The Triodos app is not what it was - it could easily be a day-to-day bank. You might say it’s a low bar, but it’s better than Smile/Co-op already, and improvements seem to be coming regularly.
Neither Zero nor Algbra are anywhere near that level yet. Zero are very small at the moment whereas Algbra seem to have bigger backing behind it, even before SC involvement. I discovered after signing up to Zero that the daughter of an old school friend works for them. Even beside that, I have leanings toward Zero - but it would need to have much higher levels of functionality.
Got the invite yesterday and signed up. Free overseas use which is always handy.
One confusing thing is that it says you don’t need to prefund your account before spending with it. Don’t see how that works as they don’t seem to have a Curve functionality.
£3 a month for an account with Triodos? Although I’d trust Triodos a lot more, and they’re a far more established bank than Zero. Even though I’ve signed up to Zero, I’ll be surprised if they’re still around by the end of 2025.
These newer banks have got some work to do for me to want to use them over Triodos.
My priorities (*** high, ** lower) and how Triodos meet them:
*** Ethical - Yes, proven track record.
*** Reliable App - Yes.
*** Uncluttered App (I don’t want analytics/adverts) - Yes
*** Scheduled Payments/Standing Orders In App - Yes
** In app CS - No.
** Push Notifications - No
*** Fast payments out - No
*** Google/Apple Pay - Yes with SumUp Pay/Curve
The newbies Zero & Algbra are yes for ethical (although it’s not a proven track record yet) but don’t enough of the *** priorities yet for me to use them as my personal day-to-day account.
I think that’s the important bit when talking about Ethics in banking. It’s very easy, like with Zero to claim you’re ethical when you’re a start-up and haven’t ‘done’ anything yet. Let’s see how ethical they get when they get a big un-ethical investor interested in them with lots of cash to splash around…
If ethics in banking is a top priority, then you’ve pretty much got Triodos or a ‘proper’ Building Society (which, from 5 days ago, now includes Co-op Bank again)
Yep - that’s the Barclaycard Reward. To be honest, ‘in the flesh’ it’s quite a different shade of blue than the others (more purple than blue actually).
I think, because it replaced my previous definitely blue Barclaycard, in my head I always imagine it being a blue card until I actually get it out of my wallet and then I’m a little surprised its purple…
There was an update today which added remembering payees now.
Also, I did try out the card today and I got a push notification as expected when I spent on the card.
Greenscore is still saying it’s not available and I need to start spending on my Zero card or connect another account - I’ve connected 3 accounts already though (I doubt my £4 spent at lunchtime in the local shop for a sandwich is going to give them enough data!)
It’s even worse then it sounds given it’s 3500 registered users not customers
But what does “registered user” mean? To us, it’s anyone who has created an account—whether they’ve just started the application process or are already a full Zero customer, stylish card in hand.
