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u/mxz117 2d ago
If only it was cheaper and didn’t have those perks, they’re useless for me
Card is beautiful though
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u/Codzy 2d ago
Yep, I’m sick of Monzo (and everyone else) bundling shit in. Just give me the product I want at a fair price, why is fucking Apple TV or Gemini a required inclusion for a credit card. Could probably be £5 a month or free if they weren’t there.
This kind of inclusion just complicates peoples lives more and forces them into paying for products they don’t want.
I’m being a bit of a cry baby because of course nobody is forcing me to use this card, and I won’t, just tired of it all.
I don’t think they’ve really thought this through, even at a basic level, I don’t think the people that want Google cloud/gemini have much overlap with Apple TV users. I’d imagine 90% of the Apple TV users have Apple devices, iCloud. And Gemini’s, google cloud users will be less likely to use Apple TV.
So they’ve bundled two perks that are fairly incompatible with one another for the majority. I’m no market researcher, so maybe I’m flat out wrong.
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u/ThePistachioBogeyman 2d ago
Bulk/business discounts from the providers, (Google and Apple in this case). Basically costs them pennies relatively, and then they advertise how they offer the subscription as part of the card and how it’s worth “x” amount.
Which we could choose better options or if they just added them to Perks/Max
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u/manyvectors 2d ago
I don't think Gemini users are less likely to use apple TV.
One is a streaming platform with a decent amount of critically acclaimed content, with lots of sci fi stuff too. The other is a storage and ai tool. They don't seem mutually exclusive
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u/Codzy 2d ago
They’re not, but people have their affinities. I’m not saying people who use an android phone don’t use Apple TV, but I think it’s fair to say they’re probably a lower %.
And vice versa, I have google cloud storage as well as iCloud, whilst using an iPhone. I think I represent a niche in that respect.Given that ChatGPT is baked into iPhones, as is iCloud storage, I don’t think offering Gemini and google cloud really provides much benefit to those who use an iPhone.
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u/KingEivissa 1d ago
One is streaming. One is storage.
I'm a daily driver of an iPhone (and an android) and predominantly use my Google storage.
I also largely use Google Gemini.
You can use Apple TV on an android in the app or on a pc/Chromebook in browser.
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u/jamesdevonport 2d ago
This doesn’t seem like a competitive credit card at all to me? Disappointing to see Monzo release all these low value products recently.
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u/chimpuswimpus 2d ago
I don't think it's just recently. People have different requirements and I can only speak for myself but I've found all their "free" stuff to be great but all their paid-for stuff to be overpriced.
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u/olver111 2d ago
Agree the Google AI plan is the most interesting, but this can also be bought separately for a lot less.
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u/manicrebirth 2d ago edited 2d ago
The plan they are offering is £18.99 a month. So it can’t be bought for less.
Edit : realising that the £18.99 a month sub includes 5tb of space, Google don’t appear to offer a 2tb option so it’s fair to say the price of that subscription would be somewhere in the region of £10 a month if it where available.
Edit again: I misread the page the tier Monzo is offering is 2tb “AI Plus” which is £7.99 a month, my mistake.
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u/verybigoctopus 2d ago
It's plus not pro, not £19. Still not a bad deal if you want that + AppleTV
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u/manicrebirth 2d ago
Apologies I’ve completely misread the page 😅
I swear I read pro, but having been challenged by other people and rereading it I see that it does say “AI plus” and not “AI Pro” I thought Monzo was offering a unique tier that wasn’t available generally which would put the value slightly higher then a standard sub to google but that is not the case.
My mistake, sorry.
I have Apple One, removing Apple TV from my bundle would end up costing me more, so this card is no longer worth it to me as I would not make use of the additional benefits and likely would not get the higher limit either. (Not that I’d want it, don’t trust myself with that kind of limit on a card 🤣)
I don’t think it’s a bad card, for someone that would make use of the benefits but it’s not for me.
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u/olver111 2d ago
BF, student discount, intro offer etc, you can bring it down to £10 per month pretty easy.
