Week Five: Why use cash when you can use GOLD (Monese and Glint)
This week I tried not one, but two cards, hence the slight delay to my usual publishing schedule. I primarily used Monese, one of the oldest and most international of the neobanks (their app supports 25 languages), and I also tried Glint, a current account with a very unique offering. More on that later.
Firstly, Monese. My experience with the app and card was overall pretty good. Not instantly amazing, no huge wow moments like I had experienced with other banks, but definitely good. It just worked, which is always nice, and the app was really simple to use and a really clear UI. On top of that, it had by far the easiest signup flow I had experienced of any other bank. It took me less than 5 minutes to sign up, scan my ID, and order my card to my house. The card also arrived within 3 days, which I thought was incredible.
This, it turns out, happens to be the USP of Monese. Unknown to me until I had done further reading, Monese was originally set up to target Eastern European and Middle Eastern migrants. Unable to open a traditional bank accounts in the UK and struggling to verify their qualifications and identification papers, they were at the risk of being left bankless, and unable to accept and receive money whilst in the country. Monese helped fill this gap, requiring only a UK phone number to set up the account, with verification taking minutes not days.
And they seem to have done very well with 400,000 active accounts, of which 70% are ‘primary’ accounts, with the holders paychecks being paid into them every month, which is a better ratio than Monzo and Starling. The app feels really great, with all the usual spending breakdowns, inter-app transfers and virtual card management that I saw in most of the other banks too.
Where Monese fell down
It wasn’t without some glitches however, with the auto-categorisation definitely a bit off. For example, it would lump all my Tesco purchases under ‘General’ spending, but categorised Deliveroo as ‘Groceries’. Similarly it put half my TfL under ‘Travel’ and the other half under ‘Holiday’. Taking the Piccadilly line at 8:30am in definitely not my idea of a holiday, so this one did baffle me. Whilst these aren’t particularly hard to recategorise they are annoying, and with the accuracy of other apps it was something I expected to just work.
Similarly, the only way to send money quickly within the app was if the other person also had Monese, otherwise you had to rely on a classic bank transfer. Not ideal.
They also seemed to put a huge focus on inviting friends to Monese, devoting prominent app real-estate to their ‘Earn’ scheme, that sees you receive £10 for each friend you invite to bank with Monese. Whilst I understand that word of mouth and organic growth is critical to the success of the challenger banks, I really felt like they were shoving it down my throat here, very similar to how Revolut does with their relentless pop ups. Whilst inviting friends is important to Monese, I don’t think it’s particularly useful for the user, and I think putting more time into other parts of the app instead of focusing on this scheme would benefit all.
In-app Avios Points
One unique feature Monese did have was the ability to track and collect Avios points within the app. Avios points are British Airways loyalty scheme, expanded from just airmiles into a huge ecosystem, where you can earn points from shopping with thousands of retailers. Personally I found this an odd choice for an app targeted at providing banks to the bankless, I don’t see them as being prime customers of British Airways, but nonetheless the offering is definitely cool.
It took a while to set up, with the app opening a number of different web views to first authenticate with BA, and then Avios, and then whatever retailer you wanted to shop with. It was a bit fiddly, and there was no real indication that you were definitely logged into Avios when you were shopping so I was always uncertain if I was going to receive my points. Furthermore, Monese claim that you can receive points when you spend with ‘select retailers’ when you use your Monese card in person, but the only store that seemed to accept it around me was ‘England Rugby at Twickenham’, a weirdly specific first choice. I assume more retailers will come on board, but currently whilst it’s undoubtably a cool feature, it’s not exciting enough to put Monese ahead of the other banks I’ve reviewed.
The biggest hurdle for challenger banks — trust.
There is a question I have been asked repeatedly over the couple of months when I tell people of my plan to move my main current account over to the challenger bank I like the most: “But do you trust them with your money?”
And it’s a pretty fair question.
Whilst definitely uncommon, the idea of a bank going bust was made very real by the 2008 financial crash, with images of people queuing outside Northern Rock withdrawing all their savings sticking vividly in my mind. And I think this mentality is still somewhat pervasive. Many, many of my friends have a Monzo or Revolut account, but very few of them use it as their primary account, often because they want their income to be paid into a ‘safer’ bank, a bank less likely to crash and take all your hard earned cash down with it.
But I don’t think this is a convincing reason why not to.
I could be lame and spout the classic ‘its protected by the FCA up to £85,000’ which is fine and all, but can you image how grim the paperwork would be trying to actually claim that money from the FCA? I’m imaging weeks, if not months, of waiting, filling in form after form, only for the money to finally get to you in 2022. So that’s not the reason I’m keeping my faith.
I think it’s partly because banks rely on trust. The more people like me who put their faith in them, the stronger they become, and the less likely the are to find themselves cash strapped and likely to go under. But mainly, it’s because the benefits you gain from moving over to a neobank vastly outweigh the increased probability of them running out of cash. The insights you gain into your money, the innovation you get access to and the ease of use and support make it such a superior offering compared to the legacy banks that it simply is a no brainer.
Could be hilarious last words, but we’ll see…
Glint: Why use cash when you can use gold
Another app I tested this week was Glint. Glint is an app with an offering unlike anything I have seen. You deposit money into your account, and Glint uses that money to purchase gold. Like actual gold, in a safe in Switzerland somewhere. So fuck it, I bought some gold.
Now I only bought £50's worth because, as I’m sure you all know, I’m super broke. But it was kind of cool, seeing the price of gold fluctuate and therefore the value of my little gold bar / nugget. According to Glint, gold has grown on average 8% compared to the price of sterling over the last few years. That’s a damn good return for people like me who have a their savings in cash.
Glint doesn’t just want you using their account for savings however, and when signing up you receive a debit card and a full account too. Not going to lie I thought this was a bit of a weird move by Glint. I just can’t see why someone would use this account for their day-to-day spending, you wouldn’t benefit from watching your money grow as gold does, because you are spending it every month. Kind of a bizarre offering if you ask me.
Regardless, I’m going to keep the account and deposit a little here and there into it over the next few months. I want to see my little gold pot grow. And I guess if it all goes to shit and I lose my money when the fintech banks collapse, at least I have my Glint gold…
Next week: The final bank N26, Freetrade and the future of the blog
Next week I am checking out N26, a German challenger bank with an awesome reputation and a transparent card. Snazzy. I am also reviewing Freetrade, a commission free share trading platform. Next week will be my final review, so the week after that will be my concluding post. Exciting times.
Thanks for reading.
