Chaps,
Currently looking at banking for my new business and reviewing the online options and Monzo looks a reasonable option. Also considering Starling and Metro.
Any experiences would be greatly appreciated
Many thanks
Pitch
Chaps,
Currently looking at banking for my new business and reviewing the online options and Monzo looks a reasonable option. Also considering Starling and Metro.
Any experiences would be greatly appreciated
Many thanks
Pitch
Have Monzo and Starling for 2 different co’s
Both apps are very good, I’d say support is a little better with Starling should you ever need it
Both very good though, I’ve had no issues with either
Been a Monzo customer from the get-go, as Martin Lewis got my interest on his thoughts on them. For clarity I also have a First Direct account (been with them from the get-go).
Had no issues with Monzo - easy set up, love the app and the instant notifications and easy comms. Get daily spot rate for foreign transactions when travelling & saved us nearly £400 against the tourist rate on our round the world trip). Good benefits available include decent travel insurance and mobile phone insurance. I do not have/use them for business but over the last few years they have been very good.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
I have monzo and have done for several years - primarily got it for holidays but since retirement I’ve used the savings side - 4.1% which isn’t too shabby
The apps pretty good too
Natwest closed my business account during lockdown (long and very anger inducing story!). Given the circumstances with Covid and face masks and general difficulties in doing anything face-to-face I had a NIGHTMARE opening a new account. I tried all the big high street brands and it was usually weeks/months before I could even get an appointment to see a business manager. I was very close to just opening a Post Office account to use.
On the recommendation of a friend I tried the Monzo app. Applied online, sent a 30 second video (hello, yes its me, I am who I say I am on the forms etc etc) and the card was on my doormat THE NEXT DAY!
Service has been flawless with them. My only experience with customer services was an issue in Manchester where a faulty ATM didn't dispense any cash but still deducted funds. I sent them a panicked/angry message on their chat function and within a couple of hours I'd had detailed responses telling me what action they would take and (very VERY impressively) they even credited me with the funds that had been taken, saying they may need to take them back if they found the machine wasn't faulty (i.e. if I was trying it on!). Took seven weeks for an investigation to be completed but all went as expected and that was the end of that.
They also have a decent rate saving account (I think its 4.8%) which I use for my rainy day/tax pot. Click of a button to add/withdraw from it with no penalty.
I use them for both my main current account and my business account and have done for three years now. Absolutely no qualms in recommending them.
Have been using Starling for a few months and very impressed. The app experience is smooth and everything works very well. Easy to set up a joint account too, which was the main attraction.
Have had Starling Sterling and Euro account for my business for a couple of years and have been very happy.
Out of the two I think the Monzo app has a slight edge though if you ever want to bank a cheque currently only the Starling app can process them, other than that you pays your money and takes your choice.
"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."
'Populism, the last refuge of a Tory scoundrel'.
Ahhh just one additional thing that has occurred to me after reading the last post from Number2 is the inability to bank cash!
You can transfer happily between accounts but actually paying in physical money is rubbish - they allow £1000 every SIX MONTHS. For that reason I would always recommend keeping a high street bank as a standby. I have access to a Barclays account so on the rare occasions I have to pay some money in I can feed it through that, bit of a pain in the ar5e though.
We are in Europe often so have 2 cards - Monzo and Chase.
While Monzo is good it has its limitations and issues
You can only withdraw £250 in cash per month or the equivalent in currency
The limit for Chase is £1,500 per month
For that reason we are using our Chase cards to get local currency cash.
Monzo has also had issues when trying to pay occasionally- more recently to top up my foreign phone sim. It declined twice so my Chase card came to the rescue. I also had it declined in a French petrol station.
I don’t know about the benefits of the 2 cards but I’m certainly glad I’ve got the Chase card and would recommend it to anyone.
They cost nothing to set up so why not get both and try them.
My accounts are with Starling. Excellent bank and voted best British bank over the years.
Terrible bank which I would avoid.
When my account was fraudulently accessed and money (a few hundred pound) taken from the account they were very unhelpful.
They eventually decided to reject the claim after keeping me waiting for weeks without any reason or justification.
I closed the account.
"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."
'Populism, the last refuge of a Tory scoundrel'.
Been using Starling for 2-3 years now and genuinely over the moon with their customer service and support. The APP is very good and never had any issues. Cannot speak for MOnzo but hear good things from friends and colleagues who use them.
I doubt that either option will prove a bad choice.
Paul
Many thanks chaps for taking the time to reply.
Mrs P is going through the set up and if she is happy she will drop some money into the account, effectively a loan to the business.
We may try others though.
Pitch
I've been with them about 5 years and they've been great,the app and forum are great too.
For me Starling is amazing. As others have said the service is second to non.
Read my post *12 below.
They were great until I had an issue.