Monzo tops our bank apps poll as traditional banks lag behind - MSE News

IvanOpinion

Santander only got 27%??? I have been using their app for several years now and it tells me what I need to know, I don't think I have once failed to complete what I needed to do. I am numerically literate so do not need all those graphs, charts and squiggly things that tell me I have over spent on Mars bars and under spent on toilet rolls. I can see my balance and do not feel the need to have to move money from one budget to another to justify buying another pint of milk on the way home.

And I really do not want to be programmed to be so dependent on my banking app that I get withdrawal symptoms if I have not looked at it in the last 5 minutes.

What am I missing?

eskbanker

IvanOpinion wrote: »

What am I missing?

You're missing the fact that such polls solely exist as a harmless bit of fun to enable anyone sufficiently motivated to bump their gums and express entirely subjective opinions, so can't be relied on in any way - with your username you'll probably be familiar with the well-known expression about what opinions are like (i.e. why everyone has one), so in something as unscientific as this it's unsurprising that results may differ from your own personal experience!

ozaz

SlovakianGuy wrote: »

Btw, what's wrong with Monzo customer service? They never asked me to call them which is a big positive to me. Whenever I had some problem, I was able to sort it out via their in-app chat or even on FB/Messenger.

Monzo are struggling to scale their customer service team alongside customer growth. As a result, it can be a lot slower than it was 1-2 years ago. Also, I personally don't like the dependence on chat-based support. I would like to be able to call them and have confidence the call will be answered. At the moment, that's not the case. They de-emphasize phone-based support and push you to chat-based support.

IvanOpinion wrote: »

Santander only got 27%??? I have been using their app for several years now and it tells me what I need to know, I don't think I have once failed to complete what I needed to do. I am numerically literate so do not need all those graphs, charts and squiggly things that tell me I have over spent on Mars bars and under spent on toilet rolls. I can see my balance and do not feel the need to have to move money from one budget to another to justify buying another pint of milk on the way home.

And I really do not want to be programmed to be so dependent on my banking app that I get withdrawal symptoms if I have not looked at it in the last 5 minutes.

What am I missing?

Some of the features I like that you have not mentioned are instant spending notifications and balance updates, rich transaction information, and budgeting tools to help you separate committed upcoming spending (direct debits, subscriptions, standing orders) from discretionary funds.

Congratulations that you are comfortable and successful managing your spending via mental logs and perhaps excel spreadsheets. But I suspect there are a lot more people who aren't, and hence find the features offered by Monzo and Starling compelling when compared to the relatively basic traditional banking apps they are used to.

cloud_dog

ozaz wrote: »

Some of the features I like that you have not mentioned are instant spending notifications and balance updates, rich transaction information, and budgeting tools to help you separate committed upcoming spending (direct debits, subscriptions, standing orders) from discretionary funds.

Soooo, people who are spending are unaware they are spending but receiving an instant notification helps them understand that they have just spent some money. Got it. :think:

ozaz

cloud_dog wrote: »

Soooo, people who are spending are unaware they are spending but receiving an instant notification helps them understand that they have just spent some money. Got it. :think:

In my opinion it's the bit after what you chose to highlight which is the really beneficial bit when it comes to the instant nature of Monzo and Starling banking apps. Instantly updating your balance, transaction history and budgets (if using the budgeting features) as soon as spending occurs (instead of 2-3 days later) helps with spending awareness. Whether you keep notifications on or off is a matter of personal preference. The apps don't force you to keep the notifications on.

eDicky

cloud_dog wrote: »

Soooo, people who are spending are unaware they are spending but receiving an instant notification helps them understand that they have just spent some money. Got it. :think:

Consider the advantage when it's not you but a fraudster who is spending your money somehow, and Instantly you are notified...

Yellow_mango

In my opinion it's the bit after what you chose to highlight which is the really beneficial bit when it comes to the instant nature of Monzo and Starling banking apps. Instantly updating your balance, transaction history and budgets (if using the budgeting features) as soon as spending occurs (instead of 2-3 days later) helps with spending awareness. Whether you keep notifications on or off is a matter of personal preference. The apps don't force you to keep the notifications on.

Instant updates are great, except when they’re not instant. I went to bed last night with a balance of c.£50 in my Starling account. Woke up to find myself £20 overdrawn. The culprit I suspect is a pay at pump transaction in France on Friday. Although that was showing in my transaction list. Another transaction appeared this afternoon that took place on Friday morning, for which I got an instant notification but it never appeared in my transaction list.

All of which is fine, as long as you’re aware not to trust the “balance” too much. It is irritatingly difficult to reconstruct what has happened though.

“
Soooo, people who are spending are unaware they are spending but receiving an instant notification helps them understand that they have just spent some money. Got it.
Originally posted by cloud_dog
”
Consider the advantage when it's not you but a fraudster who is spending your money somehow, and Instantly you are notified...

Or when it’s a joint account and someone else is doing the spending

colsten

Yellow_mango wrote: »

Instant updates are great, except when they’re not instant. I went to bed last night with a balance of c.£50 in my Starling account. Woke up to find myself £20 overdrawn. The culprit I suspect is a pay at pump transaction in France on Friday. Although that was showing in my transaction list. Another transaction appeared this afternoon that took place on Friday morning, for which I got an instant notification but it never appeared in my transaction list.

All of which is fine, as long as you’re aware not to trust the “balance” too much. It is irritatingly difficult to reconstruct what has happened though.



Or when it’s a joint account and someone else is doing the spending

A great example of what can happen if you (ab-)use your bank account as a budgeting tool.

ozaz

In my opinion the problem posed to instant updating by transaction amounts that can change after they take place (e.g. pay-at-pump and foreign transactions) and by offline payment terminals (which also lead to non-instant data) are relatively minor in the grand scheme of things.

I don’t think they significantly detract from the overall benefit of instant balance updating (compared to the traditional delay everything approach) because I expect for most people these types of ‘problematic’ transactions make up a relatively small amount of total transactions (for me it’s certainly less than 5%, perhaps less than 2%).

Furthermore the banks can mitigate against the first issue by highlighting in the transaction list or the spending notification the transactions that are likely to change before settling. Monzo have started doing this.

cloud_dog

My comment was selective and was a little tongue in cheek but the follow up posts have indicated that whilst they may provide good and timely information they are not a substitute for budgeting.

colsten wrote: »

A great example of what can happen if you (ab-)use your bank account as a budgeting tool.

Colsten sums it up nicely and it is important for people to understand that these rich apps do not absolve you of the responsibility to understand your finances and budget appropriately.

Please don't take this post the wrong way, I am not preaching, merely trying to highlight that these apps do not provide all the answers; only you can take that responsibility. We see a similar 'absolution' effect with apps that help you save by rounding up purchase transactions. Those apps don't encourage you to save they simply encourage you to spend....spending now has two benefits, I get what I have purchased and I am saving. No. If you want to save understand your finances and commit yourself to saving £X.

(I'll go back in my box now)