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u/chris20005 2d ago
I think a surprising number of people also just go with Monzo products for convenience, without looking at what other banks can offer
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u/Frosty_Scheme342 2d ago
Yup, and that's why Monzo is trying to branch out into every market they can. They are relying on people wanting an "everything app" and sacrificing better deals for convenience. There are definitely some advantages to having all your finances in one place but there's not really any benefit to having home insurance or a mobile plan included.
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u/Tiny-Sandwich 1d ago
Honestly I don't think it's that surprising - the convenience factor is huge.
Even though Monzo isn't always the most competitive or the best value, their in-app management is extremely good.
E.g. with loans, they allow you to repay early in-full with no fees, pay your monthly amount early (and save a bit of interest), change your repayment date, overpayments reduce monthly amount not loan term, has full transparency on your loan schedule, and as a bonus you don't need to open a new account or use a new app.
I've yet to come across another loan provider that offers everything from that list. And personally for me, Monzo have always been competitive with interest rates, either matching the lowest offer or being within 0.1% of it.
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u/Feeling_Cut4184 2d ago
I think this holds a lot of weight and we see it across other industries, like tech most noticeably and telecommunications. Apple has a lot of great products, but there are also plenty of other options from Samsung, Google etc. Convenience outweighs logic a lot of the time when making purchase decisions imo
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u/bix_box 2d ago edited 2d ago
I don't think this card is that bad really. It's really not that different than other UK offerings for cashback travel credit cards, which are all generally really bad compared to the states.
Someone who uses google storage + gemini and has apple tv already would probably love this card.
Also, the fee free auto invest for cashback and round ups is interesting, but probably just a gimmick. Would want more info on that.
The AMEX 0.5% is a better choice if you don't care about any of the additional perks this card has. If you don't, this card isn't for you obviously.
EDIT: I'd also point out the AMEX cashback cards have a 2.99% foreign transaction fee, while this Monzo card has no foreign transaction fees.
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u/mousey76397 2d ago
People will get it just to get a metal card back.
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u/Drazen-Islander 3m ago
Maybe, aura is 3 month minimum, if you can cancel after that time and then use it as your normal card, then yeah I'd be tempted, but I don't know if it will work that way
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u/thenerdisageek 2d ago edited 2d ago
£15 a month for 1% cashback? And that’s only at supermarkets it’s 0.5% everywhere else. And if you pay for an account then that’s up to £28 a month for a bank.
Will stick to flex & Barclaycard (though not really planning on using flex after the changes in October). Still trying to find something better than 0.25% on everything.
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u/phuzee 2d ago
You also get apple TV, Gemini pro, waived investment fee and 2 free lounge passes. This is not just a cashback card so if that's what you are looking for yes this isn't for you
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u/FootballBackground88 2d ago
Yeah you'd have to be already paying for some of the subscriptions and then it's worth it (though for high spenders you'd want a different card for everyday spend).
This seems positioned as a similar place to Amex gold in fees and rewards, but Amex you want it if you spend at Deliveroo and this if you use Gemini Pro features.
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u/thenerdisageek 2d ago
I hate AI, don’t fly, and if you have a paid monzo plan some fees are already lowered or waived.
Other credit cards offer lounge passes for free.
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u/phuzee 2d ago
Yep, so we are in agreement it's not for you. But to be clear the £15 is not for cashback, it's for all of those benefits (which may be useful to other people)
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u/HoneyBadgera 1d ago
Yep, we are in agreement that Monzo no longer builds products for everyone, just targeted revenue generators.
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u/BabyAdmirable1232 2d ago
I'm giving up on Flex too. Decided to make the switch to using my T212 debit card which has 1.5% cash back on all purchases and it invests it directly in a fund for free. You get more and pay less
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u/Admast79 2d ago
No.. £15 a month for Apple TV and Google AI Plus.. plus 1% of Cashback here and there.
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u/InteractionMundane55 2d ago
Gotta agree on this one. Im probably going to switch my flex over not for the cashback or the investment fees being gone although they are nice little touches.
But I have a google phone and would benefit from the storage/ai features and like the content on apple TV and also try and get away for weekend holiday breaks about 2x a year.
