Exactly. In the end Monzo needs more avenues to make money and stay profitable. I am sure they will use a portion of that money to dish out more “free” features as well. Any organisation that stops catering to free customers will find itself out of business very soon!
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A negative answer is still an answer so I wouldn’t say any response is invalid. If the question is based on an assumption then I think it’s fair for an answer to challenge that assumption.
Not at all. However, If we’re discussing my personal attitude to premium accounts then I’ve never seen one that offers anything I want to buy so I actually view them as a bit of a rip off. Hence my answer suggesting they offered me nothing of value at the moment.
Maybe Monzo can do it differently, I don’t know. The marketplace idea sits more comfortably with me since I can then choose the bits I am interested in rather than being saddled with stuff I don’t need. Equally, I can visualise the Marketplace where I can’t visualise a useful premium account so there’s a bias built into that view.
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But isn’t this the time to say what would be of benefit, rather than coming to the conclusion that as all other premium accounts aren’t worth it to you, Monzo’s won’t either?
Granted, the only existing premium account that would peak my interest would be Nationwides (mainly for the phone insurance) - The rest are worthless to me.
Off the top of my head, if Monzo offered pet insurance, phone insurance and house insurance, which worked out cheaper than my existing suppliers - I’d sign up.
I guess my point was that it’s very easy to dismiss premium accounts because historically, they’ve been of no use to me and you (literally, me and you - Not everyone).
But if Monzo are willing to listen to weird and wonderful ideas about what to include, maybe their offering could be surprisingly useful?
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Maybe, although they need an offering that will potentially be useful to many people, not just for me. That’s where the package element comes in and where we hit the point of compromise at which point we potentially come unstuck.
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I got the feeling that everyone who used Monzo, needed pet insurance?! 
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Personally, I’m not sure marketplace and premium need to mean different things. Packaged accounts should offer products that genuinely give benefit to the customer. Where an account provider isn’t exercising due diligence to make sure an account holder would avail of any benefits when they sign up, they could at some stage down the line fall foul of another mis-selling scandal.
On the other hand, this ‘freemium’ idea as @Shreyas1983 referred to it could look as simple (in reality it won’t of course) as: There are 10 products available at £3/m, with a 50% concession once you go beyond 3 products.
So one customer may only utilise 2 benefits, and pay £6/m, vs their current £12.99/m high-street offering. Another may utilise 8 benefits and pay £16.50/m (£3 x 3, + £1.50 x 5), thus getting a package suited to their specific needs, at a slightly higher than high-street rate, but with additional covers.
Any premium offering should be of genuine benefit to the customer, generic bundled products are not the way forward. Why would a client with medical complications feel comfortable paying their high-street bank £12.99/m when they (usually) can’t avail of the travel insurance benefits? Why would someone with a complex home insurance package, covering all their gadgets and devices, feel comfortable paying for gadget cover as part of their offering.
It’s easy to say if a customer is suited to 4 of the 5 benefits of a packaged account, and those 4 benefits are still better value than obtaining individually, then that’s OK; but in reality, it’s not OK.
I think overall, I’m agreeing with your sentiment @Feathers, but that hasn’t turned me off the discussion of ‘what does premium mean?’,
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I think it may be easier to state what I pay for and the benefits I get.
Santander 123 Mini (£1 p/m)
- Including my mortgage this nets me something like £10 of cashback a month
Natwest Reward (£2 p/m)
- Another £6 of cashback a month
Amex (£25 p/a)
- Between £150 - £250 a year
Nationwide Flex Plus (£13 p/m)
-
Family mobile cover
-
Family travel insurance
-
Breakdown cover (for me and the Mrs)
The top three are no brainers as they’re just free cashback for money I would be spending anyway.
I find the Nationwide to be great value for what I get but YMMV. It’s definitely cheaper than I can find the three separately and without any of the hassle of shopping around and making sure I have the best deal each year.
In summary, I’m after a bundle of services that is either straight out profitable to me or great value and super convenient.
I personally find the conversations about Monzo’s ethics and their being different highly amusing. Monzo is a bank. Money is literally their business.
Any added cost features won’t be of interest to everyone but that’s okay. If they don’t offer value to you, you could simply ignore them. Like I don’t deposit money or use the interest pots.
It also strikes me that many people are upset about a two tier Monzo but all of the things I listed above don’t get me any sort of premium status with any of the institution. It’s just pay money, get benefits.
Perhaps something as simple as just calling it Monzo Services rather than Monzo Plus / Premium / Elite could stop people from feeling like they’re being made second class.
I’m very interested to see what Monzo come up with and if it’s more competitive than what I currently get elsewhere I’d be straight in there.
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Nope… no pet as yet 
But I do agree with @nickh in regards to premium offerings. I currently use RBS’s offerings and find it good value for joint mobile phone/travel insurance for my wife and I. It’s actually decent insurance, colleague has used his a lot (both sides of it) and using the phone insurance as an example… got a new phone next day.
They don’t need to limit features to the actual account… it’s merely adding on extra’s like insurance which some users have stated they don’t want/need.
^^quite literally… this. Monzo also need to make a profit. Offering these accounts could be a way to increase their revenue slightly.
