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Okay, welcome back to another episode of Banking Without Borders.
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So Monzo has launched a paid credit card.
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It's called Aura, and I've been testing it for the past week.
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So for£15 a month, you get cashback.
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So far I've managed to earn£7, Apple TV, a Google AI plan, lounge and fast track passes, and a Metal card, which I've got right here, so we can look at that together shortly.
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And one other benefit that's arguably the best thing about the card, Monzo's investment platform fees waived.
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And not just on the cashback that the card invests, but on everything you hold with Monzo outside your pension.
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Which might sound strange, right?
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This is a cashback card whose best feature isn't the cashback.
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But that tells you something about this product.
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There is no single feature that you'd obviously get it for.
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The cashback needs serious spending to cover the fee.
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The investment waiver only really matters if you've got a lot invested with Monzo, and the subscriptions only really count if you'd have paid for them anyway.
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So Aura only really works when you use enough of it at once.
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And I think that's why the reaction has been so split.
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And please do get in the comments and let us know your thoughts.
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But some people are genuinely into this, while others have looked at the fee and they're asking why there's no cheaper version.
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For example, a cashback card without the subscriptions or cashback added to Flex or to Perks and Max, which people are already paying for.
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So we're going to discuss all of this, including what it takes to break even and get the most out of this card, whether Monzo's own uh£360 worth of value claim holds up, and also how this stacks up against the likes of Lloyd's Ultra and Amex cashback cards, which you can already get for nothing.
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So yeah, shall we just begin with exactly what you're gonna get and how much value you can get out of aura?
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Yeah, John, let's start with the cashback.
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You're getting 1% at top UK supermarkets.
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And when I first heard that, I was very curious which supermarkets would be included in the list.
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Had a look at Monzo's website and couldn't find anything.
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I couldn't find a concrete list.
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I even asked you if if you you'd think that this was available for all supermarkets in general, groceries, maybe that works with the merchant code instead of a list of retailers, but it seems not to be the case.
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So there's a list of supermarkets: Tesco, Sainsbury, Aldi, Co-op, Lidl, and a few others that are included.
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But I I wish they had some more transparency here.
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Um, really dislike that.
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And you're getting 0.5% of cashback on every other merchant.
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And I think 0.5%, Johnny, that's actually quite underwhelming, especially considering this is a paid product and there are free products that offer um more, potentially.
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If you're already taking advantage of Monzo's partner offers, I think this can be quite exciting.
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Um, for example, there's a 2% Tesco offer, or at least there was when we prepped the show.
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You could combine that with the 1% Aura cashback, that would sum up to 3% of cashback that can be quite attractive if you regularly shop at Tesco or one of the other retailers on the list, wherever there's a partner offer available.
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But besides that, I think the cashback is really the most underwhelming part here.
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I think it's it's almost, yeah, I don't want to say it so early in the episode, but it feels kind of pointless to me.
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Not sure what you think about that, Johnny, but it's yeah, I wish they had a better cashback offer here, considering it's a paid product.
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This episode is sponsored by no one really, just Jan and I and our website, depositscout.com.
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There you can go and track UK savings rates to find the best savings accounts available.
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There's loads of features that I really like about Deposit Scout.
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Jan, do you want to just share one?
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What's your favorite?
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My favorite feature is the rate history graph, Johnny, because it quickly tells you which products are worth signing up for right now and which are not.
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As an example, eTorus Cash ICE offers 4.87%, which is the top of the table.
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But it's also, if we look at the rate history graph, the all-time high of whatever they've they've offered in the past, 4.8%.
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They've never offered so much in interest, and it's definitely a good option right now.
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The rate history graph allowed me to uncover this within a short time, and that's why I love it so much.
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So deposit scout.com is free to use.
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Link in the description box, we'll put it in the show notes.
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Check it out.
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It's the best way to support Jan and I.
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That's depositscout.com.
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Thank you very much.
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They've made it quite clear that this product is about rewarding their customers.
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If we take a moment and I'll get you to react to this and look at what their sort of product owner or manager of this has said, that initially they wanted to make, or in their words, sorry, I'll quote this how could we make spending with Monzo more rewarding for our customers?
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And I'm I'm getting this through the uh community.monzo.com website.
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I'm not sure how rewarding this really is.
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I I get 1% cash back is is is good.
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That is rewarding.
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That's not to be laughed at, but at the same time, you've paywalled it.
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You have to pay£15 to get it.
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Should we just, yeah, should we just clarify what it takes to earn that?
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I think that's important, right?
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How much do I have to spend to get that£15 a month back and just break even?
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Right?
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So that's£1,500 a month.
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And if you spend your money elsewhere, it's£36,000 a year or about£3,000 a month.
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And obviously, um most people will have some combination of spending, right?
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They they gotta buy other things in groceries, so it's some some number in between.
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So anything between£1,800 a year and£3,600 a year, which is a lot of money, to be honest.
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Um, it's fascinating, actually.
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These 1% of cashback that you're getting on groceries and the half percent that you're getting on anything else, uh barely sums up really.
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So the cashback is, I think, a nice side feature.
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But when I first read Monzo's statement, Johnny, I thought they would launch the the best card on the market, right?
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Making spending more rewarding.
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That was their main mission.
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And then they come out with a 0.5% cashback on anything else in groceries.
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I don't know.
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For me, there's there's a mismatch here, you know, with the statement and then what came out in the end.
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You know, you know these memes, Johnny, when um, you know, client expectations and then what the what you actually receive, right?
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Client's budget.
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Just that's what it reminds me of.
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I I completely agree with you.
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On cashback alone, it falls flat as a uh a card for transacting internationally, for example, Jan, it it could be good.
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You're gonna get MasterCard's exchange rates, you're gonna get the typical Monzo fantastic exchange rates through MasterCard, of course.
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Um, and you know, you're gonna get the rewards regardless of whether it's a domestic transaction or an international transaction.
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So 1% cash back internationally, again, you're paying£15 a month for it, but that is somewhat, you know, the fact that you don't pay any fixed fees on that, like Amex will charge you 2.99%, for example.
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That, yeah, that the fact that that's free, you earn that 1% at least it's 0.5%, isn't it?
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Yeah, and of course it is.
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You could earn 1% if you're shopping at Lidl or Audi on holiday, but who's doing that?
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Okay.
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No, no, I think that only counts for the UK supermarkets only.
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I don't think this would count.
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Uh the 1% would count for Lidls in Germany, for example, in Spain.
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Um, so that would only count with in the UK, if I understand the terms and conditions correctly.
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Okay, I'm clutching straws anyway, at 1% internationally, but even if it doesn't work, you're gonna get 0.5%.
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That's still not even that fantastic.
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As part of like when I was testing this product, yeah, and I was actually using it in Portugal and I was actually earning some cash back from each transaction.
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It would be sad if you wouldn't, right?
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Because um people listening might think we're we're criticizing this a little bit too much, but you've got to think of this as a paid product, right?
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It's it's nothing that's free.
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Um, and there are other free products on the market that that look similarly if you just look at the core financial benefits.
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Um, so us being being so, you know, um trying trying to criticize this or or criticizing it, trying to find a point, basically.
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That's because this has a price tag attached to it that is significant.
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You know, at 15 pounds per month, you can get almost an MX gold card, which is extremely rewarding, right?
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Comes with a huge sign-up bonus and and so many other benefits, right?
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Four launch passes a year, etc.
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Um, and you're getting one point per per purchase, uh, per pound spent.
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So it's it's very, yeah, very significant, right?
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We'll talk about a few of these alternatives in a little bit at the end of the show, but that's why um it feels like we're we're trying to make sense of this because it's yeah, it's it's interesting.
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It's not the cashback that makes this card attractive.
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You can't say that at all, right?
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And that's that's it's it's no that's funny considering their mission was to make monzo usage more rewarding, right?
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So it's it's it's all about other things than cashback.
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That's how it seems to me, at least.
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Yeah, and it's like those other things are there purely as a means of trying to convince more people to sign up for this card, but at the same time, it's a bit limited and it's a bit niche.
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Like Apple TV, for example, you're gonna get that with this card.
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Okay, there are plenty of people that are paying monthly for that.
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Uh I good streaming, I think it's one of the best platforms, but I'm paying for it annually.
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I pay£89 per month for it annually.
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Um, I'm, you know, I'm not going to then get Monzo Aura because that's paid for up front already.
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That won't replace that cost in my life.
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Google AI Plus, two terabytes of storage, extended Gemini use, maybe more advanced model access, more image processing, video processing, that's beneficial for the right person.
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But again, it's quite niche.
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Some people may already have access to those products.
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Um, but on their own, individually, they're not going to be strong enough to justify that fee as well, Yan.
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And then on top of that, you have two lounge passes, two fast track passes.
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Uh, so you know that's gonna be okay if you're an infrequent traveler, but if you're a frequent traveler, I don't know why you'd be looking at that as your lounge pass access option.
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It's not gonna cover you, likely not gonna cover you at least.
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Ah, Jan, I mean, they're waiving the investment platform fees.
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If that's solely the reason you're gonna get Monzo Aura and pay£180 a year, you're you're gonna have to have invested a significant amount of money to make that make sense.
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The the platform fees 0.25% a year, I believe, which is quite low, to be honest, and 0.2% if you subscribe to one of the um the paid years, at least Monzo Perks and Max, I think extra doesn't come of this um this reduction in platform fees.
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So it basically means um, yeah, having a hundred K um invested, you'd be getting, yeah, 250 pounds of fees waived, essentially.
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Um, and having 100k in Monzo, hmm, you know, should you do that?
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I don't know.
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Not an investment advisor, don't want to be, but it's definitely a question that serious investors will ask themselves, right?
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I I have a feeling they would much rather go towards other platforms.
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There is an argument though, Yam, for people that just want to have it all in one place, those people do exist.
