I don't quite see what can be done better. There's an app, I can see my personal and company accounts, payments can be done in a few seconds, direct debits as well. There's also a website I can use to do the same stuff. I have had quite a few online banking setups in various countries and I can tell you there are much more cumbersome UIs.
What do I gain from changing to Monzo, Revolut, or the like?
The Monzo iOS app is a completely mobile first rethink of banking. From the live nature of the balance, to the in-app chat (which works very well). On top of that, they don’t reimplement iOS conventions.
There’s a lot that could be improved about the Monzo iOS app. The whole service lacks features compared to Barclays (but, 450 vs 150k people, obviously), but it is still a step change in mobile banking.
- Low or no fee usage abroad - Real time transaction notifications on your phone. - Transactions showing immediately on the account. - Automatic categorising of transactions. I.e you can see what you spent in restaurants, shops, public transport etc. Monzo also let's you set budgets for individual categories. - Automatic saving. I.e. Chip monitors your account and takes moves what it thinks you don't need to a savings account. - Ability to freeze the card in app (if say you lost it).
Off the top of my head I know they don't have branches so you can't speak to someone face-to-face like you might with a traditional bank. Is online/telephone support generally good with these challenger banks? Are there any other negatives I should be aware of if I sign up?
If I deposited a large sum of money into my account would I have all the regular protections of a traditional bank or are there additional risks associated with these small challenger banks?
Even then, their response rates have been pretty fast.
In terms of financial protection you get the exact same FSCS protection as anywhere else.
There are some credit cards which offer free international transactions, but the rates are almost never as good.
Sometimes I'm still required to go to a physical branch, etc.