I was talking to one of my US friend today and told him that Monzo will be out in the States soon and as a huge fan I told him he must sign up as soon as it’s out.He asked why and I started to list all of Monzo’s greatness: Instant notifications, saving pots, categorise spending, freezing a lost card, no fees abroad, etc etc. But he said that he has all that with his current bank. Which makes me think will Monzo make a present in the US market like they have done in the UK, if the banks are already implementing these features? Are the UK traditional banks that much behind vs the USA? Also please share what else features that I can use to sell him to Monzo 
3 Likes
I’d be intrigued to know what bank that is as AFAIK instant notifications is really hard to achieve in the US because of the fragmentation of their infrastructure. I’d be surprised if Monzo can do it even…
3 Likes
I’d settle for lil’ old California and Texas - that would give Monzo another market the size of the UK 
1 Like
Although I’m excited to see Monzo move into the US, the US is a lot more complicated than the UK. As far as I know, they need to have a licence in each state they would like to operate.
2 Likes
Do instant notifications work if someone currently uses their Monzo card in the US? If they do then Monzo should be able to make them work when they release their US accounts?
Don’t they have fees for everything there though?
Removing your bank card from your pocket - $0.50
Playing “will I have to sign for this?” roulette - $1
Bank transfer to myself - $8.20
But also, well done for (IMO) bucking Betteridge’s law of headlines
5 Likes
There is also the De Novo Federal license which would allow you to ‘passport’ across the states. That is what Paul Rippon said Monzo is going for IIRC…
In the meantime a partnership with Stripe would be very nice 
6 Likes
No, US banking is far behind the rest of the world. No faster payments, still use cheques, still use mag stripes and signatures, no apis, no open banking.
I think Monzo will do well in the US market.
15 Likes
What is Chime like in comparison? Anyone had a good look?
There are a bunch of reviews of Chime on YouTube, some very descriptive of what to expect.
When I watched them recently, they were all pretty positive, but I kind of got the impression that everything described was mediocre compared to the options we have in the U.K., kind of like a slightly faster horse rather than a car, to coin a phrase. They appear to be selling themselves on having no fees, rather than being the future of banking etc.
They have a really good growth curve. I think I read that they have gone from 1m to 3m+ users within a year. They are valued lower than Monzo though (very recently), even though they have more users and a better growth curve. They don’t own their tech stack if I recall correctly, just a quasi-partnership thing with Bancorp.
It bodes well for Monzo that a lipstick-on-a-pig job is doing so well over there. Obviously my dismissive tone is just reflecting my own opinion of the reviews I watched so if you get the time then I’d recommend watching them too 
Start here:
6 Likes
Have they said that’s who they’d partner with? I think they’ve said they’ll definitely piggy-back with a partner before making a De Novo application but wasn’t sure if any potential partners had been named.
No they have not. Apologies if partnering with Stripe came across as fact. It was most definitely speculation! 
1 Like
No no it didn’t I don’t really know a lot about the American market so wasn’t sure if you knew something!
1 Like
Did he say which bank he was with?
Not speaking for the OP - but I do know Bank of America give instant transaction notifications where possible
1 Like
Yes and yes!
4 Likes
They have cheque imaging at least. It would be expected of Monzo to provide that functionality if they came to the US
2 Likes
Same with American Express.
I get the same response from Halifax customers
Correct 