A Monzo splash page could do a lot more to help.
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I think another option would be anyone that receives benefits into their Monzo bank account doesn’t have to pay the fee. I’m not saying that only people on benefits struggle but if Monzo want to be an account for everyone I feel they’re failing this group by charging for deposits.
It also has a benefit for Monzo in that it’s a way to incentivise some of these to switch to Monzo as their main account.
Are people on benefits more likely to deposit cash? It’s paid directly into your account. And what benefits would count? You can get child benefit with a very large salary
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I think another option would be to charge a fair price to everyone and let the customers (and the market as a whole) decide if they want to use the product.
Still don’t get why everyone is so butthurt about cash fees - are you guys dealing drugs to have so much cash to deposit that the fee would actually make a difference?
What’s wrong with just spending the occasional bit of cash? Depositing the cash is a convenience, it’s not mandatory (you can still spend the cash directly). If you can’t afford the convenience you can do without. Would you also advocate for people on benefits to be entitled to other convenience services like food delivery/etc? 
I wouldn’t say child benefit. I’d say income support, tax credits etc - the same that water companies and energy suppliers help with.
I’m also not saying they pay in more cash i just think why would these people switch to Monzo if it’s going to perhaps cost them more.
i just think why would these people switch to Monzo if it’s going to perhaps cost them more.
Is that an issue though? Monzo is aiming for profitability. Giving away freebies and making even more losses is counterproductive. Sure, those customers will be happy… until the entire company runs out of money after it’s given it all away in the form of various payment processing fees.
With universal credit it’s hard to see. People previously on income support or those who are on a reasonable wage and receive a low amount of child tax credit all now receive universal credit (in some areas). Would be difficult to sort that out
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I’ve had friends that have gone through various issues that have resulted in them having to go on benefits and it is a massive struggle. Sometimes they need to pay in small amounts of cash to pay a bill. The £1 would be a struggle.
Other companies help people out that are on benefits and I see no reason why Monzo can’t help people in a time like that. Not everyone stays on benefits so it’s a way of creating loyalty for when they come off.
Monzo is either a bank for everyone or not. If they want to stick with that then they need to be it.
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Other companies help people out that are on benefits and I see no reason why Monzo can’t help people in a time like that.
Monzo is already doing quite a lot in terms of not hitting you with insane fees if you get a direct debit declined. These fees can quickly become a problem if you’re in a difficult time and get a few bills declined in a row.
Monzo however should still aim to remain profitable. If you want them to give away money for free then it’s no longer a business but a charity.
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Yeah towards the end of the pre paid scheme the costs were running high due to so many sign ups and the pre paid scheme not being as cheap to run.
This is their latest customer unit economics (for the average customer per year):
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Can only see this going up now also considering the cash deposits fees and high interest easy access loans.
Good news for Monzo i guess 
Monzo don’t make a profit from Cash Deposits, they said the fee purely covers the operational cost.
The marketplace and integrations with other providers will hopefully be the real money maker though.
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They do in the sense of loaning the money out in the form of overdrafts yes, but not money from the fee charged to the end user to make the deposit.
Saving pots killed two pots with one stone:
- To provide people with interest on their savings, something people have been asking for.
- It gives Monzo the ability to start off with a base for the marketplace concept so to speak. It proves that a tight integration can work, they just need to get more providers onboard over time. I view it as a showcase as to what can be achieved.
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That’s lending products. Deposits (specifically the £1 fee) are to cover costs - not a profit driver.
To me it’s the opposite. They deep linked their first savings partner in. Giving them leverage to get better deals with other providers - they can now approach other savings providers and say “£x is saved with our bank & x customers use savings pots” - do you wanna get in on our marketplace or be left out? When you go to create a savings pot, it says “more providers coming soon”.
They only have to walk a few providers through deep integration before opening up their API when they have good terms set.
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I highly doubt Monzo have a lack of money to lend out and that they require more deposits before approving more overdrafts.
If they were that close to being illiquid the FCA would be on their back + the £85m just raised would have disappeared worryingly fast.
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No, these days things in banking are largely free because no-one wants to be the first to charge for something.
When cash machine charging came in way back when, it came in everywhere in a fairly short time (as I remember it). Once it was seen as acceptable to charge, the flood gates opened.
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Hi @thomastte,
I’m really sorry about this 
We are working with PayPoint to ensure all retailers are aware of this and how it works 
If anyone does have any issues, if you could DM me the name and address of the store you had problems with, as well as a short description of what happened we can pass it on to PayPoint for you 
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I’ve just done this, was so easy. Took less than a minute. The receipt told me when my money would be available and reminded me about the charge and I Instantly got a notification from Monzo telling me my cash would be available in 10 minutes.
I don’t mind the £1 charge as I would spend that in petrol and/or parking getting to my nearest bank whereas there’s a pay point 5 mins walk away.
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Given that financial inclusion is within your roadmap I think an integration with Post Office where financially excluded people can find themselves comfortable using banking service is necessary. As for now, replacing everyone’s card sounds like a costly resolution but in the long run, when intergration with PO happens Monzo won’t have to face a massive bill of replacing everyone’s card if the process is started now.
Plus, staffs at Post Office are definitely more used to unconventional transactions like writing a cheque or depositing a cheque whereas staffs at news agent would be much less familiar with them. From the feedbacks it does look like Pay Point isn’t much of an easy encounter.
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