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You know, maybe people will look at this if you're using Hargreaves, if you're using Vanguard, more expensive legacy players, you might be thinking, well, moving to Monzo, getting Aura is certainly going to save me money and fees, and then maybe I can benefit as well from you know those other other features.
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Um but it's still not that compelling.
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It's still not that strong.
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And even when I think about them all together, all the benefits that we've listed so far, it it's hardly screaming at me, is it?
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It's hardly saying, Yes, this makes sense.
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It it feels very light, Jan.
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Uh really want to hear from people in the comment section because I I imagine there are a lot of people out there that I I don't want to speak for them, but I think they would agree with us.
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This feels a bit light.
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That's also my assumption, Johnny.
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Actually, when I first read the benefits, I thought this was some sort of um add-on that you could add to Monzo Perks um at a reduced fee, but it doesn't seem to be the case.
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So maybe it's going to be something like that in the future.
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Uh maybe it's going to be some sort of um Monzo Flex Plus um card, right?
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A better version of Monzo Flex, which is already a credit card that is quite attractive.
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I think I like the fact that you can't essentially what this is.
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Yeah, you can you can pay an installment and it's it's free, right?
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Um three installments, I believe.
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Um so it's pretty attractive, right?
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But that's a free card.
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So maybe if this had half the price, I'd be more open to this.
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But at£15 a month, I think this is um yeah, quite expensive.
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They'd have a hard time, I suppose, affording to cover the likes of Apple TV and the AI plus thing.
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If it was£7.50 a month, um they also have to cover the cost of cashback, right?
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This is a credit card.
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The interchange fees in the UK are capped at 0.3%.
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So Monzo are getting every time you transact with your Aura card, they're getting 0.3% of the transaction, but that's not gonna cover 0.5, it's not gonna cover 1%.
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So there is a cost associated to that cashback.
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You know, trading 212s, 1.5% cashback offer when that was available.
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That was a customer acquisition cost.
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They were willing to pay for that to acquire your business.
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Monzo have gone, we're not gonna do it like that.
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We're gonna offer this in order to generate more subscription revenue and charge 15 pounds for it and have this as a hook to get you to sign up, essentially.
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It's not compelling enough, I think, on the surface, because of that fee.
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I think that fee really makes this hard to look at.
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I mean, as a flex customer, Jan, it's very interesting how easy it is to go from Flex to Aura.
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I signed up in minutes, it was seamless, uh, I had the card ordered very quickly.
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And I this almost feels like a bit of a funnel for flex users because that's essentially what the underlying credit card is anyway.
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Um, and it's an you know, it's a nice little thing to say to a flex user, a regular user of Flex, perhaps, hey, here, what do you think about this?
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And interestingly, I just flexed a payment for a hotel.
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I want to clarify that I can obviously afford to pay for that hotel up front, but I choose to put it into three installments so I can have that money working elsewhere.
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Interestingly, when I switched from Flex to Aurian, outstanding payments that weren't put through a pay in three installment uh system, so to speak, that weren't being split across three months.
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Any payments that were just being paid for in the next statement received cash back.
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But that retroactive payment for the hotel, which was about£2,000, I believe, um, that wasn't going to receive any cash back because I had flexed it.
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That's as pretty much as far as I can tell.
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Uh, I would like to actually pay it off in full purely just to see what the outcome is.
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Maybe I'll get the cash back on it.
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Um, that might arguably make it worthwhile.
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Um, but that was quite interesting to me.
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I think that's worth knowing for anyone that's thinking about taking flex payments across to Aura and earning a bit of cash back on them.
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Bear in mind that you might not earn cash back on a payment that's been split across three instalments or more.
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One thing I would like to ask you, John, in the beginning, you mentioned it's a metal card, right?
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You showed it.
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Um, I think we showed it on the screen.
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Okay, let's get into this.
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It's a really beautiful card.
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You think you can flex with it?
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You can think you can you can flex with the Aura card.
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Is it uh is it good looking enough?
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We know that some people they're tempted by um to get these cards as status symbols.
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We've we've heard that in the past, right?
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I would I would strongly advise against that, but some people do that.
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And I think this card, if that's your intention, you know, might get you all the way there.
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Because I think it's one of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful looking cards on the market right now.
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And I'm sure you you'd agree with me.
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The the white balance on the camera is not doing the best job of properly displaying how that looks.
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So I might do some sort of b-roll footage to give you a proper sort of colour interpretation or or an accurate colour interpretation of it.
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These colours, Johnny, and and I find it fascinating that the colour changes depending on which angle you look at it.
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I think this is something I have not seen in card, and I know I just said, you know, I just claimed that credit cards or debit cards should not be fashionable symbols.
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But I think if that was your intention, this card would get you all the way there.
00:15:42.480 --> 00:15:45.279
It's the most beautiful looking card on the market right now, I'm sure.
00:15:45.519 --> 00:16:00.480
So if we compare the weight of this card now to other metal cards, I want to start with the gold-plated Revolute card that weighs 16 grams, then the titanium plated F1 card that weighs 19 grams, that is uh Revolute's heaviest card.
00:16:00.639 --> 00:16:03.440
The Ultra Card weighs 17 grams.
00:16:03.600 --> 00:16:05.679
Now, this is where it gets really interesting though.
00:16:05.840 --> 00:16:10.960
The Monzo metal card, the original one, weighs 17 grams.
00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:11.440
Alright?
00:16:11.679 --> 00:16:12.960
Same as the ultra card.
00:16:13.039 --> 00:16:20.639
Now, this new one, which is metal as well, apparently, weighs 14 grams.
00:16:20.720 --> 00:16:31.679
That is very light for a metal card, and honestly, it feels quite light and bendy versus like the titanium card that barely bends at all.
00:16:31.840 --> 00:16:41.039
I've got to say that this aura card, it looks great, the colours are lovely, I love how it shimmers, but it does just feel a little bit weak for a metal card.
00:16:41.279 --> 00:16:41.600
Yeah.
00:16:42.480 --> 00:16:44.559
How long have we been talking about this card now?
00:16:44.720 --> 00:16:46.720
Maybe three or four minutes, people that are listening.
00:16:46.879 --> 00:16:46.960
Yeah.
00:16:47.279 --> 00:16:48.639
We've been talking about this for a while, right?
00:16:48.879 --> 00:16:49.200
I think so.
00:16:49.440 --> 00:16:54.879
Is that not telling, is what I'm trying to say, that we are spending the majority of this episode talking about the card.
00:16:55.200 --> 00:16:56.720
Yeah, I think you're you're right, Johnny.
00:16:56.799 --> 00:16:59.120
And that's actually a bad sign for the product itself, right?
00:16:59.200 --> 00:17:06.160
Because that kind of uh shows that the core financial benefits and other features that you get with the subscription are slightly underwhelming.
00:17:06.240 --> 00:17:07.200
And they really are.
00:17:07.359 --> 00:17:08.640
And it's it's sad, right?
00:17:08.720 --> 00:17:12.319
I think Monzo customers they deserve something slightly better than this.
00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:15.119
Um, Monzo is such a great product in its base version.
00:17:16.079 --> 00:17:16.559
Yeah, exactly.
00:17:16.799 --> 00:17:19.759
Monzo is a is a really great product in its base version.
00:17:19.839 --> 00:17:26.960
Then you have these, I think, fairly priced subscriptions that you can just just add on, which come with great benefits as well.
00:17:27.279 --> 00:17:28.319
Perks is great, right?
00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:30.240
I think you mentioned you were subscribed to that.
00:17:30.400 --> 00:17:34.559
Um Monzo Max, if you like, insurance can be also quite convincing.
00:17:34.640 --> 00:17:40.079
Although now at the current price, after the current price increase, I'm not so sure it's worth it anymore, but it's another story.
00:17:40.319 --> 00:17:52.079
But I think this this Aura subscription just kind of stands out in a bad way if you compare them to these other subscriptions that are already there that are bundled with perks, um, literally called perks.
00:17:52.160 --> 00:17:53.200
You got many things, right?
00:17:53.279 --> 00:17:56.240
It's it's it's tempting and it's affordable, relatively affordable.
00:17:56.319 --> 00:17:59.920
It's priced at roughly half of what Aura is priced at.
00:18:00.720 --> 00:18:03.359
Yes, and you've got a three-month tie-in as well.
00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:05.440
You've got 45-pound commitment up front.
00:18:05.519 --> 00:18:06.799
You don't have to order the card.
00:18:06.880 --> 00:18:08.720
I appreciate that comes at a cost to Monzo.
00:18:08.880 --> 00:18:16.880
That's probably one of the reasons why there's a minimum term to cover that fee, but it's not cheap, it's a significant arse for their customers.
00:18:17.039 --> 00:18:19.279
And in return, I don't think they're offering you enough.
00:18:19.440 --> 00:18:22.160
Like, let's talk about this compared to other products for a moment.
00:18:22.319 --> 00:18:24.000
Let's give Revolute a mention here.
00:18:24.079 --> 00:18:26.720
If you look at like metal, which comes in at a similar cost.
00:18:27.039 --> 00:18:27.200
Yeah.
00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:29.680
Yeah, and there are so many products.
00:18:29.839 --> 00:18:37.680
The metal is so rich in value and features that it makes it makes aura.
00:18:39.440 --> 00:18:42.319
I don't want to be harsh, but it makes it look incomplete, doesn't it?
00:18:43.119 --> 00:18:45.279
It makes it look empty in comparison.
00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:45.599
Yeah.
00:18:45.839 --> 00:18:53.279
You know, you you could just get FT standard digital with Revolute Metal and break even and justify the account.
00:18:53.440 --> 00:18:54.400
It's so simple.
00:18:54.960 --> 00:19:03.200
Whereas I know one of Monzo's points in their community post was not to have just one feature that makes it worthwhile.
00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:09.599
So most people miss out on value and it's you know a poor investment for a lot of people because of that reason.
00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:10.799
Sounds like nonsense to that.
00:19:11.039 --> 00:19:12.079
That's not true here.
00:19:12.240 --> 00:19:13.839
Yeah, that's not true here.
