a note to say I’ve read and taken on board lots of what’s been said here since last night! I don’t have anything specific to reply to on the discussion at the mo – but I do want to address the questions @BritishLibrary asked, so…
Yes, they will be
We really don’t think it will – and we certainly hope it doesn’t. We’ve put protections in place for vulnerable folks, and I’m so proud of the work our vulnerable customer team does every day. I’m super confident they’ll have everything they need to make sure that those who need our support most will get it. I mention it in the blog post, but I think it perhaps deserves a little more attention – if anyone’s worried by the change, they can and should have a chat with the team over chat, and we’ll do everything we can to help.
Great question – there’s lot of niche scenarios that could be at play here, so it’s hard to say definitively and we’d assess on a case-by-case basis. Generally speaking, though – if the card is faulty or stops working, we’ll cover the cost. If its damaged, I think we’d charge.
Have a lovely day folks, I’ll be checking in fairly frequently still, of course – so feel free to ask any more questions and I’ll be back to you when I can!
Thanks @jackcully for coming back to answer. I’m super pleased to hear that if Monzo was around 18 years ago I would have met the criteria
On the damage v faulty aspect - I think I might be in the camp of had more than one replacement per year though it’s hard to track if it was joint / new plus cards / geneuine replacement due to damage/faults. I’ve definitely lost one card in recent memory (fell down a crack in my floor!) and I’ve certainly had a number of cards crack around the chip/mag strip since I joined. So I hope there’s some future plan to make the card a touch tougher in time.
Last thing I’ll ask and maybe this one won’t get answered, at least not short term: but to pair with this change, will you also be making considerations in the marketing strategy behind Monzo, to reinforce the view of “not just a spending card”. I wonder how much the way the account is positioned does that - the big TV ad way back when came across as ‘spending card’, maybe more so than other banks tend to, so I wonder how much of those user behaviours could be tackled in Marketing? </thoughts>
Thanks for coming back to answer the above stuff anyway Hope the change nudges user behaviour in the direction needed.
Just wondering how much the respective teams have thought about this given the fairly intense burying of the chat function recently?
Good that you’re saying people can get in touch but I take it we’re referring to people who may already be in a difficult situation, and potentially vulnerable customers etc.
So to then add on to that the fact that if they do decide to talk to someone (if they even know that will help), a lot of people (judging by how many posts we’ve had looking for the chat function) won’t even be able to find the chat?
That’s fair - and I definitely went back to rewatch the ads this week with this change in mind, so a bit biased! To me I got the feeling that shopping/spending were focused more heavily than the others - but obviously all were listed.
It’s obviously not all the focus, but I could see how people might think “huh, I could use this for my shopping card to help manage my money better”. Especially given the prepaid days etc.
I guess either way my point leads to: does the marketing recruit the right types of users?
Either way - the one thing I did take away from the ad - I NEED to know where Colander Barn is please:
I wonder if the solution here, is for the new fees overview page to have its own “im worried about these fees” route, a little bit like the transaction dispute button?
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Anarchist
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How can you tell whether a card is damaged or faulty? If a customer has a choice of reporting a card as damaged or reporting it as faulty, one of which costs £5, which alternative do you think they would choose?
I think this is probably the extent of what Jack can tell us. The rules are set out, but I imagine (/hope) there will be broad discretion. The problem being that if Monzo confirms that, the deterrence effect doesn’t really work.
Define “spending account”? Why is that a bad thing? I have my salary paid into my Halifax Ultimate Reward account from which my bills are paid within a few days of the money going in. I know how much I have left each month so that amount is transferred to Monzo on my payday. About half of it goes into various pots for specific purposes and the rest is my available cash for the month.
All my day-to-day spending is done using Monzo, my average Monzo balance is higher than the balance of my bills account, it’s functionally my main bank account despite not being the one my salary is paid into.
20% of customers making up 80% of Monzo costs for cash withdrawals doesnt seem negligible per customer withdrawing cash
(if you’re a meat eater and you’ve never tried it – the “BBQ Chicken & Bacon” pizza from Co-op is the best shop bought pizza you can buy – you heard it here first!)
Hope the change nudges user behaviour in the direction needed.