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I am not convinced with Flex account. Phone insurance can be covered by contents and belongings insurance for cheap. Travel insurance can be had for cheap on comparison websites. So unless you travel a lot, it would work out a lot cheaper than Nationwide monthly fees. For breakdown cover, I use Autoaid, which costs a tad over £40 annually. And they cover the person, not the vehicle. So even if I breakdown in my friend’s car, I can use my breakdown cover. Altogether, it’s a hell lot cheaper than £13 per month.
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Nationwide’s FlexPlus is a bargain at £13/month even if you only use the family mobile cover - all the phones in your house protected against loss, theft and accidental damage. That includes the latest iPhones, Pixels and other flagships. My wife’s and daughter’s phones have been repaired multiple times over the years. Great service, low excess (£25/£50 for iPhones) and quick turnaround.
In terms of packaged account vs marketplace, they aren’t mutually exclusive. The packaged account could even include products from the marketplace, so they could be complimentary.
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What did Jackie Wilson sing? “Your premiums, keep lifting me hiiiiiiigher”.
The excess and loss of “no claims bonus” by claiming on the contents insurance just wouldn’t be worth it I shouldn’t think.
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Yeah but house insurance covers a lot more than phones. My house insurance premium’s have not gone up by much since I keep changing every year. My point is, I do not see the need of buying separate phone cover for my entire family when it’s covered by contents insurance.I am currently paying £140 a year for my home insurance including contents and belongings, after the quidco cashback. If Flex gave me home insurance instead of mobile cover, then I would be tempted.
It’s probably down to individual circumstance. If I had kids who used phones and constantly dropped them I would probably buy separate mobile due to excess and no-claims as you mentioned. 
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If it doesn’t cover your needs then fair enough.
But just using your example. Both my wife and I are covered by the £13 so once you multiply your £40 by two then you’re looking at £76 for the travel and phone insurance. I usually claim on the phone insurance once or twice a year just for accidental damage and add in one family holiday and that’s my money made up.
Nationwide also cover the person and not the car, so perhaps you’re not fully aware of the cover provided on all the services. The travel insurance is worldwide which so you’re not paying extra for the US which can often be an issue.
Again, I find it great value (and convenient) but that doesn’t mean it’s for everyone.
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Having worked at an insurance brokers for a number of years, I would mention that a number of underwriters (not all), would decline to quote if you have in excess of 3 claims in a 3-5yr period.
Given the fragile nature of phones (touch wood, I have never yet shattered one), and relative low value (up to £1k, vs up to say £50k contents insurance), I still opt for an account including mobile phone insurance. I would much rather place a claim there than on my household policy. I wouldn’t buy phone insurance from a mobile phone provider for £7-8/m as I used to many years ago.
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Interesting insight. I have never had the need to do mobile phone repair, but my other wife does drop it a lot. If I do end up in a situation where I start claiming frequently, it might make sense to go for Flex
Just a minor point. Autoaid covers my spouse for free. So for £48 a year, both me and my wife are covered for car breakdown. So I would not have to spend £96 a year, just £48. But I do get your point about multiple claims on mobile cover, especially in light of what @TR1 said.
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I guess it’s not suitable for everyone.
- Phone insurance
- Breakdown cover
- Worldwide travel insurance
- Interest free overdraft up to £250
- Commission free ATM withdrawals abroad.
- 3% interest on balances up to £2500 (assuming you’re not using the overdraft, this almost halves the £13pm cost if you can keep £2,500 in the account).
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I get your point, but it’s really not for me
I have never needed overdraft.
I travel 3-4 times a year, and Transferwise does the job, at the best rates possible.
With regards to interest, I quickly checked online, and i says 5% for the first year (upto £2500) and 1% thereafter? I could be wrong. It’s definitely a very good account for people who make use of all the benefits!
EDIT: I am an idiot. I was looking at FlexDirect, whereas you are talking about FlexPlus. That’s a good one.
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FlexPlus is great value for people with families. But I don’t think there is a packaged account out there of equivalent value for people who don’t need the family element of the packaged products. If Monzo do introduce packaged accounts I think they should offer 2-tiered pricing. A lower price for people who don’t need the family element of packaged products, and a higher price for those that do, much like 2-tiered pricing for streaming services like Spotify.
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If your taking feedback also by posts here, here’s my quick thoughts.
No fees, if im paying you (which i would be happy to!), i don’t want to be paying to put cash into my account at the paypoint. Id also want to do it via the post office, paypoint are useless.
I have zero interest in insurance or other types of things. I can get it better and cheaper cover elsewhere than what banks have ever attempt to provide. Unless you believe you can actually offer something competitive, but even then, in all honesty i wouldn’t be interested. The ability to move insurance and cover to fit actual needs is what people need over generic cover tied to an account that you cant change.
Better rates would be good. Similar to what other banks do that give you better rates if you put in more money.
Better rates on other services, for example if you ever offered a credit card or similar financial services.
Removed or increased limits on your account.
I would say offers and cashback, but if this costs banks money to do, i would rather not have that in favour of better financial services, savings with better rates, better over drafts of loans etc. If it doesn’t cost the banks anything, then these are nice incentives.
I wouldn’t want it to cost the same as other banks. banks charge £15 a month and tak on crap insurance. id rather pay £3/m or something comparable without the crap insurance. (i really want financial services, not insurance services from a bank)