00:19:14.079 --> 00:19:18.960
There are a few features that when bundled together with this card will make it worthwhile to some people.
00:19:19.119 --> 00:19:22.559
And there will be people, won't there, in the comments that will say, hey, I can make use of this.
00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:28.000
And I I appreciate that, but I think there's such a small fraction of people that this is useful for.
00:19:28.079 --> 00:19:32.000
And I think unfortunately, let's have a look now at the competition.
00:19:32.160 --> 00:19:44.799
I think unfortunately, many people may get tied into this that would probably be benefiting, you know, have doing their spending elsewhere, for example, maybe doing their investing elsewhere as well, like the likes of trading two on two, which is practically free.
00:19:45.039 --> 00:19:46.000
Lloyd's Ultra.
00:19:46.079 --> 00:19:48.799
Yeah, and I think that's the elephant in the room that we should talk about first.
00:19:48.960 --> 00:19:51.279
This credit card that you get with Lloyd's.
00:19:51.440 --> 00:19:52.319
I've got it here.
00:19:52.480 --> 00:19:58.000
You know, it's as good as it gets in the UK for the first year, right?
00:19:58.640 --> 00:19:59.759
Excellent card, actually.
00:19:59.839 --> 00:20:01.920
Maybe, maybe even the best card on the market.
00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:06.000
Um, if you look at solely the free cards, it's a no-brainer.
00:20:06.160 --> 00:20:07.519
In its first year, this is great.
00:20:07.920 --> 00:20:09.039
Doesn't cost much, right?
00:20:09.119 --> 00:20:15.119
And it's also relatively cheap to borrow money with um in in relation to to credit card terms, right?
00:20:15.200 --> 00:20:19.680
It's still quite expensive, but 15% for a credit card, I think that's uh that's relatively cheap.
00:20:19.839 --> 00:20:22.640
And then you get this 1% of cashback in the first year.
00:20:22.880 --> 00:20:26.640
After the first year, you might as well drop that card, but it's a different story.
00:20:26.720 --> 00:20:28.720
I think in this first year you should you should enjoy it.
00:20:28.799 --> 00:20:35.119
It's this 1% of cashback is very attractive, and I think there are yeah there are not many cards that that beat this that are totally free.
00:20:35.440 --> 00:20:43.839
It's important, isn't it, as a comparison, because Monzo have paywalled 1%, whereas Lloyd's have have given it out for free, yeah.
00:20:44.079 --> 00:20:44.400
That's right.
00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:50.720
Monzo are fully aware of what they're fully aware of Lloyd's Ultra, they're fully aware of this, but this is just a choice that they've made.
00:20:50.960 --> 00:20:51.759
At least I hoped, yeah.
00:20:52.079 --> 00:20:58.720
Maybe they would maybe they would just expect that the majority of people have probably had Lloyd's Ultra probably used that offer already.
00:20:58.880 --> 00:21:02.480
Um but I just wanted to bring that up first because that is an example.
00:21:03.039 --> 00:21:04.400
It's also it doesn't make sense, right?
00:21:04.480 --> 00:21:05.519
You've used that offer already, right?
00:21:05.599 --> 00:21:10.640
Get the MX Cashback Everyday card, offers half a percent up to 10,000 pounds, and then 1% above.
00:21:10.799 --> 00:21:15.599
Needs, I think, 3,000 pounds a year uh as as a spend to keep it alive or something.
00:21:15.759 --> 00:21:18.720
Um so I think that's yeah, pretty pretty similar, right?
00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:21.839
And they have also Walcome bonus, I think these MX cashback cards.
00:21:22.000 --> 00:21:25.200
Um, what was that five percent um for a certain amount of months?
00:21:25.279 --> 00:21:28.400
I think it depends which which um which tier you subscribe to.
00:21:28.559 --> 00:21:31.519
I think between three and five months, up to 125 pounds.
00:21:31.680 --> 00:21:34.319
But that's yeah, wow, that's already more attractive here.
00:21:34.480 --> 00:21:39.039
But if you're thinking of using a card abroad, just exclude everything MX related.
00:21:39.119 --> 00:21:40.160
It's not worth it, right?
00:21:40.319 --> 00:21:44.480
2.99% of exchange rate fees, um, absolutely not worth it.
00:21:44.559 --> 00:21:48.799
I mean, Lloyd's Ultra, you know, Barclays Reward card.
00:21:48.960 --> 00:21:51.359
Um almost again, great for travel.
00:21:51.599 --> 00:21:53.119
Yeah, many other cards that are good for travel.
00:21:54.960 --> 00:21:56.559
But put No, they're not.
00:21:56.640 --> 00:21:59.759
But that Barclay card rewards card, another one for travel, but at.25%.
00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:06.240
Five percent, it is less than Monzo at 0.5%, but you know, you haven't got a fee to pay.
00:22:06.720 --> 00:22:08.880
Um let's say you want to pay a fee, Johnny.
00:22:09.599 --> 00:22:10.960
What if you want to pay a fee?
00:22:11.839 --> 00:22:13.200
Let's say you're you're open to that.
00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:15.359
Okay, okay, okay, okay.
00:22:15.440 --> 00:22:16.799
You're open to paying the fee.
00:22:16.960 --> 00:22:18.640
Okay, but you still need to break even.
00:22:18.720 --> 00:22:20.880
There's no point just running a fee for no reason.
00:22:20.960 --> 00:22:22.079
You still need to break even on it.
00:22:22.160 --> 00:22:32.400
So you've either got to go and spend the money on the groceries, or you've got to you've got to have Apple TV, you've got to have Google One, you've got to be using that two terabytes of storage.
00:22:32.559 --> 00:22:33.759
That is a bare minimum.
00:22:34.079 --> 00:22:34.240
Yeah.
00:22:34.400 --> 00:22:42.480
Um, because I don't think I don't think people are running the cashback on this hard enough to justify solely for that reason, right?
00:22:42.559 --> 00:22:53.440
I mean, the Amex cashback card Yan is is is is the best is the better option in terms of rewarding your trust your spending entirely.
00:22:53.599 --> 00:22:57.359
Like you're not gonna this card will not beat it, Aura does not beat it.
00:22:57.599 --> 00:23:06.240
Um so if you're watching this, listening to this, it do not go for this card unless you are actively already using Apple TV.
00:23:06.480 --> 00:23:17.680
If you have maybe uh if you've reached the limit of your Google storage at one terabyte or 500 gigabytes and you need more, then you should be open to this idea.
00:23:17.839 --> 00:23:20.480
But there is a couple of fundamental features that you've got to use.
00:23:20.640 --> 00:23:27.759
Maybe you're with Vanguard, maybe you're for some reason investing with Hargreaves Landsdown and you're absorbing their fees, you could take it over to Monzo.
00:23:28.799 --> 00:23:30.400
Maybe you'd want to go through that.
00:23:30.480 --> 00:23:31.039
I don't know.
00:23:31.200 --> 00:23:32.000
Oh God, yeah.
00:23:32.559 --> 00:23:35.359
I I I'd like to take a moment to defend Monzo.
00:23:35.599 --> 00:23:37.039
Let's try and justify this plan.
00:23:37.119 --> 00:23:41.119
And I think you can, but it's it's hard.
00:23:41.359 --> 00:23:41.680
Yeah.
00:23:41.920 --> 00:23:42.400
It's hard.
00:23:42.480 --> 00:23:49.680
And I'd like to ask for a minute of silence for the people that went ahead and signed up already and are now stuck in this three-month plan, right?
00:23:49.920 --> 00:23:52.640
Basically three-month commitment until they can get rid of it.
00:23:52.799 --> 00:23:58.160
Because I think a lot of people would sign up and try to get rid of it as fast as possible when they realize how underwhelming this is.
00:23:58.319 --> 00:24:01.279
Sorry, this sounds hard, but those are my honest thoughts here.
00:24:01.440 --> 00:24:06.480
And I wish um there's someone from Monzo listening potentially that could go ahead and defend this card.
00:24:06.559 --> 00:24:09.279
Hey, you're invited to join our podcast.
00:24:09.359 --> 00:24:10.640
Let's let's have a discussion about this.
00:24:10.720 --> 00:24:11.359
I would love to.
00:24:12.400 --> 00:24:13.680
And we love Monzo.
00:24:14.000 --> 00:24:15.119
I've said it in the past, right?
00:24:15.599 --> 00:24:25.200
Just a few episodes back, we talked about the the incredible growth journey of Monzo, and I think they still have maybe the best free account on the market, or at least one of the best free accounts that are available.
00:24:25.359 --> 00:24:27.519
And these these paid funds are also great.
00:24:27.759 --> 00:24:36.000
Monzo is an incredible product, but this card just doesn't, yeah, it just doesn't it just doesn't fit the existing product lineup.
00:24:36.079 --> 00:24:36.720
It doesn't.
00:24:36.880 --> 00:24:37.759
That's my thought.
00:24:37.839 --> 00:24:39.200
It just doesn't, doesn't feel right.
00:24:39.359 --> 00:24:40.079
Half baked.
00:24:40.160 --> 00:24:41.119
That's how it feels.
00:24:41.440 --> 00:24:52.559
Feels like they they were onto something, they tried to make something great, and then you know, you you want to build a a card that makes rewards or that makes uh spending with Monzo worth it, right?
00:24:52.799 --> 00:24:53.599
That's your intention.
00:24:53.680 --> 00:24:59.839
Now you come around with 1% of cash back on on groceries at certain retailers and half a percent on everything else?
00:25:00.079 --> 00:25:00.640
Whew.
00:25:01.759 --> 00:25:04.799
At 180 pounds a year, getting a headache talking about this.
00:25:05.039 --> 00:25:08.799
Take the take the take the 180 pounds and just invest every year.
00:25:09.119 --> 00:25:23.279
You know, uh the auto-investing feature, you know, you spend 10,000 pounds, you auto-invest 100 pounds annually, it's and that's on groceries, it's uh I mean it's okay, it's not to be laughed at, I appreciate that, but it's not gonna move the needle.
