Y Combinator invests in Monzo through its Continuity Fund • Hacker News Board

Re: Y Combinator invests in Monzo through its Continuity Fund

#51

Post by matthewmacleod » Tue, Jun 25, 2019, 9:16 AM UTC

benj111 wrote: post #24

lol768 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

It offers literally all of those services.

Re: Y Combinator invests in Monzo through its Continuity Fund

#52

Post by dazc » Tue, Jun 25, 2019, 9:17 AM UTC

loriverkutya wrote: post #3

thomasedwards wrote: post #2

I had assumed that Monzo would sell to one of the big banks that forgot (or couldn’t be bothered) to make their consumer experience better. But this feels more like they could publicly trade at some point, although they might need to make a profit sooner than in 10 years’ time.

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

Where've we heard that before?

Re: Y Combinator invests in Monzo through its Continuity Fund

#53

Post by senthilnayagam » Tue, Jun 25, 2019, 9:17 AM UTC

India has its set of branchless digital banks, Paytm is the leader.

India also has other things which is driving digital payment adoption, Aadhar based KYC system, UPI payment interoperability system. Google Pay, PhonePe, Amazon Pay and many other payment apps are now bringing payment to the masses.

and suddenly we realise, India leapfrogged many developed nations in the process

Re: Y Combinator invests in Monzo through its Continuity Fund

#54

Post by Dayshine » Tue, Jun 25, 2019, 9:20 AM UTC

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

They don't have FCSC protection, how is that a better thought-out offering for private customers?

"We can just throw away your money and you have no recourse, trust us with your ~banking~ beyond banking"

Re: Y Combinator invests in Monzo through its Continuity Fund

#55

Post by dastx » Tue, Jun 25, 2019, 9:21 AM UTC

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…

For credit cards, check Tandem Bank. Worked there until a couple of weeks ago, they do several credit cards including one with 0.5% cashback on all transactions. Plus the usual no fx fees etc.

Re: Y Combinator invests in Monzo through its Continuity Fund

#56

Post by dunk010 » Tue, Jun 25, 2019, 9:22 AM UTC

syx wrote: post #19

I just found out about Monzo yesterday when I read an article regarding poor quality of Revolut customer service [1]. This banking app looks very promising, I would really like to try it but I'm in Dublin Ireland and here Revolut is basically the de facto of banking apps. How will they deal with this sort of competition? [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20261823

That's a terrifying story in that link :-|

Re: Y Combinator invests in Monzo through its Continuity Fund

#57

Post by iamnotacrook » Tue, Jun 25, 2019, 9:23 AM UTC

benj111 wrote: post #49

iamnotacrook wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having millions of people lend you billions of pounds you can invest/trade short term is the sort of loss I want to get into!

Yes, just like Lehman Brothers / Northern Rock.

Weren't they dodgy as xxxx though?

I mean if you're not criminal/greedy/irresponsible.

Re: Y Combinator invests in Monzo through its Continuity Fund

#58

Post by Jhsto » Tue, Jun 25, 2019, 9:25 AM UTC

wastedhours wrote: post #50

krn wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> the EU market is 60% larger than the US, and Europeans are already used to paying for everything with debit cards. I'd argue the other side and say the EU isn't a single market when it comes to payment and banking culture. I'd also argue that there are large swathes of Europe that still don't have a card culture. My personal anecdata on chargebacks corroborates yours, but my own assumption is that the market for a…

I've needed cash more often in San Francisco than I've needed anywhere in Europe in the last 5 years.

To my experience, even the smallest shops in most of Europe accept contactless payments, whereas in the States the smaller ones did not accept card payments for purchases under 2 (or sometimes even 20) dollars. I'd agree that the market for a fintech company in the States is much larger, but this is solely because its current state is so bad.

Re: Y Combinator invests in Monzo through its Continuity Fund

#59

Post by NeedMoreTea » Tue, Jun 25, 2019, 9:27 AM UTC

iamnotacrook wrote: post #8

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.

Having millions of people lend you billions of pounds you can invest/trade short term is the sort of loss I want to get into!

You want to be the next Nick Leeson then? (He who took down Barings)

Re: Y Combinator invests in Monzo through its Continuity Fund

#60

Post by kingosticks » Tue, Jun 25, 2019, 9:27 AM UTC

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 think calling the app nicer is an understatement. It's lightyears ahead of other banks.

The use abroad is fantastic and it's the reason I originally got their prepaid card. Some UK banks do offer a similar service with no fee and/or low exchange rate, I think Nationwide's clarity card is one but that's a credit card so withdrawing cash is costly (IIRC).

I also like Monzo's saving pots idea but since they apparently can't provide any proper financial statements to go along with them they are pretty useless to me. I really don't understand how that is supposed to work if you need to complete a tax return.

My local bank branch closed down last month. And to be honest it was a frustrating experience of queueing up to talk to someone who sometimes knew less than what I read from the website.

So, considering how trivial it is to switch current account in the UK, I'm looking at it from the other angle - why would I stay with my current old-school bank?