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Y Combinator invests in Monzo through its Continuity Fund

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Re: Y Combinator invests in Monzo through its Continuity Fund

#21

Post by Folcon »

randomvectors wrote: post #14
RickS wrote: post #6

I'm very hopeful for Monzo, with some caveats. They have a lot of fascinating and useful DNA having gotten started in the UK before the US. The UK's regulatory environment for digital banking is leagues ahead of America's, w/r/t data access, APIs, etc. If they can persist UK style data features through their American rollout, they'll have something no other American bank currently offers. While my strong suspicion is…

This is where they actually bring value right? - Delivering a good banking product outside of the UK. Because as a UK customer I see no reason to switch after trying Monzo for a couple of months. Positives: - a nicer mobile banking app Negatives: - no credit cards and no option to top up using a credit card from another bank - no physical branches Everything else is comparable to most other banks in the UK. Which isn…

I wouldn't undervalue the effect of getting a notification every time your account gets used with additional details and the trivial ability to look back over past transactions whenever you want.

I'm constantly surprised by how useful the app is.

Re: Y Combinator invests in Monzo through its Continuity Fund

#22

Post by andy_ppp »

frenchman99 wrote: post #7
loriverkutya wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They always stated, they have no intention to be sold to a big bank.

Intentions can change.

Haha, that's ridiculous, I know for a fact they have had face to face meetings with RBS for example. I doubt they will sell while they are still growing, but they will sell.

Re: Y Combinator invests in Monzo through its Continuity Fund

#23

Post by krn »

I wish Monzo was available in continental Europe as an alternative to Revolut before expanding to the US.

As a product, I find Revolut to be much better thought-out offering for both, private customers[1] and businesses[2], but as a company I trust Monzo a way more.

[1] https://www.revolut.com/our-pricing-plans

[2] https://www.revolut.com/business-accounts-made-easy

Re: Y Combinator invests in Monzo through its Continuity Fund

#24

Post by benj111 »

lol768 wrote: post #9
benj111 wrote: post #4

What's it's plan for making money. As I understood it current (checking) accounts don't really make any money, they're just used as loss leaders to lure in customers.

Overdrafts, interchange, reasonable fees (Monzo Plus, business accounts), commission (marketplace: savings accounts, insurance etc).

I don't believe it offers most of those services, overdrafts in the UK are being restricted so be much less profitable [1], I believe one of its sell points is no commission on foreign currency, so no money there.

So are they planning on launching (their own) savings, or insurance?

[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48553193

Re: Y Combinator invests in Monzo through its Continuity Fund

#25

Post by yRetsyM »

krn wrote: post #23

I wish Monzo was available in continental Europe as an alternative to Revolut before expanding to the US. As a product, I find Revolut to be much better thought-out offering for both, private customers[1] and businesses[2], but as a company I trust Monzo a way more. [1] https://www.revolut.com/our-pricing-plans [2] https://www.revolut.com/business-accounts-made-easy

Another victim of Brexit uncertainty, as I understand it - because of uncertainty of best approach post Brexit they paused continental Europe plans.

Re: Y Combinator invests in Monzo through its Continuity Fund

#26

Post by krn »

yRetsyM wrote: post #25
krn wrote: post #23

I wish Monzo was available in continental Europe as an alternative to Revolut before expanding to the US. As a product, I find Revolut to be much better thought-out offering for both, private customers[1] and businesses[2], but as a company I trust Monzo a way more. [1] https://www.revolut.com/our-pricing-plans [2] https://www.revolut.com/business-accounts-made-easy

Another victim of Brexit uncertainty, as I understand it - because of uncertainty of best approach post Brexit they paused continental Europe plans.

They could have just got a banking license in Ireland. I believe they still need to apply for one in the US.

At least in terms of the population, the EU market is 60% larger than the US, and Europeans are already used to paying for everything with debit cards.

Also, in many EU countries people rarely do chargebacks or expect them to succeed, which makes supporting them much easier.

Re: Y Combinator invests in Monzo through its Continuity Fund

#27

Post by obeattie »

dazbradbury wrote: post #20

Big congrats to Monzo, and I can't wait to see what their marketplace looks like when it's finally fleshed out. What's the state of account switching in the US? I'd have thought a big part of Monzo's strength in the UK is the mandated account switching service: https://www.currentaccountswitch.co.uk/ Is there an equivalent system in the US to reduce the friction of switching banks?

I don't think an equivalent of the Current Account Switch Service exists in the US, which is a shame.

But I don't think this is crucial. We had around 5,500 switches via the Current Account Switch Service in May, but added around 200,000 new customers.

Re: Y Combinator invests in Monzo through its Continuity Fund

#28

Post by hakanensari »

Not to be dismissive, but would these challenger banks (Monzo, Revolut, N26, TransferWise) survive once the regular banks and AmEx stop adding fees on top of foreign-currency charges and withdrawals? I personally don't see any other differentiating factor, and frankly, maintaining multiple cards and having to top up, etc. are a hassle.

Re: Y Combinator invests in Monzo through its Continuity Fund

#29

Post by Scirra_Tom »

lordnacho wrote: post #12

The UK bank space could do with some fresh players. Currently I'm looking for a new bank for my business, because: 1) I need to have foreign currency accounts. My bank has them, but I'm unable to see the accounts when I log in. They've known about this for 4 months now, and I keep getting sent in circles by the Indian call centre. They've sent me to branch twice, with no coordination, the people in the branch can't h…

We use Barclays and have EUR and USD accounts with them which we can see online and make transfers/payments online with. Allows us to have a USD Amex, and do a lot of our Forex with Transferwise. Saved tens of thousands over the years on Forex with this method, and expensing some of our USD infrastructure costs on Amex helps as well.

Last pain point for us is getting a USD account in USA so we can cashout Paypal USD balances. Found companies that promise ability to do this but after wasting lots of time turns out they can't.

Re: Y Combinator invests in Monzo through its Continuity Fund

#30

Post by dazbradbury »

obeattie wrote: post #27
dazbradbury wrote: post #20

Big congrats to Monzo, and I can't wait to see what their marketplace looks like when it's finally fleshed out. What's the state of account switching in the US? I'd have thought a big part of Monzo's strength in the UK is the mandated account switching service: https://www.currentaccountswitch.co.uk/ Is there an equivalent system in the US to reduce the friction of switching banks?

I don't think an equivalent of the Current Account Switch Service exists in the US, which is a shame. But I don't think this is crucial. We had around 5,500 switches via the Current Account Switch Service in May, but added around 200,000 new customers.

Oh wow - I thought the current account numbers were driven far more by switching. Presumably it impacts the % where salary is being paid in? But at those numbers maybe it's irrelevant!

Great job again, and as I say, can't wait for the fully fleshed out marketplace.

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