00:25:23.680 --> 00:25:31.440
It's it's the headline of the card, but it's like it deserves to be in like page 10 of the newspaper, not page one.
00:25:31.599 --> 00:25:37.359
It it doesn't compel someone, I don't think, when you look a little bit deeper beyond the headline.
00:25:37.599 --> 00:25:39.759
Really want to hear from people about this one.
00:25:40.079 --> 00:25:47.759
It's frustrating because I am like Jan a huge fan of Monzo, but this product has just not lived up to what you would expect from them.
00:25:47.920 --> 00:25:52.319
I think they set the bar very high, and I don't think this meets their own standards.
00:25:52.480 --> 00:26:02.319
I don't want to say this because I cannot say for sure, but does it not feel to you, buddy, like a bit of a another sort of subscribe subscription trap?
00:26:02.400 --> 00:26:05.279
You know, another way to generate more recurring revenue.
00:26:05.440 --> 00:26:06.720
That's absolutely fine.
00:26:06.880 --> 00:26:09.039
That needs to be its business, right?
00:26:09.119 --> 00:26:09.920
It's a free market.
00:26:10.160 --> 00:26:11.839
Monzo is a for-profit business.
00:26:11.920 --> 00:26:12.960
That's the whole point.
00:26:13.119 --> 00:26:18.079
They exist, they have to generate as much money as possible, and there's nothing wrong in that.
00:26:18.160 --> 00:26:19.279
Um, absolutely nothing.
00:26:19.359 --> 00:26:22.079
But I think this should not come at the cost of the consumer.
00:26:22.240 --> 00:26:23.920
I think the product still should be great.
00:26:24.000 --> 00:26:33.519
But I think also that Monzo customers, they, you know, they might be informed enough to figure out that this is not the best value card on the market and they choose not to subscribe to it, right?
00:26:33.599 --> 00:26:37.039
There might be people that subscribe to it, but I think that will be a minority of customers.
00:26:37.119 --> 00:26:40.319
It's not a no-brainer product, and I think that's a mistake for them.
00:26:40.480 --> 00:26:45.039
If I was them, I would look look at creating another um funnel product, basically.
00:26:45.119 --> 00:26:46.880
That's how you called them in a past, Johnny, right?
00:26:47.039 --> 00:26:52.000
Products that are so good that they literally bring people to to sign up with your company.
00:26:52.319 --> 00:26:54.319
Yeah, yeah, and this is this is not that.
00:26:54.559 --> 00:26:59.039
I mean, maybe they just looked to the cost of doing that, having more subscriptions.
00:26:59.200 --> 00:27:04.559
Like it looked like they were gonna have like a Times subscription at one point when they were surveying for this product.
00:27:04.640 --> 00:27:13.200
It was mentioned um it needs more, it needs a media product, it needs a lifestyle product, but possibly they cannot afford to do that based on the just£50.
00:27:13.519 --> 00:27:23.119
£15 though, surely they can, because look at Revolute, look at what they offer with Metal at what$16.99 in the UK, just rich with subscriptions.
00:27:23.359 --> 00:27:35.119
So I hope, like Jan said, this is actually half baked, and you know, they haven't taken it out of the oven yet, and we're gonna get or sorry, they're gonna put it back in the oven.
00:27:35.519 --> 00:27:37.920
I think we're gonna get more from this product.
00:27:38.000 --> 00:27:38.240
I hope.
00:27:38.480 --> 00:27:39.519
That's my gut feeling here.
00:27:39.680 --> 00:27:40.720
Do jump in the Discord.
00:27:40.799 --> 00:27:47.039
You know, if you want to give us your opinion further, if you want to get into a proper conversation about this, we have a Discord server, come join, become a founding member.
00:27:47.279 --> 00:27:50.400
Jan, I think we've got maybe 170, 180 members now.
00:27:50.559 --> 00:27:52.319
There's always a conversation happening in there.
00:27:52.400 --> 00:27:57.440
It's really nice, if I'm being honest, to actually have a more of a personal conversation.
00:27:57.680 --> 00:28:02.000
Yeah, I like it's nice to go past the comment section of YouTube because I think quite often they get lost.
00:28:02.160 --> 00:28:05.839
And you know, you get into threads, you get into responses, but it's hard to keep up with everything.
00:28:05.920 --> 00:28:07.680
But with Discord, it's super simple.
00:28:07.839 --> 00:28:13.440
So uh do scan the QR code on the screen, click the link in the description box, come join, and become a founding member.
00:28:13.599 --> 00:28:16.319
Yeah, and besides that, please like the video, subscribe.
00:28:16.400 --> 00:28:20.400
I think Johnny showed me a statistic the other day that most of the people watching are not subscribed.
00:28:20.480 --> 00:28:21.519
I think how can that be?
00:28:21.599 --> 00:28:25.680
Um, not a YouTube expert, but um yeah, please subscribe to this this channel.
00:28:25.759 --> 00:28:27.200
I think this would make a lot of sense, right?
00:28:27.279 --> 00:28:28.480
It's totally free to do that.
00:28:28.640 --> 00:28:32.160
Um, stay in touch with uh with all the videos that we publish.
00:28:32.240 --> 00:28:34.799
Um and I think it's yeah, it's been a pleasure.
00:28:35.039 --> 00:28:39.359
Great topic this week, and um excited to see you in the next episode, as always.
00:28:39.519 --> 00:28:40.319
Thanks everyone.
00:28:40.480 --> 00:28:40.880
Goodbye.
00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:02.399
Okay, welcome back to another episode of Banking Without Borders.
00:00:02.479 --> 00:00:04.320
So Monzo has launched a paid credit card.
00:00:04.400 --> 00:00:06.719
It's called Aura, and I've been testing it for the past week.
00:00:06.799 --> 00:00:09.039
So for£15 a month, you get cashback.
00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:20.480
So far I've managed to earn£7, Apple TV, a Google AI plan, lounge and fast track passes, and a Metal card, which I've got right here, so we can look at that together shortly.
00:00:20.640 --> 00:00:27.440
And one other benefit that's arguably the best thing about the card, Monzo's investment platform fees waived.
00:00:27.519 --> 00:00:33.520
And not just on the cashback that the card invests, but on everything you hold with Monzo outside your pension.
00:00:33.679 --> 00:00:35.119
Which might sound strange, right?
00:00:35.280 --> 00:00:39.520
This is a cashback card whose best feature isn't the cashback.
00:00:39.600 --> 00:00:41.280
But that tells you something about this product.
00:00:41.520 --> 00:00:44.079
There is no single feature that you'd obviously get it for.
00:00:44.240 --> 00:00:47.119
The cashback needs serious spending to cover the fee.
00:00:47.359 --> 00:00:55.600
The investment waiver only really matters if you've got a lot invested with Monzo, and the subscriptions only really count if you'd have paid for them anyway.
00:00:55.679 --> 00:00:59.200
So Aura only really works when you use enough of it at once.
00:00:59.359 --> 00:01:01.920
And I think that's why the reaction has been so split.
00:01:02.079 --> 00:01:04.560
And please do get in the comments and let us know your thoughts.
00:01:04.799 --> 00:01:11.599
But some people are genuinely into this, while others have looked at the fee and they're asking why there's no cheaper version.
00:01:11.760 --> 00:01:19.280
For example, a cashback card without the subscriptions or cashback added to Flex or to Perks and Max, which people are already paying for.
00:01:19.439 --> 00:01:39.200
So we're going to discuss all of this, including what it takes to break even and get the most out of this card, whether Monzo's own uh£360 worth of value claim holds up, and also how this stacks up against the likes of Lloyd's Ultra and Amex cashback cards, which you can already get for nothing.
00:01:39.359 --> 00:01:46.879
So yeah, shall we just begin with exactly what you're gonna get and how much value you can get out of aura?
00:01:47.040 --> 00:01:48.799
Yeah, John, let's start with the cashback.
00:01:48.879 --> 00:01:51.519
You're getting 1% at top UK supermarkets.
00:01:51.599 --> 00:01:55.439
And when I first heard that, I was very curious which supermarkets would be included in the list.
00:01:55.599 --> 00:01:57.920
Had a look at Monzo's website and couldn't find anything.
00:01:58.079 --> 00:01:59.599
I couldn't find a concrete list.
00:01:59.760 --> 00:02:10.719
I even asked you if if you you'd think that this was available for all supermarkets in general, groceries, maybe that works with the merchant code instead of a list of retailers, but it seems not to be the case.
00:02:10.800 --> 00:02:17.759
So there's a list of supermarkets: Tesco, Sainsbury, Aldi, Co-op, Lidl, and a few others that are included.
00:02:17.840 --> 00:02:20.560
But I I wish they had some more transparency here.
00:02:20.719 --> 00:02:22.560
Um, really dislike that.
00:02:22.960 --> 00:02:27.840
And you're getting 0.5% of cashback on every other merchant.
00:02:27.919 --> 00:02:37.360
And I think 0.5%, Johnny, that's actually quite underwhelming, especially considering this is a paid product and there are free products that offer um more, potentially.
00:02:37.520 --> 00:02:41.840
If you're already taking advantage of Monzo's partner offers, I think this can be quite exciting.
00:02:41.919 --> 00:02:46.400
Um, for example, there's a 2% Tesco offer, or at least there was when we prepped the show.
00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:57.840
You could combine that with the 1% Aura cashback, that would sum up to 3% of cashback that can be quite attractive if you regularly shop at Tesco or one of the other retailers on the list, wherever there's a partner offer available.
00:02:57.919 --> 00:03:01.759
But besides that, I think the cashback is really the most underwhelming part here.
00:03:01.840 --> 00:03:07.120
I think it's it's almost, yeah, I don't want to say it so early in the episode, but it feels kind of pointless to me.
00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:14.159
Not sure what you think about that, Johnny, but it's yeah, I wish they had a better cashback offer here, considering it's a paid product.
