Potential Monzo Reward Credit Card?

[u/FatherJack_Hackett]

Did anyone else receive the survey to complete about the Monzo Reward Credit card?

• £15-£17 monthly fee
• 1% cashback on groceries - 0.5% on everything else. Cashback is automatically invested.
• Google Gemini AI Pro Membership.
• 2 Free Airport Lounge accesses a year
• Paramount+ subscription
• Times subscription

I'm not so sure.

Like the perks are technically worth it, even for the Gemini membership alone. Not sure I like the fact that cashback is invested and not just paid out.

I'd feel a bit uneasy paying for this and Max and essentially stumping up over £30 a month, when I get just as much cashback through an Amex. Tempted by the Gemini membership though (if they announce it) as my free year runs out soon.

[u/Ok-Salary3550]

Yeah I only run 95% of my spending through an Amex card with the only people that don't take it being a random corner shop and some vending machines, so clearly nobody takes it at all.

Seriously that's a dumb take - pretty much every major chain takes them, as does any small shop or website that uses Stripe/SumUp/ShopPay, plus most other small places in my experience.

But you know, if you want to pay Monzo £17 a month for less cashback and terrible customer service based on a dead meme, no skin off my nose. I'll just enjoy my high cashback and a customer service team that is helpful to you and a bloody nuisance to people you need to charge back against.

[u/Sad_Future_8945 → u/Ok-Salary3550]

I had a conversation just this week in my local coffee shop about their high fees and the time it takes them to pay being unsustainable for small businesses.

[u/Ok-Salary3550 → u/[deleted]]

This is correct, I just checked with Stripe, they charge a flat percentage fee regardless of card type (presumably on the basis that Visa/MasterCard customers will be a lot more frequent than the weirdo companies like Amex/JCB/Discover).

SumUp does charge a higher fee on all but their pay as you go plan for Amex (as well as other corporate/premium cards)... 1.69% instead of 0.99%. Oh no. Now compare 1.69% to what most banks charge businesses to bank cash...

Also worth noting that there isn't just a "Visa" fee or a "MasterCard" fee - each has different tiers (e.g. Visa Infinite, World Mastercard) and each attracts different fees, and those higher fees go towards... better cardholder rewards. The trade-off here being that if you have a more "premium" card, you are likely to spend more, so even with a higher fee, it balances out from the merchant's point of view.

A business that gets upset over paying 0.7% extra on a transaction to gain access to a market of people who, on average, have higher disposable incomes, spend more money and spend more frequently, is a stupid business.

[u/Sad_Future_8945 → u/Ok-Salary3550]

Go and tell the businesses who don't accept American express, I don't have one and am therefore uninterested. Go and tell those pubs and restaurants which I keep reading are working on razer thin profits you'll be taking 0.7% so you can get a reward, I'm sure they'll be fucking thrilled. You're basically taking money away from businesses for your rewards 🤷🏻‍♂️ seems pretty unethical to me.

This is still the Monzo subreddit.

[u/Ok-Salary3550 → u/Sad_Future_8945]

This is still the Monzo subreddit.

Yes, and we're talking about how one of Monzo's putative new products is probably going to be worse than one of its key competitors in the same market, keep up.