Monzo/Starling Banking/Revolut

mid_gen · 5 Aug 2020 at 09:48

Happy Starling customer, but I'm giving up waiting for them to launch a credit card, and I want to ditch my dinosaur accounts and move to all app-based.

I've seen this Tymit one advertised, anyone had any experience?

Basher · 5 Aug 2020 at 09:52

mid_gen said:
Happy Starling customer, but I'm giving up waiting for them to launch a credit card, and I want to ditch my dinosaur accounts and move to all app-based.

I've seen this Tymit one advertised, anyone had any experience?

What is it you're looking for in an app-based credit card?

mid_gen · 5 Aug 2020 at 09:55

Basher said:
What is it you're looking for in an app-based credit card?

I just want something that I can manage through an app without having to deal with idiot call centers.

I don't care about interest rates or balance transfers as I don't use it much and always pay off in full....it's really just for big purchases and the Section 75 protection, and the odd places that don't take debit cards for whatever reason.

Martynt74 · 5 Aug 2020 at 10:00

Ah, i was going to suggest Amex for the rewards, but if you want minimal hassle then that's not ideal (although more and more places are taking it i find, helped by their "shop Small" promotion)

What do you specifically need though that regular cards don't offer? I don't think i've ever had to call any of my credit card companies. I always just pay online/through the app. Natwest is decent and seem to have added the option to pay in installments for large purchases. I've not used it yet but they seem to offer a rate around 2.9% which is comparable to loans which seems a great option.

m@rty · 5 Aug 2020 at 10:06

mid_gen said:
I just want something that I can manage through an app without having to deal with idiot call centers.

I don't care about interest rates or balance transfers as I don't use it much and always pay off in full....it's really just for big purchases and the Section 75 protection, and the odd places that don't take debit cards for whatever reason.

I’m sure you’re aware but you can do that with loads of credit cards these days. I don’t think I’ve ever had to speak to anyone on the phone with my Barclaycard or MBNA card and generally do everything via the apps.

mid_gen · 5 Aug 2020 at 10:10

Marvt74 said:
Ah, i was going to suggest Amex for the rewards, but if you want minimal hassle then that's not ideal (although more and more places are taking it i find, helped by their "shop Small" promotion)

What do you specifically need though that regular cards don't offer? I don't think i've ever had to call any of my credit card companies. I always just pay online/through the app. Natwest is decent and seem to have added the option to pay in installments for large purchases. I've not used it yet but they seem to offer a rate around 2.9% which is comparable to loans which seems a great option.

I've had to deal with a few things with Starling, and being able to just deal with them through a chat session on the app is a godsend.

Being able to 100% administer the account through an app is a requirement. No post, no phone calls. I have an MBNA card but the app is awful compared to Starling.

Biz.Kid09 · 5 Aug 2020 at 10:30

mid_gen said:
I've had to deal with a few things with Starling, and being able to just deal with them through a chat session on the app is a godsend.

Being able to 100% administer the account through an app is a requirement. No post, no phone calls. I have an MBNA card but the app is awful compared to Starling.

I did the whole sign up process for AMEX online and I have done all my admin via the app or the live chat. I have had excellent customer service from AMEX all in. They are not quite as accepted as your standard credit card but get decent rewards, cashback, money off offers etc and the app is decent so I would recommend them.

ChrisD. · 5 Aug 2020 at 19:26

I use an Amex for day to day spending and it gives me Avios points.

LiE · 6 Aug 2020 at 08:29

Just found this awesome Monzo pot image generator created by a community member.

Uses font awesome icons, it’s really good.

https://potimages.rknight.me/

Danthus · 6 Aug 2020 at 12:51

LiE said:
Just found this awesome Monzo pot image generator created by a community member.

Uses font awesome icons, it’s really good.

https://potimages.rknight.me/

That's awesome.

nightmare99 · 8 Aug 2020 at 14:28

Starling's trading update looks worlds away from Monzo's who appear to be struggling https://www.starlingbank.com/investors/2020/trading-update-2020/

Stu999 · 8 Aug 2020 at 14:37

nightmare99 said:
Starling's trading update looks worlds away from Monzo's who appear to be struggling https://www.starlingbank.com/investors/2020/trading-update-2020/

Thanks for posting. Still made a loss of £52m vs. £25m the previous year. A lot better than Monzo’s loss of £113m though. Also going concern not highlighted as an issue for Starling.

