Monzo/Starling Banking/Revolut

englishpremier · 25 Apr 2022 at 15:06

Just open all the accounts. There's no reason not to have Chase, Monzo, and Starling. Plus Revolut for currencies, and Barclays Rewards or Halifax Clarity for holiday spending on items over £100.

Saying all though that, I recently opened my first traditional account in what must be a decade. That was with First direct for a quick and easy £150.

Always keep one or two traditional accounts around for sign-up bonuses.

Psymonkee · 25 Apr 2022 at 15:44

Robert said:
Has anyone moved a current account from natwest to monzo? I pay PM for natwest and get the usual mob insurance etc (have done it for years) but am trying to simplify things. Slightly perturbed by not having a branch to use...

I moved from RBS to Monzo as an experiment with the same concerns as yourself and withing 2 months I was fully onboard. I still have my RBS account (and a local branch) for paying in any cash/cheques I might get but it's never in there long. For me the features on Monzo are superb and I can do it all from my phone!

robfosters · 25 Apr 2022 at 15:49

englishpremier said:
Just open all the accounts. There's no reason not to have Chase, Monzo, and Starling. Plus Revolut for currencies, and Barclays Rewards or Halifax Clarity for holiday spending on items over £100.

Saying all though that, I recently opened my first traditional account in what must be a decade. That was with First direct for a quick and easy £150.

Always keep one or two traditional accounts around for sign-up bonuses.

Isn’t it bad for your credit rating to open up loads of accounts?

ChrisD. · 25 Apr 2022 at 15:52

robfosters said:
Isn’t it bad for your credit rating to open up loads of accounts?

Not in my experience. You’re not borrowing loads of money.

413x · 25 Apr 2022 at 15:53

robfosters said:
Isn’t it bad for your credit rating to open up loads of accounts?

Nah.
I have loads and it's fine.
Fine in real life too. No issues with mortgage despite 5 CCs

Have 5 cards but 10 percent utilisation is better than 1 card but 90 percent credit utilisation. Even if that 10 and 90 percent are same GBP figure.

413x · 25 Apr 2022 at 15:56

What is it that makes everyone really love these monzo type banks? From what I've looked at there aren't good incentives for switching.

ChrisD. · 25 Apr 2022 at 16:11

413x said:
What is it that makes everyone really love these monzo type banks? From what I've looked at there aren't good incentives for switching.

The apps are quite frankly leagues ahead of the high street banks.

Defy Belief · 25 Apr 2022 at 16:14

ChrisD. said:
The apps are quite frankly leagues ahead of the high street banks.

Agree, been with them for about 2 years now, app is brilliant, pots are super easy to manage your money (or other peoples - e.g I buy all online stuff for my parents, so they just transfer me the money and I put it in a pot and let them know when it needs topping up, same for kids and birthday money if there is something they want to save for) nice UI to navigate.

Don't care too much for incentives, just got the standard account, do all spending on my AMEX where I get 2% cashback on purchases with my Vitality insurance.

My only gripe with Monzo is if you get cash, being charged £1 for a deposit is a bit of a joke really and having a limit can be really annoying if you sell some stuff for cash. The limits on this are also stupid at £1000 every six months with a max of £300 in one go, if I sold my car cash, i'd be forced to pay it into my partners/parents accounts for them to then transfer me the money.

englishpremier · 25 Apr 2022 at 16:24

robfosters said:
Isn’t it bad for your credit rating to open up loads of accounts?

No because the bank accounts aren't credit accounts. Whilst they get reported, they will always read as zero.

It can harm you having access to too much credit but for most that is seldom an issue. It can also be an issue utilising too much of your available credit.

413x · 25 Apr 2022 at 16:32

englishpremier said:
No because the bank accounts aren't credit accounts. Whilst they get reported, they will always read as zero.

It can harm you having access to too much credit but for most that is seldom an issue. It can also be an issue utilising too much of your available credit.

It's mainly utilisation.
I think I have 30-40k of credit across my CCs. One alone is 10.
When came to remortgage the bank didn't even ask about it as its balance has read '0' for months.

It's effectively like you having loads of access to cash but the restraint to not use it is a positive.

413x · 25 Apr 2022 at 16:34

Defy Belief said:
Agree, been with them for about 2 years now, app is brilliant, pots are super easy to manage your money (or other peoples - e.g I buy all online stuff for my parents, so they just transfer me the money and I put it in a pot and let them know when it needs topping up, same for kids and birthday money if there is something they want to save for) nice UI to navigate.