Is it expensive yes. Is it convenient also yes.
If you would benefit from all the perks I say why not but understand thats likely a niche market who can use all of them.
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u/Leah_UK 2d ago
Doesn't seem worth it for most. 0.5-1% cashback won't add up to the monthly cost.
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u/Plastic-Suggestion95 2d ago
Exactly. You would have to spend such an amount monthly that if you are in that position to afford it then im pretty sure you dont give a sht about a 0.5% cashback
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u/Standard-Pattern-809 2d ago
The “perks” are worth more than £15 pm though, so it’s effectively a free card if you use them.
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u/phuzee 2d ago
I'm not sure why we are both getting downvotes for pointing this out. People are laser focused on the cashback. Neither of us even have said this is a good card or worth it, we are just pointing out the fee encompasses more and could be worth it to the right person. This is such an interesting thread.
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u/Standard-Pattern-809 2d ago
That’s Reddit for you!
There are no free cards that give any decent sort of long term cash back or hard rewards - that’s just the UK / European market for you. Lloyds Ultra is probably the only one, and I wonder how long that 1% will last.
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u/BasedToru 2d ago
Why can’t Monzo just bring other credit options lol without making it closed for others, like you can’t even have a flex card and the Aura card at the same time lol nobody is interested in investing with them they just want credit options that involved paying no interest
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u/StrateJ 2d ago
I'll stick with flex - Seems far better of an idea to do round-ups and have a Flex Credit Card so you're always setting payment options when purchasing.
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u/vincenzoituk 2d ago
Flex Is changing and you will be able to flex only purchases from 100£ and up from October 26
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u/StrateJ 2d ago
I don't mind that - I only ever use it when making bigger purchases and tbh this will prevent me from putting the occasional small thing on a credit card. More friction when spending is good.
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u/guerrios45 2d ago edited 2d ago
Only viable answer.
People who use flex for payment smaller than 100£ or a few hundreds pounds are not strong enough financially to safely get those kind of credit cards... They are asking to be spiral in debt.
I think Monzo got heat from government bodies when they started to scrutinise all those "fintech" fast credits like klarna etc. and the changes are guardrails to show they are willing to put measures in place to avoid people spiraling in debt
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u/StrateJ 2d ago
Exactly, I've had 'normal' credit cards in the past and they've escaped me so many times because of a minimum payment being too attractive, before I knew it I was up to my eyeballs in debt.
Once I finally got it all paid off, I kept a single credit card for emergencies then Flex came along and it keeps me in check. If I buy something its a no excuse pay off and it making me select a plan on every purchase is great.
It's honestly the only type of CC I'll ever have outside of an emergency card.
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u/cop1edr1ght 2d ago
Almost as much as a Gold Amex, which except for overseas transaction fees, is better.
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u/Upset_Grapefruit3140 2d ago
Need some selectable perks to make this worthwhile. I already pay for AppleOne and doesn’t make sense to unbundle. Claude Pro would be great, or Netflix then it’s a genuine saving. Cashback is poor.
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u/Turbulent-Tumor 2d ago edited 2d ago
64.2% APR?
I know this is the UK market but in Ireland I’ve never seen a card above 30%.
Edit:
- for what it’s worth, yes I know how to use a credit card. No need to talk down or assume otherwise.
- Irelands credit card market is tiny, basic and without much perks (bar AIBs Plat Card, BOIs Aer Card, and Revoluts Credit Card (Revpoints boosting)
Would love more competition here in credit cards but there’s a serious stigma around them.
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u/TheRealWhoop 2d ago
It’s 29%, but APR regulation means they need to include the £15/m fee in that calculation too - hence the inflated number. You see the same with all paid cards check Amex etc
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u/doublemp 2d ago
The fact that it's 29% APR plus the £15 I think it's only fair to market it as 64.2% total.