00:03:14.400 --> 00:03:20.240
This episode is sponsored by no one really, just Jan and I and our website, depositscout.com.
00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:25.199
There you can go and track UK savings rates to find the best savings accounts available.
00:03:25.360 --> 00:03:34.479
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00:03:34.639 --> 00:03:36.879
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00:03:37.039 --> 00:03:38.879
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00:03:39.039 --> 00:03:41.680
There's loads of features that I really like about Deposit Scout.
00:03:41.919 --> 00:03:43.520
Jan, do you want to just share one?
00:03:43.680 --> 00:03:44.560
What's your favorite?
00:03:44.800 --> 00:03:51.039
My favorite feature is the rate history graph, Johnny, because it quickly tells you which products are worth signing up for right now and which are not.
00:03:51.199 --> 00:03:56.240
As an example, eTorus Cash ICE offers 4.87%, which is the top of the table.
00:03:56.400 --> 00:04:02.879
But it's also, if we look at the rate history graph, the all-time high of whatever they've they've offered in the past, 4.8%.
00:04:03.280 --> 00:04:07.599
They've never offered so much in interest, and it's definitely a good option right now.
00:04:07.759 --> 00:04:13.520
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00:04:13.759 --> 00:04:15.919
So deposit scout.com is free to use.
00:04:16.079 --> 00:04:18.480
Link in the description box, we'll put it in the show notes.
00:04:18.639 --> 00:04:19.120
Check it out.
00:04:19.199 --> 00:04:21.439
It's the best way to support Jan and I.
00:04:21.519 --> 00:04:23.279
That's depositscout.com.
00:04:23.439 --> 00:04:24.079
Thank you very much.
00:04:24.240 --> 00:04:28.240
They've made it quite clear that this product is about rewarding their customers.
00:04:28.399 --> 00:04:43.680
If we take a moment and I'll get you to react to this and look at what their sort of product owner or manager of this has said, that initially they wanted to make, or in their words, sorry, I'll quote this how could we make spending with Monzo more rewarding for our customers?
00:04:43.839 --> 00:04:47.759
And I'm I'm getting this through the uh community.monzo.com website.
00:04:47.920 --> 00:04:50.399
I'm not sure how rewarding this really is.
00:04:50.720 --> 00:04:53.759
I I get 1% cash back is is is good.
00:04:53.920 --> 00:04:54.639
That is rewarding.
00:04:54.720 --> 00:04:58.399
That's not to be laughed at, but at the same time, you've paywalled it.
00:04:58.480 --> 00:05:00.079
You have to pay£15 to get it.
00:05:00.240 --> 00:05:04.079
Should we just, yeah, should we just clarify what it takes to earn that?
00:05:04.240 --> 00:05:05.120
I think that's important, right?
00:05:05.279 --> 00:05:09.519
How much do I have to spend to get that£15 a month back and just break even?
00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:09.839
Right?
00:05:09.920 --> 00:05:11.759
So that's£1,500 a month.
00:05:11.839 --> 00:05:17.839
And if you spend your money elsewhere, it's£36,000 a year or about£3,000 a month.
00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:22.480
And obviously, um most people will have some combination of spending, right?
00:05:22.560 --> 00:05:26.639
They they gotta buy other things in groceries, so it's some some number in between.
00:05:26.800 --> 00:05:33.120
So anything between£1,800 a year and£3,600 a year, which is a lot of money, to be honest.
00:05:33.199 --> 00:05:34.800
Um, it's fascinating, actually.
00:05:35.040 --> 00:05:42.160
These 1% of cashback that you're getting on groceries and the half percent that you're getting on anything else, uh barely sums up really.
00:05:42.240 --> 00:05:44.879
So the cashback is, I think, a nice side feature.
00:05:44.959 --> 00:05:50.800
But when I first read Monzo's statement, Johnny, I thought they would launch the the best card on the market, right?
00:05:51.040 --> 00:05:53.040
Making spending more rewarding.
00:05:53.199 --> 00:05:54.560
That was their main mission.
00:05:54.720 --> 00:06:01.279
And then they come out with a 0.5% cashback on anything else in groceries.
00:06:01.600 --> 00:06:02.240
I don't know.
00:06:02.399 --> 00:06:06.639
For me, there's there's a mismatch here, you know, with the statement and then what came out in the end.
00:06:06.720 --> 00:06:13.439
You know, you know these memes, Johnny, when um, you know, client expectations and then what the what you actually receive, right?
00:06:13.600 --> 00:06:14.480
Client's budget.
00:06:15.279 --> 00:06:16.959
Just that's what it reminds me of.
00:06:17.279 --> 00:06:18.639
I I completely agree with you.
00:06:18.720 --> 00:06:25.439
On cashback alone, it falls flat as a uh a card for transacting internationally, for example, Jan, it it could be good.
00:06:25.519 --> 00:06:33.199
You're gonna get MasterCard's exchange rates, you're gonna get the typical Monzo fantastic exchange rates through MasterCard, of course.
00:06:33.279 --> 00:06:38.639
Um, and you know, you're gonna get the rewards regardless of whether it's a domestic transaction or an international transaction.
00:06:38.800 --> 00:06:49.199
So 1% cash back internationally, again, you're paying£15 a month for it, but that is somewhat, you know, the fact that you don't pay any fixed fees on that, like Amex will charge you 2.99%, for example.
00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:56.079
That, yeah, that the fact that that's free, you earn that 1% at least it's 0.5%, isn't it?
00:06:56.160 --> 00:06:57.040
Yeah, and of course it is.
00:06:57.360 --> 00:07:01.600
You could earn 1% if you're shopping at Lidl or Audi on holiday, but who's doing that?
00:07:01.759 --> 00:07:01.920
Okay.
00:07:02.240 --> 00:07:04.959
No, no, I think that only counts for the UK supermarkets only.
00:07:05.199 --> 00:07:06.000
I don't think this would count.
00:07:06.079 --> 00:07:09.759
Uh the 1% would count for Lidls in Germany, for example, in Spain.
00:07:09.839 --> 00:07:13.680
Um, so that would only count with in the UK, if I understand the terms and conditions correctly.
00:07:13.920 --> 00:07:20.000
Okay, I'm clutching straws anyway, at 1% internationally, but even if it doesn't work, you're gonna get 0.5%.
00:07:20.480 --> 00:07:22.000
That's still not even that fantastic.
00:07:22.319 --> 00:07:29.439
As part of like when I was testing this product, yeah, and I was actually using it in Portugal and I was actually earning some cash back from each transaction.
00:07:29.680 --> 00:07:30.959
It would be sad if you wouldn't, right?
00:07:31.120 --> 00:07:38.079
Because um people listening might think we're we're criticizing this a little bit too much, but you've got to think of this as a paid product, right?
00:07:38.160 --> 00:07:39.759
It's it's nothing that's free.
00:07:39.839 --> 00:07:45.519
Um, and there are other free products on the market that that look similarly if you just look at the core financial benefits.
00:07:45.600 --> 00:07:52.720
Um, so us being being so, you know, um trying trying to criticize this or or criticizing it, trying to find a point, basically.
00:07:52.879 --> 00:07:56.240
That's because this has a price tag attached to it that is significant.
00:07:56.319 --> 00:08:02.399
You know, at 15 pounds per month, you can get almost an MX gold card, which is extremely rewarding, right?
00:08:02.560 --> 00:08:05.920
Comes with a huge sign-up bonus and and so many other benefits, right?
00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:07.759
Four launch passes a year, etc.
00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:12.160
Um, and you're getting one point per per purchase, uh, per pound spent.
00:08:12.319 --> 00:08:14.639
So it's it's very, yeah, very significant, right?
00:08:14.720 --> 00:08:25.120
We'll talk about a few of these alternatives in a little bit at the end of the show, but that's why um it feels like we're we're trying to make sense of this because it's yeah, it's it's interesting.
00:08:25.199 --> 00:08:27.439
It's not the cashback that makes this card attractive.
00:08:27.519 --> 00:08:28.720
You can't say that at all, right?
00:08:29.360 --> 00:08:34.720
And that's that's it's it's no that's funny considering their mission was to make monzo usage more rewarding, right?
00:08:34.799 --> 00:08:38.000
So it's it's it's all about other things than cashback.
00:08:38.159 --> 00:08:39.679
That's how it seems to me, at least.
00:08:39.919 --> 00:08:49.759
Yeah, and it's like those other things are there purely as a means of trying to convince more people to sign up for this card, but at the same time, it's a bit limited and it's a bit niche.
00:08:49.919 --> 00:08:53.759
Like Apple TV, for example, you're gonna get that with this card.
00:08:53.919 --> 00:08:56.639
Okay, there are plenty of people that are paying monthly for that.
00:08:56.799 --> 00:09:01.200
Uh I good streaming, I think it's one of the best platforms, but I'm paying for it annually.
00:09:01.440 --> 00:09:04.639
I pay£89 per month for it annually.
00:09:04.799 --> 00:09:10.000
Um, I'm, you know, I'm not going to then get Monzo Aura because that's paid for up front already.
00:09:10.080 --> 00:09:11.840
That won't replace that cost in my life.
00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:22.480
Google AI Plus, two terabytes of storage, extended Gemini use, maybe more advanced model access, more image processing, video processing, that's beneficial for the right person.
00:09:22.559 --> 00:09:24.000
But again, it's quite niche.
00:09:24.159 --> 00:09:26.960
Some people may already have access to those products.
00:09:27.039 --> 00:09:31.919
Um, but on their own, individually, they're not going to be strong enough to justify that fee as well, Yan.
00:09:32.080 --> 00:09:36.080
And then on top of that, you have two lounge passes, two fast track passes.
00:09:36.799 --> 00:09:45.840
Uh, so you know that's gonna be okay if you're an infrequent traveler, but if you're a frequent traveler, I don't know why you'd be looking at that as your lounge pass access option.