Don't care too much for incentives, just got the standard account, do all spending on my AMEX where I get 2% cashback on purchases with my Vitality insurance.

My only gripe with Monzo is if you get cash, being charged £1 for a deposit is a bit of a joke really and having a limit can be really annoying if you sell some stuff for cash. The limits on this are also stupid at £1000 every six months with a max of £300 in one go, if I sold my car cash, i'd be forced to pay it into my partners/parents accounts for them to then transfer me the money.

Ah sounds like it's little features and usability rather than any financial gains. Thanks.

I'll stick with the traditional banks I think due to the financial incentives. I find my banking app pretty good now.

Only thing was missing was pay in cheque by phone. But they all seem to have that now.

Some of those restrictions I absolutely would not want.

englishpremier · 25 Apr 2022 at 18:29

413x said:
Ah sounds like it's little features and usability rather than any financial gains. Thanks.

I'll stick with the traditional banks I think due to the financial incentives. I find my banking app pretty good now.

Only thing was missing was pay in cheque by phone. But they all seem to have that now.

Some of those restrictions I absolutely would not want.

Exactly that, features, usability and customer service (which blows away the traditional banks) - there's FCA research on this.

Cash is pretty much dead, even with traditional accounts I don't recall ever paying more than the £1000 free lim you get with Starling unless selling a vehicle, and cash for vehicles died about 15 years ago.

I remember the hassle of having to notify the bank the day before about a large withdrawal, then collect it the next day, usually in a back pack since they only had £20 notes.

Or worse using cheques. I remember co-op were terrible for these. You'd take it into a branch but then it needed to be physically posted to wherever their processing centre was. If it wasn't for the new legislation on clearing, cheques would have died by now.

ChrisD. · 25 Apr 2022 at 18:34

413x said:
Some of those restrictions I absolutely would not want.

There's nothing wrong with having more than one account, ie, keep your current account for paying in cash.

Or just open a Monzo and chuck in £100 or whatever and see how you like it.

tang0 · 25 Apr 2022 at 18:35

What are the benefits of even staying with a high street bank nowadays and just move to Starling etc, overdrafts, loans?

ChrisD. · 25 Apr 2022 at 19:19

tang0 said:
What are the benefits of even staying with a high street bank nowadays

I have a Nationwide account as I can manage my mortgage through it, receive international payments, pay in cash, get a 2.9% loan, Junior ISA etc.

All my day to day stuff is Monzo. But I also have Starling (to pay in cheques), Chase for 1% debit card cash back (and it's my main boozing fund). Then there's Wise and Revolut for US shares and travelling. I use my Amex for as much spending as I can due to Avois point but not all places take it.

413x · 25 Apr 2022 at 19:46

tang0 said:
What are the benefits of even staying with a high street bank nowadays and just move to Starling etc, overdrafts, loans?

150 switching incentives
Offers on mortgages (got 750 cashback from)
Got some cinema tickets from it too.

The monzo features seem great if you need them. Just not something I need myself.

Jimbeam3678 · 25 Apr 2022 at 22:37

Have Monzo found a solid financial footing yet ? I used them for 18 months but the talk of their struggles and regulation breaches made me jump ship to Starling.

Superb banks and their app and general way of doing things are far better than the traditional banks.

~Divine~Wind~ · 26 Apr 2022 at 10:05

413x said:
What is it that makes everyone really love these monzo type banks? From what I've looked at there aren't good incentives for switching.

That was pretty much me mums opinion too til we were on holiday...

Atm was charging like £96 for €100 told her to cancel the transaction and let her use my monzo... she now uses her monzo card when abroad and has even managed to Xfer money into it from her current acc lol. My dad has a revolut acc/card also for travelling

413x · 26 Apr 2022 at 10:07

~Divine~Wind~ said:
That was pretty much me mums opinion too til we were on holiday...

Atm was charging like £96 for €100 told her to cancel the transaction and let her use my monzo... she now uses her monzo card when abroad and has even managed to Xfer money into it from her current acc lol. My dad has a revolut acc/card also for travelling

I do have a revolut. Well. I did before the the pandemic. I guess it's still available. Not sure on the card though!

~Divine~Wind~ · 26 Apr 2022 at 10:11

Easy enough to jump on the app and reqeust a enw card mate

My revolut acc is mainly used for the disposable cards lol

Monzo/Starling Banking/Revolut

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