Is this in your app now?
Natwest: Reward Platinum (£20/month)
Nationwide: FlexPlus (£13/month)
Halifax: Ultimate Reward (£17/month)
Co-op: Everyday Extra (£15/month)
… and others. I’m not saying it’s a good idea, but it’s certainly not a new one.
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It should probably be mentioned that ‘Monzo Plus’ is just a concept at the moment.
I quite like the idea of bolting on things like phone insurance, travel insurance etc and creating your own ‘premium’ offering. It’s all optional anyway - just a way to offer collective deals on things some people may find useful. We’ve seen time and again on here lots of people value this kind of thing.
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Just read the January update, some good things, also some alarming ideas. The upshot of my opinions on it are that, while in dealing with the richest people, you will always make the most money, Monzo should instead be a power for good and fairness and pursuit of wealth from any position. Here’s my tuppenceworth:
Mortgages - providing mortgage advice is a great idea. Please use L&C or SJP as an example and make sure it is fee free advice - commission earnings only… that’s what all the best growth companies do.
Insurance - another great idea. I think there’s definitely a gap in the market for insurance for people who struggle to get insurance, but for bizarre reasons. From my own perspective, being a musician and self employed means I am basically the devil to insurers (particularly for car insurance), yet I have never had an accident! Surely there is some way of fully monitoring someone’s driving and judging how good a driver someone actually is, based on their driving and nothing else. There’s hidden value here and this can be applied to other forms of insurance.
Monzo Plus - this sounds like a truly terrible idea, and will probably turn people away from monzo to other cards that don’t charge a fee for a full range of services, and impact on growth for short term monetary gains. Please don’t lock off parts of Monzo to only people that pay. OR make it so so so so cheap, that the cumulative earnings from it make it worthwhile in the end, and not scary to customers.
Savings, savings accounts, investments, all sound like great ideas. Is there a way of actually making Monzo into a mini Wealth Management app, offering people investment in Monzo-only funds, from low to high risk, like SJP would do? Using Monzo banked money of course. I’m sure there are some budding fund managers among us.
Another idea I had, was, Is there a way of incorporating some elements of a credit union into Monzo. Making its users part owners (the investors perhaps), with access to competitive rates of interest and other financial services. I believe it should be possible for Monzo to serve its people AND profit at the same time. Credit unions of considerable size are notoriously strong performers (they did very well comparatively to banks in the 2007 crisis) and Monzo could be a sort of hybrid one, of a huge global size.
I’m between jobs at the moment so if Monzo fancy offering me a job to action any of this that would be awesome! I’m a qualified CeMap mortgage advisor.
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I have a feeling Monzo Plus will be a name for part of the Monzo app where you can buy stuff like insurance rather than locking loads of features away behind a paywall, which I don’t think is what Monzo stand for as a company.
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This thread might be of interest to you @richiehart
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Yes, a lot of insurance companies will fit a black box into your car. It will certainly monitor your driving, but don’t expect your premium to be affected much. Instead, watch as the insurance company uses the data to wriggle out of a claim by finding fault.
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Hello! Just a note to say I’ve merged a few threads with related discussion into this one and removed a duplicate post.
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L&C would be the obvious mortgage brokers for Monzo to partner with. Though to be fair, any fee-free mortgage service that would serve to gain clients through Monzo would be very happy for the business I’m sure! However in terms of insurance, I don’t know of ANY insurers that have truly got their heads screwed on correctly, it’s such a closed shop… I believe there’s a gap in the market here for one which is more… intelligent shall we say.
As for for loyalty benefits etc, I think Lush would be a great partner for Monzo, as they are ethical etc (sort of) and definitely fit the demographic of the people that bank with Monzo. Barclays had some good rewards but mostly they’re not that amazing, I’m sure Monzo, given the amount of millennial run coffee shops there are around London and the number of young Monzo users, could connect the dots here. Which is basically all Barclays did before Pat Vals closed. Gourmet Society SUCKS.
