Why I left Monzo

Today is my last day with Monzo, the bank account that lives on your smartphone.

There are several reasons why I'm opting to leave Monzo but one key reason is that I have more Current Accounts than I need. In the process of consolidating them and weighing up the pros and cons of each, Monzo didn't fare too well. I initiated a Current Account Switch earlier in the month and my account is in its final day of being absorbed into an account with a so-called 'legacy bank'.

For the record, I think Monzo is a great bank. In the time I've had an account with them, I've encouraged tens of people to sign up and I think the work the company has done to make banking accessible to as many people as possible is highly commendable. This is a bittersweet goodbye because I will miss some of its features, not least free transactions in other currencies.

By far the biggest reason for closing my Monzo account is that my legacy bank has cloned nearly every feature of the Monzo app into its own. I believe this is going to become a real problem for Monzo, Starling and other 'challenger banks' over the next few years, especially as their mobile apps are their sole modus operandi.

Simply put, now that Monzo and my legacy bank are nearly identical, and given the choice between an institution that's been running for over 200 years or one that got their banking license in 2017, I am opting for the former. The only things that now separate the two are that my legacy bank has a wider range of financial products available to me and gives me the ability to handle my money in many more ways. If my time using Monzo has taught me anything, it's that options are good. Whilst I'm primarily cashless, the option to handle my money in-branch, including via cash and cheque – the later of which I did yesterday – and on more digital platforms than just my smartphone, add tremendous amounts of value.

All that's left for me to do is say goodbye in true Monzo style... Bye! 👋