We’re always busy trying to make Monzo even better. And from testing out new things like Monzo Plus and business accounts, to giving you more ways to save money and earn interest through Monzo – Q2 was no exception!
For a while we’ve been sharing updates with you every month, about what we’ve been up to and what’s coming next. But at the start of this year we said we’d try out a new format, where we share our updates and plans with you every three months, at the start of each quarter instead.
We think updating you every quarter will give you a better overall view of the things we’re working on and the ‘bigger picture’ thinking behind them. As always, we’ll share news and announcements with you as they come on the blog and social media. And for all the bits in between, stay tuned on the community forum!
What we did in Q2 2019
We launched Monzo Plus to everyone
Monzo Plus is a way for you to get more out of your Monzo account, for a monthly fee. The long-term vision for Monzo Plus is that it’ll take the hassle out of your financial life (and more).
You get access to a set of features as standard, including the ability to earn interest on the money in your account, and bespoke rewards and offers we’ve negotiated for you with some exciting new partners. And there’s lots more to come (which we’ll get into later!).
It’s £6 per month to access Monzo Plus, and between £3-4 for each custom feature you add. You can build your dream bundle of features at monzo.com/plus.
We brought Savings Pots to Joint Accounts
We brought Savings Pots back to Joint Accounts! So you can save together and earn up to 1.63% (AER, variable) on the money you put in your Joint Savings Pot, when you save at least £500 and lock it away for a certain amount of time.
Savings Pots on Joint Accounts help you work towards your goals as a team, and let you earn a bit on top to help your savings grow faster.
We added more kinds of Savings Pots
We also added new providers to our savings marketplace, to give you a range of products and providers to pick from.
You can now open a range of accounts with different banks and building societies, and manage all your savings in one place.
We’ve made loan repayments more flexible
When you get a loan with us, you can pick the date you want to make repayments each month.
But we know plans change and life can be unpredictable. So we’ve also added the ability to move your monthly repayment date if you need to (there’s no fee).
We’ve been rolling out more business accounts
Last month we shared our vision for the future of business accounts. And we’ve been working to make sure we can start inviting more of the 20,000 businesses on our waitlist to open a business account.
We’ve added support for FreeAgent and Xero bank feeds. And we published our public ideas board, so you can see what we’re working on and vote for what you’d like to see next!
We’ve started letting you get your salary early (for free!)
Ever feel like payday can’t come soon enough? We’re testing a feature that lets you get paid early, the day before your usual payday.
Most salaries and student loans come into Monzo accounts through a system called Bacs. Bacs payments usually take three days to reach your account, after your employer actually sends you the money. Your employer can cancel the payment any time until 4pm the day before it’s due to reach your account. So after the 4pm cut-off, we’re confident you’ll get paid.
That means we can let you access your salary early if you want to!
To test the feature, we’ve given few people the option get paid a day early. It’s a small test for now, but watch this space for updates!
We started working on a new structure for the Monzo app
The original Monzo app started life as a way to give you more control over your spending. But since then we’ve added lots of helpful features, from splitting the bill to paying people near you.
To make sure the app stays easy to use, we’ve been working on a new way to navigate the app, that’ll scale as we add even more features to Monzo.
Since we started this project you’ve shared more than 3,000 pieces of feedback with us (thank you!). And a team’s been hard at work figuring out what the Monzo app of the future looks like.
What we’re working on in Q3 2019
We’re bringing metal cards and different types of insurance to Monzo Plus
We asked you on the community forum and on our website what you’d like to get as part of Monzo Plus. And you had plenty of ideas!
Amongst the most popular suggestions were metal cards, contents insurance and mobile insurance. So, that’s what we’re working to bring you this quarter!
We’ll also be adding even more features to Monzo Plus, including breakdown cover and access to airport lounges. Oh, and we’ll be growing our list of exclusive Monzo Plus offers all the time!
We're launching loans for up to £15,000
We're working hard to offer loans to more customers. And soon you'll be able to check if you're eligible for a loan and see how much you could borrow, all from the app.
We think borrowing money should always be clear, fair and transparent. So the price you see is the price you'll pay, and there are no hidden fees.
You'll easily be able to track what you've paid off, how much is left and how much it's costing you. Plus, you’ll be able to pick a repayment date that suits you and move it if you need to, without any fees. And we won't charge you to pay back your loan early either.
We’re making business accounts even better
In June we launched our ideas board, and asked you to vote on the business banking features you’d like to see most. And this quarter we’re working on the most popular ones!
First up, we’re building a Tax Pot. It’s a smart way to set aside money for the tax automatically, so you’re always saving for your tax return.
We’re also building some clever budgeting and categorisation for businesses, and we’re excited to be working with some great partners to give you easy card processing and access to business loans.
We’re still at the very beginning of offering business accounts, so we’ve still got lots to learn! We’d love to hear what you think over on our community forum.
We bringing the new app structure to everyone
We’re working on a new way to navigate the Monzo app: core features will be easier to find, and it’ll set the stage for the future of Monzo.
Redesigning the app structure is another step towards making Monzo the hub to take control of your entire financial life.
We started this project in Q2. And we’ve been releasing updates every week, listening to your feedback, doing testing with real users, and running experiments with our data team. There’s still some work to do, but once we’re confident we’ve found a new design that works for you, we want to deliver it to everyone in Q3.
To help us test the new navigation, simply enable ‘New Navigation’ in Monzo Labs, a place we use to test early features with you!
To join Monzo Labs:
Head to the Account tab in your app
On iOS, tap your name to get to your Profile. On Android, tap the Settings icon
Scroll down and tap on Monzo Labs
You’ll see the option to switch on features we’re testing.