I think wealth management is where Monzo could start to really make some cash, just look at where St James’ Place is now compared to 10 or 20 years ago. In the FTSE100! Underwritten by its users and investors, Monzo could be massive if it went global. SJP I believe carefully select funds each year… and they’ve done very well out of it. Maybe Monzo could even stretch into Hargreaves Lansdown territory with share dealing etc… their app isn’t that easy to use and I’m always a little suspicious of their recommendations! But being readily able to invest the money that you earn through Monzo… there’s got to be real value in that!
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As an investor who loves Monzo this update makes me slightly worried. To be successful, I think Monzo should do two things:
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Focus on improving what they do best and what attracted people in the first place: being an app-only bank it must ensure it has the best and most streamlined app on the market. I feel the app needs to be streamlined now that additional features are being added. The redesign needs to take into consideration that new features will be added and these need to fit in seamlessly. As an example, even though I’m with Monzo since Beta I still don’t really know how to retrieve a chat I had with support
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Channel resources into new areas which are (a) part of strategic road-map and (b) where Monzo can stand out as leader in particular service rather than a me-too proposition. For example, rules-based investment sounds like a natural thing that Monzo should have while offering better mortgages or energy prices sounds like trying to beat other companies at their own core business.
Monzo is a small player so I would not expect it to be able to necessarily always offer best savings / investment rates. However, with smart investment rules and integration of other accounts so you can see them all together / alongside each other Monzo would be THE app and bank to have to manage your money.
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Merchant data info needs an overhaul
Statements still aren’t on A4
The market place doesn’t exist yet - I still use First Direct for my personal loan and regular savings account
The app is starting to look a bit cluttered, but not yet at crisis point
Cheque imaging (coming soon)
Pulse graph trajectory is always rubbish (I suspect it gets skewed by salary coming in, and then a few big expenses in the next couple of days [credit card DD, rent, car finance, savings SO all go out in quick succession])
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I definitely agree here although I kinda think this is something that Monzo will always have on the burner and will just naturally update the App to continue the positive customer experience? Majority of what I see from people who move over to Monzo is that the App is really intuitive and “works”. I’m not sure telling everyone that they’ll continue to streamline the App instead of say creating/ thinking about Monzo Plus, as this is a given surely?
I don’t believe for a second that Monzo aren’t already on a road-map or have resources into about 100 different ideas that aren’t on their post.
I’m not sure this is something that Monzo can realistically do at this point, as you say later in your post they are a “small player” so asking them to become a leader is slightly counter-intuitive.
Absolutely on board here, this is a great idea and something I get the feeling Monzo are looking at/ into. For me having this integrated into Monzo would be perfect. ISAs LISAs and maybe a partnership with Freetrade would all be grand.
I mean most banks offer these products and its no secret that it makes them money, it is part of what a “bank” is so I think its smart that Monzo are looking to offer the same products a Legacy Bank does but with a Monzo twist on it - you could say the same for why anyone would bring a bank account out when there are already so many - I think competition is a good thing, especially if Monzo continue to innovate.
Again this is something I 100% agree with - if Monzo can start to build-up from their “manage your money better/ easier” this is a natural progession.
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This is exactly what I mean: money needs to be invested wisely in a select few capabilities rather than trying a bit of everything. Sure, small labs type features need to be part of the business but they need to invest in and build strategic pillars in order to be successful.
I mean finding features that are missing with large banks. They can absolutely steal the show from the big guys here - they are already doing this, really, just need to find ways to put more distance between themselves and the establishment. Leverage the fact that they are smaller and nimbler and can therefore implement quickly features which will take banks years to implement because of all the legacy tech and processes they are carrying around.
Completely agree - they do need to find sustainable ways to monetise, I just don’t think this should be a flagship feature.
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I agree we don’t want to see Monzo going bust because they’ve thrown money at ALL THE THINGS - but at the same time they are still in a very early stage of their life and need to see what would work and what doesn’t. I don’t get the image that they have masses of teams working on very small things that may never get launched.
