Just got my current account invite.
So, this is interesting... I'd not heard of Monzo before. Looks good. Anyone actually using it yet?
Monzo bank
- Thread starter Chris D
- Start date
The thing that caught my eye about Monzo was:
I wish NatWest would wake up and sort this out. A few shop payments I made earlier have deducted from my available balance, but they won't actually show on the list of transactions or account balance until probably Wednesday at the earliest. Makes it difficult to keep track sometimes.
I got an invite to it last year and have used it a fair amount since then.
Basically, in its current state they send you a prepaid Mastercard and you use their app to top up that card via Apple Pay, bank transfer, etc. Main benefit of Monzo (in the prepaid form) is that the app isn't clunky and you don't get shafted by fees when you use the card abroad. I tried it out in places like America and France so definitely helped out with that and saving me from ridiculous fees and also me forgetting to tell one of the banks I'm with that I'm going abroad.
Recently, they got approved for a full fledged banking license which means they're now able to offer current accounts and all the benefits that come with that (things like overdrafts, standing orders, etc). It's in an invite-only preview stage at the moment but it seems to be chugging along. There's a handy dandy count of how many current accounts are active, at the moment, that you can see here.
Liam W
in memoriam 1998-2020
Most (normal) banks do that though. What's more annoying is when they don't come out of your available balance until a few days later (petrol pumps do this).
Liam
Yeah, you get pretty instant notifications when transactions occur (and often where it happened). The app has some basic level of analytical and budget support letting you see fairly easily how much money you're blowing on your favourite Chinese place.
Liam W
in memoriam 1998-2020
Yeah, you get pretty instant notifications when transactions occur (and often where it happened). The app has some basic level of analytical and budget support letting you see fairly easily how much money you're blowing on your favourite Chinese place.
But if I knew that, I'd spiral into depression! Much better to just leave it be and pretend you haven't spent any money...
Alpha1
Well-known member
This has some interesting information & articles: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/mondo#/
Liam W
in memoriam 1998-2020
That doesn't really exist in the UK. It's either a debit or a credit card, never both. And we of course use proper EMV in all cases
.
RobinHood
Well-known member
A buddy of mine backed them when they were crowdfunding and showed me the app when he got his card last year/early this year. Seems good if you want an easy way to track all your finances spent through that card.
I think the highlight was the decent rates abroad if you travel.
Like Liam, I'm happy in the ignorance of exactly what categories all my spending falls into
Seems like a neat idea, but I don't know if the app and tracking is enough to make me switch. I may get an account in the future just for travel...or perhaps so I can order from Amazon.com at a better exchange rate. Hmmmm...might have to look into that.
I think the highlight was the decent rates abroad if you travel.
Like Liam, I'm happy in the ignorance of exactly what categories all my spending falls into
Seems like a neat idea, but I don't know if the app and tracking is enough to make me switch. I may get an account in the future just for travel...or perhaps so I can order from Amazon.com at a better exchange rate. Hmmmm...might have to look into that.
DragonByte Tech
Well-known member
I've been using it for a fair while now, I absolutely love it. The app is gorgeous, and as an iPhone owner I don't need a password or a memorable word to login (although Bank of Scotland / Lloyds and NatWest both have TouchID too now).
What I love the most about it is how easy it is to request a replacement card. So I was at a cash machine in an area I wasn't familiar with, and the machine crashed, rebooted (did you know cash machines run on OS/2 by IBM? I didn't.) and kept my card. I phoned the number printed on the machine and they said essentially "go to your bank and get a new card".
The process? Tap "Card" in the bottom nav -> tap Freeze -> tap Lost / Stolen Card, and that's pretty much it. The new card was in my hands 2 days later.
Now I don't know about you, but sometimes I keep weird sleep schedules which makes it hard for me to make it to a bank's branch opening times, and I also have a bit of anxiety when it comes to speaking on the phone with people I don't know, so the fact that I didn't have to phone yet more people to go from "oh bugger, my card's gone" to having the new card in my hand is a huge plus for me.
Do you want to try it? I have a "Golden Ticket" which lets you get their prepaid card that you can top up via card or bank transfer. Let me know and I'll see about sending it over PC
It literally is instant as well. If I'm at Tesco, nine times out of ten I will have the notification on my phone before the self checkout machine is done printing my receipt. In 100% of cases it's on my phone before I'm out the door.
I have never seen a bank do that, it comes out of the available balance but it doesn't show the transaction until a few days later (BoS / NW being the only banks I've been with).
In short, I really can't recommend Monzo enough to anyone in the UK who wants a smarter bank, I personally cannot wait to fully switch
Fillip
Liam W
in memoriam 1998-2020
Nationwide definitely does it. When I've used my debit card to pay for my Mum's petrol at the pay@pump (her debit card doesn't work on it for some reason), it authorises me to pump up to £90, but it doesn't come out of the available balance for a couple of days.
Liam
DragonByte Tech
Well-known member
DragonByte Tech
Well-known member
This thread inspired me, I’ve switched salary deposits over to my Monzo current account and switched Netflix / Amazon Prime over as well. Gonna aim to use it for all direct debits going forward, I’m pretty excited 
Fillip
Fillip
Sooner I can ditch NatWest, the better.This thread inspired me, I’ve switched salary deposits over to my Monzo current account and switched Netflix / Amazon Prime over as well. Gonna aim to use it for all direct debits going forward, I’m pretty excited
Fillip
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