Edit - also interesting to see Monzo has more than double the number of customers that Starling has (3.9m vs. 1.5m).

nightmare99 · 8 Aug 2020 at 15:02

Starling have more customers using it as their main bank account (average deposit is a lot higher) whilst a lot of Monzo customers just use it as a holiday card (not great in COVID times). They also forecast that they will break even soon, from the CEOs letter "We remain on track to reach break even by the end of 2020, hitting the target we set a year ago." here https://www.starlingbank.com/investors/2020/letter-from-ceo-2020/

Also throwing some serious shade at Monzo "It has also focused minds in the fintech sector on business models and exposed those without a clear path to profitability. I’m reminded of what Warren Buffet said at the time of the financial crisis, “Only when the tide goes out, do you discover who has been swimming naked.”"

englishpremier · 8 Aug 2020 at 20:39

Stu999 said:
Thanks for posting. Still made a loss of £52m vs. £25m the previous year. A lot better than Monzo’s loss of £113m though. Also going concern not highlighted as an issue for Starling.

Edit - also interesting to see Monzo has more than double the number of customers that Starling has (3.9m vs. 1.5m).

But less of those customers use it as a primary bank account, and IIRC Monzo customers only deposit half as much as Sterling customers. At least this is what I remember reading around June last year. But then Starling were also expecting to make a profit this year, so that didn't work out.

nightmare99 · 9 Aug 2020 at 14:13

englishpremier said:
But less of those customers use it as a primary bank account, and IIRC Monzo customers only deposit half as much as Sterling customers. At least this is what I remember reading around June last year. But then Starling were also expecting to make a profit this year, so that didn't work out.

See my post above, Starling reckon they are on track to break even before the end of this year.

Danthus · 10 Aug 2020 at 09:50

I've made the leap to Starling, HSBC cheesed me with with a simple thing like changing address.

englishpremier · 11 Aug 2020 at 21:13

Tide (a business account, no banking licence) have contacted me after what must be 2.5 years now, and are saying verification wasn't captured correctly when I registered and that I need to upload a selfie. to do so you have to go through the registration processes.

It looks to me that they rushed registrations when they first did their beta opening years ago, possibly didn't do everything by the book, and are now trying to sort it out.

I've told them to ''go and do one' and to close the account and transfer any funds to one of my many other personal / business accounts (I test a lot of them). Stupid stuff like that is why I left traditional accounts. Will be interesting to see what they do. Not had a response for days now.

Maccy · 12 Aug 2020 at 09:15

englishpremier said:
Tide (a business account, no banking licence) have contacted me after what must be 2.5 years now, and are saying verification wasn't captured correctly when I registered and that I need to upload a selfie. to do so you have to go through the registration processes.

It looks to me that they rushed registrations when they first did their beta opening years ago, possibly didn't do everything by the book, and are now trying to sort it out.

I've told them to ''go and do one' and to close the account and transfer any funds to one of my many other personal / business accounts (I test a lot of them). Stupid stuff like that is why I left traditional accounts. Will be interesting to see what they do. Not had a response for days now.

That's a bit strange, perhaps worrying too. I didn't have any issues when I joined around 2 years ago, hopefully it was done by the book then!

Deleted member 77746 · 12 Aug 2020 at 09:40

Stu999 said:
Thanks for posting. Still made a loss of £52m vs. £25m the previous year. A lot better than Monzo’s loss of £113m though. Also going concern not highlighted as an issue for Starling.

Edit - also interesting to see Monzo has more than double the number of customers that Starling has (3.9m vs. 1.5m).

That's very worrying considering these banks haven't even been on the market for 5 years.

LiE · 18 Aug 2020 at 16:37

Samsung have launched Samsung Pay Card, similar to Apple Card. It uses Curve.

Looks pretty interesting! You cannot apply if you already have a Curve card though.

I imagine the appeal is for those using Samsung that it will integrate better with their phone.

https://news.samsung.com/uk/samsung...the-all-new-samsung-pay-card-powered-by-curve