I can’t say I feel the same at all about Monzo (quite the opposite, I honestly think it’s the best bank in the world right now for many many reasons) but it must be said that it’s hard to disagree with a lot of those points…
Plus really is a mess, depositing cash really is a mess, categories and merchant information are truely a mess right now…
At the extreme end, my dream would be my parents going full Monzo. And if Monzo really do want to be a bank for 1 billion people or whatever, they will at some point need to sway people like them. But there’s no way they’re going to use a bank you can’t easily and freely pay money into!! It’s not a ‘real bank’ as far as they are concerned right now.
Indeed. Nor do I particularly. But firstly, we’re talking about growth here right? You and me are not everyone. If Monzo wants to get 1 billion customers it has to appeal to more than you and I! And secondly, I hate cash with a passion, but sometimes we can’t help but get given it. And when we do, what then? I don’t want to spend cash because of all the reasons I hate cash (no purchase protection/potential to be lost or stolen etc). I want to deposit it. Exactly because I hate it!
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phildawson
(Sorry, I will have to escalate this.)
145
There’s no one bank to rule them all. Nor is it a good idea to have all eggs in one basket. You use the banks which give you what you need, as I mentioned above Monzo/Starling/Lloyds/Amex/Marcus all give me things that no one service can give me.
We can all pretend everything is fine and never say a bad word but If no one is critical then nothing changes. I don’t tend to support companies unless I’ve got money invested but I genuinely want Monzo to be the best and pull banking along so everyone benefits. The issue they are facing is the trying to do everything, losing focus and customer service that used to exist and trading all for rapid growth.
I will. They are no doubt losing by the bucketload on this service. If Barclays believe the PO is too expensive then I’m sure it’s too expensive for Starling too.
How many times have you had that conversation? The % of the population who use cash/cheques is the minority (and it’s falling). Yes, it’s an annoyance and seems like a step back.
Also, scare mongering on the freepost (you can ask for tracking at a post office) isn’t great.
Looking at what’s left for me to be considered ‘full Monzo’ I’d have to do a CASS switchy thing which I could.
But Bill Pots don’t yet include ‘subscriptions paid from card’ so it would change the way I manage my money too much I think. That plus I’m not able to make Monzo aware of both my weekly Salary and my monthly ‘bump’ so budgeting is a no go (as is the ‘Summary/left to spend’ information).
Monzo wouldn’t be all that impressed if instead of using Freepost pricing you’re instead letting RM bill them for Signed For / Tracked instead which doesn’t have any effect if it’s lost as it goes through the same way as the untracked letter does.
I wouldn’t want to go full anything - let alone bank. Currently I use:
Cynergy and Marcus for savings (recently had Halifax for a H2B ISA too)
Monzo for my day-to-day spends
Natwest for my salary (I’m on the Graduate account so still have a very generous overdraft. I’ll probably switch when this goes)
Natwest and Halifax for my credit cards
Revolut for a back-up to Monzo card abroad
Monzo is good and it does what I want it to. I like the notifications and I like the fact I can keep my day-to-day spending away from my salary/bills/savings. Yes, there are ways to do this within the Monzo universe but having to go into a different app, or get a different card out creates a physical barrier for me to think twice about reckless/unnecessary spending.
What would tempt me to end my current hussie approach to banks? If Monzo offered everything all the rivals did - so doubled their foreign withdrawal allowance, gave me a £2000 overdraft for free, a credit card with Section 75 protection, etc. Monzo can’t/doesn’t do that - maybe for now, maybe it never will - but that’s why I won’t ever go full any financial service. I like to draw on each provider for their strengths.
My main account is still with Nationwide, and will stay there for the foreseeable future for 2 reasons:
Free European Travel Insurance
Select Credit Card with very high credit limit (should I ever need it) and zero overseas fees
I also have a Nat West credit card with a zero balance, which I have only kept because I have had it so long
I have closed all of my other Legacy accounts, choosing instead to rely heavily on fintechs.
Monzo - everyday spending
Starling - overseas spending and cash withdrawals
Revolut - back up overseas spending (funded from main account, no fees)
Monese - I like the idea of a separate card for the Euro account (and the card design )
Tandem - cashback credit card with no overseas fees
N26 - opened, but as yet unused
Curresea - again, not used yet, but i like the idea
Curve - so I don’t have to carry all these cards around
Also, with all of the fintech offerings around at the moment, I can see some of them unfortunately failing, hence why I have signed up to so many of them.
Another issue came up in another thread - the web app functionality is severely lacking. I don’t need budget management and “full Monzo” on the web, but if I’m without my phone for a few weeks (stolen, in for repair, etc) I need the same functionality every other bank gives me online - the obvious missing pieces are transfers out and managing Direct Debits and Standing Orders. Hopefully I’d never need to use this, but I want to know it’s there in case I need it.
The reason I’ve not gone full Monzo is the customer service. I’ve had a few issues and Monzo with payments, Monzo have always been really slow to resolve and make the customer jump through all the hoops to get their money back.
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