Will Monzo survive?

They for sure need to bring support time down a little - there comes a point though when just hiring is not scalable.

They need to find other ways to reduce that support time - which will be the real challenge.

When Monzo were back in the Pre 1M days, support time was noticeably faster - whenever I did need to contact them, I’d get a response in under 10/15 mins.

I’m sure as and when Starling get to that scale they’d see the same problem - will be interesting to see how that plays out.

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And it makes absolute sense to not dump your existing bank and rely entirely on Monzo. No other bank suggests doing that and I’m not even sure Monzo do.

“Full Monzo”, irritating phrase though it is (almost as bad as “Brexit”), isn’t about burning all your other banking bridges. Pay your salary in, maybe, and set up some DDs or SOs.

It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. :slightly_smiling_face:

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A few of my friends asked at the pub, having seen Watchdog and knowing that I’m a Monzo customer. I said I wasn’t worried, and I’m not. Yeah, this could have been handled better, but it seemed to me that every bank does it, but Monzo was the one that got moaned about.

I’ve been in touch with CS a few times and it’s been fine. A few small delays but none of the queries were urgent. I know I can call if they are urgent.

We are 100% Monzo for day to day, with savings in another bank. But that’s just sensible, surely, as interest rates higher at other banks.

Ideally they’d have joint account overdrafts and cheque imaging but in the end, I would likely rarely use either. Just nice to have.

If there’s stuff at Monzo like that which bothers you, then nobody is stopping you leaving. But I do think the risks/worries/blind panic is overstated by some on the forum. Will they survive? Who knows. But I very seriously doubt they won’t.

I’ve been really happy since I moved and very sure I made right choice moving from Lloyds.

But maybe - even if you were uncomfortable with Watchdog - perhaps calm it a little. Polls questioning whether Monzo will survive or not is hugely melodramatic, especially considering what they were accused of. It took much more to bring down RBS, for example.

So to quote Harry Enfield’s scousers. Calm down, calm down.

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Elvis has entered the building, said something I thoroughly nod along with, and then left the building

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Thank you!

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Thank you very much.

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They all encourage you to close the old account - it’s part of the Current Account Switch Service - and some banks practically bribe you into using it!

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I really want Monzo to succeed but it is lacking in every single department.
It has no killer app functionality that immediately gives value to the user.

Eg. using a curve card, though not a current account, immediately reduces my 12 odd debit/credit cards to 2 (lack of amex support) and you can change the card used for transaction after the fact - its a killer feature.

The UI change was a downgrade. It seems it takes more clicks and swipes to achieve the same result. Also why can I only see a few transactions before I need to scroll down? The highstreet bank apps definitely have the upper hand here.

Interest rates, overdraft and other loan offerings just cannot compete.
Other challenger banks offer multi currency, investing etc.

One thing Monzo does have going for it is its easily accessible API which is good for enthusiasts. If Monzo could have a good money management browser based portal (something like YNAB) then it would make me want to use it as my main bank account. For now it will remain unused

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Good point. I’d say though, that it’s common these days for folk to have multiple accounts.

I’ve not thought this through, but the CASS incentive seems more like an incentive to get you on board rather than as a guarantee to keep your business.

For those with several accounts, that incentive can be claimed anyway, but it doesn’t stop you immediately redirecting your salary to another account if you remain doubtful about the target account. Just don’t CASS away from that trusted legacy bank if you’ve real regard for them.

Dip your toe in any or all those new banks - make it an interesting journey - not a millstone.

End of sermon - sorry :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

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We have easy access savings pots - is that what you mean? Or something more specific? :slight_smile:

Maybe where you have to pay in a certain amount every certain period, in return for more interest?

For me the crunch point is customer service. I love the app and I’ve personally invested in the bank. However I find every time I need to talk to customer service, it’s a very painful experience.

It’s making me seriously consider going to other provider.

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How are you having so many issues that you are going into branches? I honestly haven’t been into a bank branch in about 10 years. They’re really not important unless you have a lot of cash imo.

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I only have a 10/15 minute walk into town to the branch of my legacy bank. I know some people might not have this luxury in which case a digital bank might make sense.

The ability to withdraw cash is a concern, along with the fact there is a £10,000 faster payments limit. I know it can be increased temporarily. However, as Monzo have no branches and are a digital challenger bank shouldn’t they be breaking the mould and offer an increased limit?

I’m one of those who is increasingly concerned. Watchdog, MasterCard, Monzo plus… they all leave me worried that things are not well in the house of Monzo and the poor customer service just exacerbated my concerns.

Over the last week it’s taken me five chat messages, 2 DMs and 3 tweets to find out what’s going on with the latest MasterCard issues and it’s still not resolved. I don’t have time for that kind of chasing. I’m currently at the point where money may be taken from my account because of errors on Monzo’s part.

I was considering swapping my salary but I no longer feel my money is safe and customer service, polite as it is, is just a merry go round where no-one seems to know what’s going on.

Any one of the issues I would have shrugged my shoulders and said ‘it happens’ but combined, I’m left really uneasy. I’ve ended up saying to those I’ve recommended Monzo to, ‘only put into that account what you can afford to lose’. It’s sad because it does have features I like (pots, easy transfers, instant notifications) but I’m not keen on risk.

As others have said, customer service is the killer on this. When there’s been a problem with my account, my legacy bank has sorted it within 48 hours 90% of the time. It take me longer than that to get a response with Monzo and then it’s always ‘escalated to a specialist’ which is at least another two days. The specialist then had to look into it. Cue another two days.

Monzo isn’t for people like me who rely on having access to their money.

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Pay your credit card off every month … can’t get a better rate than that?

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Also, customer numbers are still going up …

so most people hopefully either realise the watchdog article was rubbish or they didn’t watch/care.

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Seriously?

You’re right, I don’t really need access to my money that’s why I bank with Monzo. In fact I think that is their mission statement “Monzo, for those who don’t want to rely on having access to their money”

Your account is very new, are you a fraudster? You can be honest … or can you?

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I hate the idea of being suspicious of new people (honestly, I want this forum to be safe and welcoming) but I am honestly starting to worry that I just can’t trust what I read on the internet anymore :disappointed_relieved:

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I see a lot of people having lots of problems with Monzo here saying they will stick to or will go back to legacy banks because legacy banks are more reliable when my experience has been exactly the opposite. From a very well known legacy bank only providing me with a cash card (you can ONLY use it to withdraw money from cash machines) lying and saying to me I had to wait a year until I could have a debit card on my account (a debit, not a credit card!) because I’m not British (when every other non British people I know in the UK had debit cards straight away!) and then after that year passed making it difficult for me to get a debit card saying it’s a “lengthy process” to another legacy bank cancelling my credit card (which had always been paid in full ) saying I had requested the cancellation (I didn’t) and making me pay 20 pounds for a new one because no matter how many times I said I had never requested the cancellation they said “the system says you did so you have to pay, I’m very sorry” my legacy banking experiences have been pretty bad at times. Monzo has its big flaws but legacy banks are definitely not perfect or better.

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