100% again but I still don’t think they’ve found those pillars yet or if they have they will take time to grow and flourish - I don’t think Monzo need to rush into anything just yet!
This only goes so far as a lot of banking customers will be “scared” at the way Monzo can chop and change things with such speed - I totally get the attraction (I am attracted to this) but all in all they need to be seen as a Bank that can do it all, but do it all in a fundamentally different way - bring on loans, mortgages, savings accounts the lot - so long as they are innovative and are truly a ‘Monzo’ product.
Agree here again, I’m not sure they are going that way - but they aren’t profitable yet and they won’t by just running a current account for us, they do need to do some more “regular” banking things!
TL;DR I don’t think we need to panic, Monzo are trying to bring features that are arguably stopping others from moving over to Monzo - the things that #FULLMONZO ers want that would make their great experience even greater may take a little longer to bring to fruition because they are now trying to establish themselves.
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Interesting to see this post go up so soon after the general scouting for ideas thread. Either the concept of “Monzo Plus” is further along that the previous thread may have suggested, or there’s a lot of ideas here that may not make it.
Either way, some thoughts of my own:
- A simple way to switch your bills. It can be a real hassle to be sure that you’re always on a fair deal, so what if we could do that for you? Most people could save money on their energy and mobile phone bills, and it’d be much easier to manage this in one place.
Sounds good, sites like USwitch do this well - and I assume part of the business model is a refferal fee. If the app remains uncluttered, all good.
A faster, better way to get a mortgage or remortgage . There’s lots of stress and paperwork in taking out or renewing a mortgage. Many people avoid it, even when the interest rates on their account rise. We think it could be simpler and much quicker.
I feel like mortgages and remortgages are specific enough that there are enough ‘better, simpler’ brokers for it at the moment. Even if the market place isn’t cluttered - process of a mortgage is significant enough that I’m likely to visit a few sites anyway, and so don’t necessarily see that as a huge feature.
Clearer, fairer insurance when you need it. Traditional insurance usually comes with reams of terms and conditions, waiting to catch you out. What if instead it was easy to understand, quick to do, and offered when you need it?
Sounds good - if the price is decent and terms are actually genuinely fair. I’ve been caught out from travel insurance with “you must obtain a police report within 24 hours” when dealing with a lost item.
Loyalty schemes, rewards and cash back on the money you spend.
Please don’t turn into QuidCo.
Visibility of more of your accounts in Monzo . We’d like to give you a way to see all of your financial life in one place, even if those accounts aren’t with Monzo.
Would be valuable if you make the budgeting options way more powerful
More ways to save and invest your money . Investing need not be something only for the very wealthy. Imagine investing by rounding up all your spending, or setting a rule to send any money spare at the end of the month into your ISA.
I don’t like “passive” savings measures as a rule - but better options for investing sound good. I don’t want my money rounded away for me though.
Help building and tracking your credit score .
Personally wouldn’t find that hugely useful.
An option to buy add-on services for your current account. Want to make sure that you’re always covered and your insurance will actually work if you need it? Not a big fan of hot coral cards? We’re exploring what kind of options and extras you’d like to have as part of your bank account.
- Some of these items covered above already - so hopefully part of the same thing.
- I’d only want add-ons for each specific item.
- Card Colours - please have metal…
- Increased Limits - on the fence about - and largely would depend on the price point. Wouldn’t be interested if I have to buy a 12 month package.
What’s the obsession with metal?! Don’t get it
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Looking at the latest teardown of the Android beta, this functionality may be about to come live
I hope all of these things come after:
• payee management has been sorted
• account tab has been updated
• bill splitting is fixed
• payments tab has had a spruce up
• Summary has had some more love
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I think they’ll be doing them in parallel. Last i saw of Monzo’s squad structure, it looked like there was one team on core banking stuff, and another on new things. Which would be fab!
(I might be wrong though - going from memory).
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That’s great if it is 
I’d be disappointed if they keep adding new stuff and forgot about fixing and refining older stuff
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