Seems to be a large amount of misinformation here about the man and the website, moreover opinion with little fact.
Let’s try to remember the website MSE needs to make money somewhere and if they do that through affiliate links, then so be it. It encourages brands to give its readers’ deals and MSE takes a cut for the thanks. This is called a good business model for both consumer and business. Not to forget that Monzo is largely going to be a very similar business model, in that they connect customers with businesses and take a cut for the in-between.
I have always found Martin Lewis’ personal columns and advice to be sound, fair and always for the benefit of the consumer. He has made waves in trying to even the playing field, reading terms & conditions for the consumer’s behalf and informing them and showing them the path to get what is rightfully theirs.
I think some people perhaps don’t like his TV persona, but at the end of the day it’s not all going to be his choices about what he can talk about on the TV. He has had several shows about pretty mundane things, but they’re topical and what the programme producer thinks will gain interest.
Even amongst the fluff bits like on This Morning or even his own shows, there genuinely honest and excellent free advice that every consumer can understand and take action with.
Martin Lewis and the MoneySavingExpert website (and forums) single-handedly helped me turn into a financially responsible adult. Through the pressures of debt I found MSE and tip toed my way through learning about credit cards (interest, APR, balance transfers, stoozing), debts, savings and even investments. I owe a great deal to Martin Lewis and that website.
A fantastic episode just popped up on ITVX today, which I presume was live last night.
It was a one off special on mental health and included both the FCA and the HSBC boss fielding questions on the panel.
A very brave person also shared their story, and noted the stark difference in treatment between their old bank and their new one.
Whist the new one wasn’t named, it sounds like Monzo to me. I wish they’d have named it though. A lot of people who are struggling will probably have been wondering who that bank is and where they needed to go be treated with some compassion and understanding.
It’s very much worth watching if you’re either struggling financially, or have any kind of mental health issue, or more pressingly, both.
I don’t know how to share from the ITV app, but this is the episode on the Apple TV app.
I’ve just watched the episode and assuming you are talking about the gentleman (Rob), the new bank definitely did not sound like Monzo to me since both he talked about speakibg to their bank on the telephone…
Most impressive for me, was that HSBC UK have already trained 20,000 of their staff to assist with mental health issues. Also helps explain why their CEO was willing to appear on the show.
Most front line staff are trained in some way to deal with it, here’s the website and number for mind.org.uk etc.
The FCA launched the consumer duty so banks have been told to equip their staff with the relevant skills to support and signpost, of which banks were doing already tbf.