00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:49.279
It's not gonna cover you, likely not gonna cover you at least.
00:09:49.440 --> 00:09:52.879
Ah, Jan, I mean, they're waiving the investment platform fees.
00:09:53.039 --> 00:10:02.799
If that's solely the reason you're gonna get Monzo Aura and pay£180 a year, you're you're gonna have to have invested a significant amount of money to make that make sense.
00:10:03.039 --> 00:10:15.679
The the platform fees 0.25% a year, I believe, which is quite low, to be honest, and 0.2% if you subscribe to one of the um the paid years, at least Monzo Perks and Max, I think extra doesn't come of this um this reduction in platform fees.
00:10:15.840 --> 00:10:24.639
So it basically means um, yeah, having a hundred K um invested, you'd be getting, yeah, 250 pounds of fees waived, essentially.
00:10:24.799 --> 00:10:29.600
Um, and having 100k in Monzo, hmm, you know, should you do that?
00:10:29.759 --> 00:10:30.159
I don't know.
00:10:30.399 --> 00:10:36.559
Not an investment advisor, don't want to be, but it's definitely a question that serious investors will ask themselves, right?
00:10:36.639 --> 00:10:40.000
I I have a feeling they would much rather go towards other platforms.
00:10:40.240 --> 00:10:44.639
There is an argument though, Yam, for people that just want to have it all in one place, those people do exist.
00:10:45.200 --> 00:10:59.600
You know, maybe people will look at this if you're using Hargreaves, if you're using Vanguard, more expensive legacy players, you might be thinking, well, moving to Monzo, getting Aura is certainly going to save me money and fees, and then maybe I can benefit as well from you know those other other features.
00:10:59.759 --> 00:11:02.799
Um but it's still not that compelling.
00:11:02.879 --> 00:11:04.080
It's still not that strong.
00:11:04.159 --> 00:11:11.360
And even when I think about them all together, all the benefits that we've listed so far, it it's hardly screaming at me, is it?
00:11:11.440 --> 00:11:14.639
It's hardly saying, Yes, this makes sense.
00:11:14.960 --> 00:11:17.519
It it feels very light, Jan.
00:11:17.600 --> 00:11:27.519
Uh really want to hear from people in the comment section because I I imagine there are a lot of people out there that I I don't want to speak for them, but I think they would agree with us.
00:11:27.679 --> 00:11:29.039
This feels a bit light.
00:11:29.200 --> 00:11:30.559
That's also my assumption, Johnny.
00:11:30.720 --> 00:11:40.000
Actually, when I first read the benefits, I thought this was some sort of um add-on that you could add to Monzo Perks um at a reduced fee, but it doesn't seem to be the case.
00:11:40.080 --> 00:11:42.720
So maybe it's going to be something like that in the future.
00:11:42.799 --> 00:11:48.480
Uh maybe it's going to be some sort of um Monzo Flex Plus um card, right?
00:11:48.639 --> 00:11:52.240
A better version of Monzo Flex, which is already a credit card that is quite attractive.
00:11:52.320 --> 00:11:54.879
I think I like the fact that you can't essentially what this is.
00:11:55.039 --> 00:11:57.679
Yeah, you can you can pay an installment and it's it's free, right?
00:11:57.840 --> 00:11:59.279
Um three installments, I believe.
00:11:59.679 --> 00:12:01.919
Um so it's pretty attractive, right?
00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:03.039
But that's a free card.
00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:07.360
So maybe if this had half the price, I'd be more open to this.
00:12:07.440 --> 00:12:11.440
But at£15 a month, I think this is um yeah, quite expensive.
00:12:11.840 --> 00:12:19.279
They'd have a hard time, I suppose, affording to cover the likes of Apple TV and the AI plus thing.
00:12:19.440 --> 00:12:24.720
If it was£7.50 a month, um they also have to cover the cost of cashback, right?
00:12:24.799 --> 00:12:25.679
This is a credit card.
00:12:25.759 --> 00:12:28.080
The interchange fees in the UK are capped at 0.3%.
00:12:28.879 --> 00:12:37.360
So Monzo are getting every time you transact with your Aura card, they're getting 0.3% of the transaction, but that's not gonna cover 0.5, it's not gonna cover 1%.
00:12:37.679 --> 00:12:40.159
So there is a cost associated to that cashback.
00:12:40.240 --> 00:12:43.679
You know, trading 212s, 1.5% cashback offer when that was available.
00:12:43.840 --> 00:12:45.600
That was a customer acquisition cost.
00:12:45.759 --> 00:12:48.639
They were willing to pay for that to acquire your business.
00:12:48.879 --> 00:12:51.360
Monzo have gone, we're not gonna do it like that.
00:12:51.440 --> 00:13:00.240
We're gonna offer this in order to generate more subscription revenue and charge 15 pounds for it and have this as a hook to get you to sign up, essentially.
00:13:00.559 --> 00:13:05.919
It's not compelling enough, I think, on the surface, because of that fee.
00:13:06.080 --> 00:13:09.440
I think that fee really makes this hard to look at.
00:13:09.519 --> 00:13:15.279
I mean, as a flex customer, Jan, it's very interesting how easy it is to go from Flex to Aura.
00:13:15.759 --> 00:13:20.960
I signed up in minutes, it was seamless, uh, I had the card ordered very quickly.
00:13:21.279 --> 00:13:27.679
And I this almost feels like a bit of a funnel for flex users because that's essentially what the underlying credit card is anyway.
00:13:28.080 --> 00:13:34.879
Um, and it's an you know, it's a nice little thing to say to a flex user, a regular user of Flex, perhaps, hey, here, what do you think about this?
00:13:34.960 --> 00:13:39.200
And interestingly, I just flexed a payment for a hotel.
00:13:39.360 --> 00:13:46.000
I want to clarify that I can obviously afford to pay for that hotel up front, but I choose to put it into three installments so I can have that money working elsewhere.
00:13:46.240 --> 00:13:57.919
Interestingly, when I switched from Flex to Aurian, outstanding payments that weren't put through a pay in three installment uh system, so to speak, that weren't being split across three months.
00:13:58.080 --> 00:14:02.639
Any payments that were just being paid for in the next statement received cash back.
00:14:02.879 --> 00:14:11.759
But that retroactive payment for the hotel, which was about£2,000, I believe, um, that wasn't going to receive any cash back because I had flexed it.
00:14:11.919 --> 00:14:14.720
That's as pretty much as far as I can tell.
00:14:14.799 --> 00:14:18.159
Uh, I would like to actually pay it off in full purely just to see what the outcome is.
00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:20.000
Maybe I'll get the cash back on it.
00:14:20.080 --> 00:14:22.960
Um, that might arguably make it worthwhile.
00:14:23.039 --> 00:14:24.799
Um, but that was quite interesting to me.
00:14:24.960 --> 00:14:31.279
I think that's worth knowing for anyone that's thinking about taking flex payments across to Aura and earning a bit of cash back on them.
00:14:31.600 --> 00:14:36.480
Bear in mind that you might not earn cash back on a payment that's been split across three instalments or more.
00:14:36.799 --> 00:14:40.240
One thing I would like to ask you, John, in the beginning, you mentioned it's a metal card, right?
00:14:40.399 --> 00:14:40.960
You showed it.
00:14:41.039 --> 00:14:42.480
Um, I think we showed it on the screen.
00:14:42.799 --> 00:14:43.519
Okay, let's get into this.
00:14:43.759 --> 00:14:44.639
It's a really beautiful card.
00:14:44.720 --> 00:14:45.840
You think you can flex with it?
00:14:46.000 --> 00:14:48.720
You can think you can you can flex with the Aura card.
00:14:48.799 --> 00:14:50.399
Is it uh is it good looking enough?
00:14:50.559 --> 00:14:55.200
We know that some people they're tempted by um to get these cards as status symbols.
00:14:55.279 --> 00:14:56.720
We've we've heard that in the past, right?
00:14:56.799 --> 00:15:00.000
I would I would strongly advise against that, but some people do that.
00:15:00.080 --> 00:15:04.960
And I think this card, if that's your intention, you know, might get you all the way there.
00:15:05.039 --> 00:15:10.159
Because I think it's one of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful looking cards on the market right now.
00:15:10.240 --> 00:15:11.519
And I'm sure you you'd agree with me.
00:15:11.840 --> 00:15:16.480
The the white balance on the camera is not doing the best job of properly displaying how that looks.
00:15:16.639 --> 00:15:24.480
So I might do some sort of b-roll footage to give you a proper sort of colour interpretation or or an accurate colour interpretation of it.
00:15:24.799 --> 00:15:29.679
These colours, Johnny, and and I find it fascinating that the colour changes depending on which angle you look at it.
00:15:29.759 --> 00:15:38.159
I think this is something I have not seen in card, and I know I just said, you know, I just claimed that credit cards or debit cards should not be fashionable symbols.
00:15:38.480 --> 00:15:42.399
But I think if that was your intention, this card would get you all the way there.
00:15:42.480 --> 00:15:45.279
It's the most beautiful looking card on the market right now, I'm sure.
00:15:45.519 --> 00:16:00.480
So if we compare the weight of this card now to other metal cards, I want to start with the gold-plated Revolute card that weighs 16 grams, then the titanium plated F1 card that weighs 19 grams, that is uh Revolute's heaviest card.
00:16:00.639 --> 00:16:03.440
The Ultra Card weighs 17 grams.
00:16:03.600 --> 00:16:05.679
Now, this is where it gets really interesting though.
00:16:05.840 --> 00:16:10.960
The Monzo metal card, the original one, weighs 17 grams.
00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:11.440
Alright?
00:16:11.679 --> 00:16:12.960
Same as the ultra card.
00:16:13.039 --> 00:16:20.639
Now, this new one, which is metal as well, apparently, weighs 14 grams.
00:16:20.720 --> 00:16:31.679
That is very light for a metal card, and honestly, it feels quite light and bendy versus like the titanium card that barely bends at all.
