What is the point of the Marcus bonus rate?

OwnedByACat

I had some money with Marcus when it was competitive. I've moved it now but kept the account open. I just got emailed about the bonus rate. I can just login and apply the bonus and get this higher rate for another year. What is the point of this exercise?

elsien

It’s not just Marcus; cynergy and saga do the same as well. Hoping some people don’t bother?

MeteredOut

OwnedByACat said:

I had some money with Marcus when it was competitive. I've moved it now but kept the account open. I just got emailed about the bonus rate. I can just login and apply the bonus and get this higher rate for another year. What is the point of this exercise?

So they can advertise the higher rate, but know that some people will not renew at the higher rate. So, it'll earn them more money than if they automatically increased the rate for everyone.

OwnedByACat

It's just so easy and they tell you about it so you'd practically have to be in a coma not to bother

Section62

OwnedByACat said:

It's just so easy and they tell you about it so you'd practically have to be in a coma not to bother

Some people are less bothered about chasing the best rates, or even chasing a half-decent rate.

My take on the Marcus bonus rate is it allows them to more flexibly control the flow of money in/out without having to run multiple products.  If they want more cash they can offer a better bonus, if too much cash is coming in they can pull the bonus completely (for new/renewal accounts).  Meanwhile being able to offer only the one easy-access (non-ISA) product and not having to notify all customers about (possibly frequent) increases/decreases in the underlying rate.

molerat

You can renew the bonus for a year daily if you wish.

boingy

Much of banking and other stuff (insurance, utilities etc) make their profits from customer laziness. Sad but true.

RunsFromRobots

boingy said:

Much of banking and other stuff (insurance, utilities etc) make their profits from customer laziness. Sad but true.

It's a bold strategy, Cotton. Let's see if it pays off for them.

Futuristic

It's not just hoping people don't renew at that rate but it gives people who don't follow BoE or sites like MSE that they're getting a special bonus rate so they don't look elsewhere. 

OwnedByACat

Futuristic said:

It's not just hoping people don't renew at that rate but it gives people who don't follow BoE or sites like MSE that they're getting a special bonus rate so they don't look elsewhere. 

But you have to a bit savvy to know about Marcus, otherwise you're just using your bank's paltry savings offerings

Futuristic

OwnedByACat said:

Futuristic said:

It's not just hoping people don't renew at that rate but it gives people who don't follow BoE or sites like MSE that they're getting a special bonus rate so they don't look elsewhere. 

But you have to a bit savvy to know about Marcus, otherwise you're just using your bank's paltry savings offerings

They had a lot of marketing on sites like Which and may be even remember seeing tv ads before so not really. Would be surprised if they get many new customers now since they seem quiet and not competitive