00:16:31.840 --> 00:16:41.039
I've got to say that this aura card, it looks great, the colours are lovely, I love how it shimmers, but it does just feel a little bit weak for a metal card.
00:16:41.279 --> 00:16:41.600
Yeah.
00:16:42.480 --> 00:16:44.559
How long have we been talking about this card now?
00:16:44.720 --> 00:16:46.720
Maybe three or four minutes, people that are listening.
00:16:46.879 --> 00:16:46.960
Yeah.
00:16:47.279 --> 00:16:48.639
We've been talking about this for a while, right?
00:16:48.879 --> 00:16:49.200
I think so.
00:16:49.440 --> 00:16:54.879
Is that not telling, is what I'm trying to say, that we are spending the majority of this episode talking about the card.
00:16:55.200 --> 00:16:56.720
Yeah, I think you're you're right, Johnny.
00:16:56.799 --> 00:16:59.120
And that's actually a bad sign for the product itself, right?
00:16:59.200 --> 00:17:06.160
Because that kind of uh shows that the core financial benefits and other features that you get with the subscription are slightly underwhelming.
00:17:06.240 --> 00:17:07.200
And they really are.
00:17:07.359 --> 00:17:08.640
And it's it's sad, right?
00:17:08.720 --> 00:17:12.319
I think Monzo customers they deserve something slightly better than this.
00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:15.119
Um, Monzo is such a great product in its base version.
00:17:16.079 --> 00:17:16.559
Yeah, exactly.
00:17:16.799 --> 00:17:19.759
Monzo is a is a really great product in its base version.
00:17:19.839 --> 00:17:26.960
Then you have these, I think, fairly priced subscriptions that you can just just add on, which come with great benefits as well.
00:17:27.279 --> 00:17:28.319
Perks is great, right?
00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:30.240
I think you mentioned you were subscribed to that.
00:17:30.400 --> 00:17:34.559
Um Monzo Max, if you like, insurance can be also quite convincing.
00:17:34.640 --> 00:17:40.079
Although now at the current price, after the current price increase, I'm not so sure it's worth it anymore, but it's another story.
00:17:40.319 --> 00:17:52.079
But I think this this Aura subscription just kind of stands out in a bad way if you compare them to these other subscriptions that are already there that are bundled with perks, um, literally called perks.
00:17:52.160 --> 00:17:53.200
You got many things, right?
00:17:53.279 --> 00:17:56.240
It's it's it's tempting and it's affordable, relatively affordable.
00:17:56.319 --> 00:17:59.920
It's priced at roughly half of what Aura is priced at.
00:18:00.720 --> 00:18:03.359
Yes, and you've got a three-month tie-in as well.
00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:05.440
You've got 45-pound commitment up front.
00:18:05.519 --> 00:18:06.799
You don't have to order the card.
00:18:06.880 --> 00:18:08.720
I appreciate that comes at a cost to Monzo.
00:18:08.880 --> 00:18:16.880
That's probably one of the reasons why there's a minimum term to cover that fee, but it's not cheap, it's a significant arse for their customers.
00:18:17.039 --> 00:18:19.279
And in return, I don't think they're offering you enough.
00:18:19.440 --> 00:18:22.160
Like, let's talk about this compared to other products for a moment.
00:18:22.319 --> 00:18:24.000
Let's give Revolute a mention here.
00:18:24.079 --> 00:18:26.720
If you look at like metal, which comes in at a similar cost.
00:18:27.039 --> 00:18:27.200
Yeah.
00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:29.680
Yeah, and there are so many products.
00:18:29.839 --> 00:18:37.680
The metal is so rich in value and features that it makes it makes aura.
00:18:39.440 --> 00:18:42.319
I don't want to be harsh, but it makes it look incomplete, doesn't it?
00:18:43.119 --> 00:18:45.279
It makes it look empty in comparison.
00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:45.599
Yeah.
00:18:45.839 --> 00:18:53.279
You know, you you could just get FT standard digital with Revolute Metal and break even and justify the account.
00:18:53.440 --> 00:18:54.400
It's so simple.
00:18:54.960 --> 00:19:03.200
Whereas I know one of Monzo's points in their community post was not to have just one feature that makes it worthwhile.
00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:09.599
So most people miss out on value and it's you know a poor investment for a lot of people because of that reason.
00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:10.799
Sounds like nonsense to that.
00:19:11.039 --> 00:19:12.079
That's not true here.
00:19:12.240 --> 00:19:13.839
Yeah, that's not true here.
00:19:14.079 --> 00:19:18.960
There are a few features that when bundled together with this card will make it worthwhile to some people.
00:19:19.119 --> 00:19:22.559
And there will be people, won't there, in the comments that will say, hey, I can make use of this.
00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:28.000
And I I appreciate that, but I think there's such a small fraction of people that this is useful for.
00:19:28.079 --> 00:19:32.000
And I think unfortunately, let's have a look now at the competition.
00:19:32.160 --> 00:19:44.799
I think unfortunately, many people may get tied into this that would probably be benefiting, you know, have doing their spending elsewhere, for example, maybe doing their investing elsewhere as well, like the likes of trading two on two, which is practically free.
00:19:45.039 --> 00:19:46.000
Lloyd's Ultra.
00:19:46.079 --> 00:19:48.799
Yeah, and I think that's the elephant in the room that we should talk about first.
00:19:48.960 --> 00:19:51.279
This credit card that you get with Lloyd's.
00:19:51.440 --> 00:19:52.319
I've got it here.
00:19:52.480 --> 00:19:58.000
You know, it's as good as it gets in the UK for the first year, right?
00:19:58.640 --> 00:19:59.759
Excellent card, actually.
00:19:59.839 --> 00:20:01.920
Maybe, maybe even the best card on the market.
00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:06.000
Um, if you look at solely the free cards, it's a no-brainer.
00:20:06.160 --> 00:20:07.519
In its first year, this is great.
00:20:07.920 --> 00:20:09.039
Doesn't cost much, right?
00:20:09.119 --> 00:20:15.119
And it's also relatively cheap to borrow money with um in in relation to to credit card terms, right?
00:20:15.200 --> 00:20:19.680
It's still quite expensive, but 15% for a credit card, I think that's uh that's relatively cheap.
00:20:19.839 --> 00:20:22.640
And then you get this 1% of cashback in the first year.
00:20:22.880 --> 00:20:26.640
After the first year, you might as well drop that card, but it's a different story.
00:20:26.720 --> 00:20:28.720
I think in this first year you should you should enjoy it.
00:20:28.799 --> 00:20:35.119
It's this 1% of cashback is very attractive, and I think there are yeah there are not many cards that that beat this that are totally free.
00:20:35.440 --> 00:20:43.839
It's important, isn't it, as a comparison, because Monzo have paywalled 1%, whereas Lloyd's have have given it out for free, yeah.
00:20:44.079 --> 00:20:44.400
That's right.
00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:50.720
Monzo are fully aware of what they're fully aware of Lloyd's Ultra, they're fully aware of this, but this is just a choice that they've made.
00:20:50.960 --> 00:20:51.759
At least I hoped, yeah.
00:20:52.079 --> 00:20:58.720
Maybe they would maybe they would just expect that the majority of people have probably had Lloyd's Ultra probably used that offer already.
00:20:58.880 --> 00:21:02.480
Um but I just wanted to bring that up first because that is an example.
00:21:03.039 --> 00:21:04.400
It's also it doesn't make sense, right?
00:21:04.480 --> 00:21:05.519
You've used that offer already, right?
00:21:05.599 --> 00:21:10.640
Get the MX Cashback Everyday card, offers half a percent up to 10,000 pounds, and then 1% above.
00:21:10.799 --> 00:21:15.599
Needs, I think, 3,000 pounds a year uh as as a spend to keep it alive or something.
00:21:15.759 --> 00:21:18.720
Um so I think that's yeah, pretty pretty similar, right?
00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:21.839
And they have also Walcome bonus, I think these MX cashback cards.
00:21:22.000 --> 00:21:25.200
Um, what was that five percent um for a certain amount of months?
00:21:25.279 --> 00:21:28.400
I think it depends which which um which tier you subscribe to.
00:21:28.559 --> 00:21:31.519
I think between three and five months, up to 125 pounds.
00:21:31.680 --> 00:21:34.319
But that's yeah, wow, that's already more attractive here.
00:21:34.480 --> 00:21:39.039
But if you're thinking of using a card abroad, just exclude everything MX related.
00:21:39.119 --> 00:21:40.160
It's not worth it, right?
00:21:40.319 --> 00:21:44.480
2.99% of exchange rate fees, um, absolutely not worth it.
00:21:44.559 --> 00:21:48.799
I mean, Lloyd's Ultra, you know, Barclays Reward card.
00:21:48.960 --> 00:21:51.359
Um almost again, great for travel.
00:21:51.599 --> 00:21:53.119
Yeah, many other cards that are good for travel.
00:21:54.960 --> 00:21:56.559
But put No, they're not.
00:21:56.640 --> 00:21:59.759
But that Barclay card rewards card, another one for travel, but at.25%.
00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:06.240
Five percent, it is less than Monzo at 0.5%, but you know, you haven't got a fee to pay.
00:22:06.720 --> 00:22:08.880
Um let's say you want to pay a fee, Johnny.
00:22:09.599 --> 00:22:10.960
What if you want to pay a fee?
00:22:11.839 --> 00:22:13.200
Let's say you're you're open to that.
00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:15.359
Okay, okay, okay, okay.
00:22:15.440 --> 00:22:16.799
You're open to paying the fee.
00:22:16.960 --> 00:22:18.640
Okay, but you still need to break even.
00:22:18.720 --> 00:22:20.880
There's no point just running a fee for no reason.
00:22:20.960 --> 00:22:22.079
You still need to break even on it.
00:22:22.160 --> 00:22:32.400
So you've either got to go and spend the money on the groceries, or you've got to you've got to have Apple TV, you've got to have Google One, you've got to be using that two terabytes of storage.
00:22:32.559 --> 00:22:33.759
That is a bare minimum.
00:22:34.079 --> 00:22:34.240
Yeah.
00:22:34.400 --> 00:22:42.480
Um, because I don't think I don't think people are running the cashback on this hard enough to justify solely for that reason, right?
00:22:42.559 --> 00:22:53.440
I mean, the Amex cashback card Yan is is is is the best is the better option in terms of rewarding your trust your spending entirely.
00:22:53.599 --> 00:22:57.359
Like you're not gonna this card will not beat it, Aura does not beat it.
00:22:57.599 --> 00:23:06.240
Um so if you're watching this, listening to this, it do not go for this card unless you are actively already using Apple TV.
00:23:06.480 --> 00:23:17.680
If you have maybe uh if you've reached the limit of your Google storage at one terabyte or 500 gigabytes and you need more, then you should be open to this idea.
00:23:17.839 --> 00:23:20.480
But there is a couple of fundamental features that you've got to use.
00:23:20.640 --> 00:23:27.759
Maybe you're with Vanguard, maybe you're for some reason investing with Hargreaves Landsdown and you're absorbing their fees, you could take it over to Monzo.
00:23:28.799 --> 00:23:30.400
Maybe you'd want to go through that.
00:23:30.480 --> 00:23:31.039
I don't know.
00:23:31.200 --> 00:23:32.000
Oh God, yeah.
00:23:32.559 --> 00:23:35.359
I I I'd like to take a moment to defend Monzo.
00:23:35.599 --> 00:23:37.039
Let's try and justify this plan.
00:23:37.119 --> 00:23:41.119
And I think you can, but it's it's hard.
00:23:41.359 --> 00:23:41.680
Yeah.
00:23:41.920 --> 00:23:42.400
It's hard.
00:23:42.480 --> 00:23:49.680
And I'd like to ask for a minute of silence for the people that went ahead and signed up already and are now stuck in this three-month plan, right?
00:23:49.920 --> 00:23:52.640
Basically three-month commitment until they can get rid of it.
00:23:52.799 --> 00:23:58.160
Because I think a lot of people would sign up and try to get rid of it as fast as possible when they realize how underwhelming this is.
00:23:58.319 --> 00:24:01.279
Sorry, this sounds hard, but those are my honest thoughts here.
00:24:01.440 --> 00:24:06.480
And I wish um there's someone from Monzo listening potentially that could go ahead and defend this card.
00:24:06.559 --> 00:24:09.279
Hey, you're invited to join our podcast.
00:24:09.359 --> 00:24:10.640
Let's let's have a discussion about this.
00:24:10.720 --> 00:24:11.359
I would love to.
00:24:12.400 --> 00:24:13.680
And we love Monzo.
00:24:14.000 --> 00:24:15.119
I've said it in the past, right?
00:24:15.599 --> 00:24:25.200
Just a few episodes back, we talked about the the incredible growth journey of Monzo, and I think they still have maybe the best free account on the market, or at least one of the best free accounts that are available.
00:24:25.359 --> 00:24:27.519
And these these paid funds are also great.
00:24:27.759 --> 00:24:36.000
Monzo is an incredible product, but this card just doesn't, yeah, it just doesn't it just doesn't fit the existing product lineup.
00:24:36.079 --> 00:24:36.720
It doesn't.
00:24:36.880 --> 00:24:37.759
That's my thought.
00:24:37.839 --> 00:24:39.200
It just doesn't, doesn't feel right.
00:24:39.359 --> 00:24:40.079
Half baked.
00:24:40.160 --> 00:24:41.119
That's how it feels.
00:24:41.440 --> 00:24:52.559
Feels like they they were onto something, they tried to make something great, and then you know, you you want to build a a card that makes rewards or that makes uh spending with Monzo worth it, right?
00:24:52.799 --> 00:24:53.599
That's your intention.
00:24:53.680 --> 00:24:59.839
Now you come around with 1% of cash back on on groceries at certain retailers and half a percent on everything else?
00:25:00.079 --> 00:25:00.640
Whew.
00:25:01.759 --> 00:25:04.799
At 180 pounds a year, getting a headache talking about this.
00:25:05.039 --> 00:25:08.799
Take the take the take the 180 pounds and just invest every year.
00:25:09.119 --> 00:25:23.279
You know, uh the auto-investing feature, you know, you spend 10,000 pounds, you auto-invest 100 pounds annually, it's and that's on groceries, it's uh I mean it's okay, it's not to be laughed at, I appreciate that, but it's not gonna move the needle.
00:25:23.680 --> 00:25:31.440
It's it's the headline of the card, but it's like it deserves to be in like page 10 of the newspaper, not page one.
00:25:31.599 --> 00:25:37.359
It it doesn't compel someone, I don't think, when you look a little bit deeper beyond the headline.
00:25:37.599 --> 00:25:39.759
Really want to hear from people about this one.
00:25:40.079 --> 00:25:47.759
It's frustrating because I am like Jan a huge fan of Monzo, but this product has just not lived up to what you would expect from them.
00:25:47.920 --> 00:25:52.319
I think they set the bar very high, and I don't think this meets their own standards.
00:25:52.480 --> 00:26:02.319
I don't want to say this because I cannot say for sure, but does it not feel to you, buddy, like a bit of a another sort of subscribe subscription trap?
00:26:02.400 --> 00:26:05.279
You know, another way to generate more recurring revenue.
00:26:05.440 --> 00:26:06.720
That's absolutely fine.
00:26:06.880 --> 00:26:09.039
That needs to be its business, right?
00:26:09.119 --> 00:26:09.920
It's a free market.
00:26:10.160 --> 00:26:11.839
Monzo is a for-profit business.
00:26:11.920 --> 00:26:12.960
That's the whole point.
00:26:13.119 --> 00:26:18.079
They exist, they have to generate as much money as possible, and there's nothing wrong in that.
00:26:18.160 --> 00:26:19.279
Um, absolutely nothing.
00:26:19.359 --> 00:26:22.079
But I think this should not come at the cost of the consumer.
00:26:22.240 --> 00:26:23.920
I think the product still should be great.
00:26:24.000 --> 00:26:33.519
But I think also that Monzo customers, they, you know, they might be informed enough to figure out that this is not the best value card on the market and they choose not to subscribe to it, right?
00:26:33.599 --> 00:26:37.039
There might be people that subscribe to it, but I think that will be a minority of customers.
00:26:37.119 --> 00:26:40.319
It's not a no-brainer product, and I think that's a mistake for them.
00:26:40.480 --> 00:26:45.039
If I was them, I would look look at creating another um funnel product, basically.
00:26:45.119 --> 00:26:46.880
That's how you called them in a past, Johnny, right?
00:26:47.039 --> 00:26:52.000
Products that are so good that they literally bring people to to sign up with your company.
00:26:52.319 --> 00:26:54.319
Yeah, yeah, and this is this is not that.
00:26:54.559 --> 00:26:59.039
I mean, maybe they just looked to the cost of doing that, having more subscriptions.
00:26:59.200 --> 00:27:04.559
Like it looked like they were gonna have like a Times subscription at one point when they were surveying for this product.
00:27:04.640 --> 00:27:13.200
It was mentioned um it needs more, it needs a media product, it needs a lifestyle product, but possibly they cannot afford to do that based on the just£50.
00:27:13.519 --> 00:27:23.119
£15 though, surely they can, because look at Revolute, look at what they offer with Metal at what$16.99 in the UK, just rich with subscriptions.
00:27:23.359 --> 00:27:35.119
So I hope, like Jan said, this is actually half baked, and you know, they haven't taken it out of the oven yet, and we're gonna get or sorry, they're gonna put it back in the oven.
00:27:35.519 --> 00:27:37.920
I think we're gonna get more from this product.
00:27:38.000 --> 00:27:38.240
I hope.
00:27:38.480 --> 00:27:39.519
That's my gut feeling here.
00:27:39.680 --> 00:27:40.720
Do jump in the Discord.
00:27:40.799 --> 00:27:47.039
You know, if you want to give us your opinion further, if you want to get into a proper conversation about this, we have a Discord server, come join, become a founding member.
00:27:47.279 --> 00:27:50.400
Jan, I think we've got maybe 170, 180 members now.
00:27:50.559 --> 00:27:52.319
There's always a conversation happening in there.
00:27:52.400 --> 00:27:57.440
It's really nice, if I'm being honest, to actually have a more of a personal conversation.
00:27:57.680 --> 00:28:02.000
Yeah, I like it's nice to go past the comment section of YouTube because I think quite often they get lost.
00:28:02.160 --> 00:28:05.839
And you know, you get into threads, you get into responses, but it's hard to keep up with everything.
00:28:05.920 --> 00:28:07.680
But with Discord, it's super simple.
00:28:07.839 --> 00:28:13.440
So uh do scan the QR code on the screen, click the link in the description box, come join, and become a founding member.
00:28:13.599 --> 00:28:16.319
Yeah, and besides that, please like the video, subscribe.
00:28:16.400 --> 00:28:20.400
I think Johnny showed me a statistic the other day that most of the people watching are not subscribed.
00:28:20.480 --> 00:28:21.519
I think how can that be?
00:28:21.599 --> 00:28:25.680
Um, not a YouTube expert, but um yeah, please subscribe to this this channel.
00:28:25.759 --> 00:28:27.200
I think this would make a lot of sense, right?
00:28:27.279 --> 00:28:28.480
It's totally free to do that.
00:28:28.640 --> 00:28:32.160
Um, stay in touch with uh with all the videos that we publish.
00:28:32.240 --> 00:28:34.799
Um and I think it's yeah, it's been a pleasure.
00:28:35.039 --> 00:28:39.359
Great topic this week, and um excited to see you in the next episode, as always.
00:28:39.519 --> 00:28:40.319
Thanks everyone.
00:28:40.480 --> 00:28:40.880
Goodbye.