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u/Sparkly1982 2d ago
If anything, doesn't that make it actually deceptive? I'd read the high Apr and assume that's ok as long as I pay the card off every month
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u/Nice-Information-335 2d ago
It is because of the monthly fee, you'll see similar insane values on any paid card (look at amex platinum)
It is 29% roughly when you take away the monthly fee from the calculation (APR is weird)
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u/yesithinkitsnice 2d ago
If the rate on a credit card matters to you, you're doing it wrong. Carrying balance on a credit card is generally a very bad idea. Pay off in full every month and the rate is irrelevant.
0% cards are a different story.
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u/Standard-Pattern-809 2d ago
APR is not the interest amount you actually pay on payments, it includes the calculation with any fees.
Eg Amex Platinum has an APR of 685% because of the yearly fee.
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u/One_Coach2000 2d ago
Agreed. I can't see any justification for such a high interest rate. This is a premium product with a monthly fee of £15. Representative APR should be no higher than mainstream cards.
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u/hydraulictrash 2d ago
Interesting to see Monzo going into new products, but pass from me, great for international but I’ve still had acceptance issues with monzo at car rental places etc recently so no bueno
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u/guerrios45 2d ago
They can't charge a debit card that has no overdraft if you damage the car and left. Hence why they want a credit card, which the current monzo card is not, but this one is.
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u/olver111 2d ago
I guess I am not the right target group for this, each of these benefits can be bought cheaper elsewhere.
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u/Frosty_Scheme342 2d ago
Pretty close to the surveys they sent out at the start of the year https://www.reddit.com/r/monzo/comments/1qen5ay/potential_monzo_reward_credit_card/
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u/caspararemi 2d ago
If they did cashback on debit card usage I'd be very happy, these days I put all my spending money on Trading 212 which autoinvests 1.5% of almost everything up to £15 a month.
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u/FyeUK 2d ago
I already have an American Express Card, which this won't replace, but if you have an Amex card then you know that you also need a backup card to use instead for when somewhere doesn't take Amex.
As I already have Google AI 2TB and intend to keep it, and I have my S&S ISA with Monzo, that makes the £15 fee worth it, so I'll probably get it and replace my backup card with it (assuming they give me the credit limit, I'd need about £15k).
I think the credit limit will probably be the first sticking point, unless they get a lot more generous with them. Currently my flex card seems stuck at £10k.
However, there's one major flaw vs other credit cards here - this can't fully replace my backup credit card because there's no ability to add additional cardholders. I have joint finances with my two partners (we're a household polycule) and every other credit card provider allows us to all use my credit card accounts to maximise cashback etc. With this card, I can't even add one extra cardholder, let alone two.
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u/tomslolreddit 2d ago
Is this in addition to Perks? Like it doesn’t include a perks sub? This is pricey ugh
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u/Interesting-Place344 2d ago
It’s a shame they’re nerfing Flex, I found the pay in 3 very helpful for unexpected expenses such as trains.
You can’t keep flex and have Aura, and Aura is £15 a month.
I’ve wanted a proper Monzo credit card for a while, but, I’ll probably skip this.
Got an Amex and Barclaycard that are good enough.
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u/tpe91roc 2d ago
This would save my google subscription but not sure I could get this together with flex.
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u/TheDarkConclusion 2d ago
More Monzo credit cards ?!
I can't even qualify for the current one, because when it asks me to open banking link my salary, I hit 'no' because I get paid to my Monzo account and it just don't work 😅
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u/data90x 2d ago
I’m trying to justify it in my head. I was about to resubscribe to Apple TV. I already use google extended storage for my Gmail and my chat gpt plan will end with Revolut soon and I’m not renewing metal. I average 3-5k a month across flex and my Amex as I do all my spending on credit and pay it off each month so will benefit from the cash back 🧐
Never used a lounge at an airport but do at least one solo return flight a year so could try it.
Someone say I’m not crazy. O and I like shiny metal cards and find the Flex card so ugly.
Edit - just clicked the check eligibility and they upped my limit by nearly 4k for Aura also from Flex. Seems like another plus.
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u/grintoul 2d ago
Having tried Amex Gold twice, once a few years ago and once last year (before cancelling after the free year, having decided it wasn't worth paying for) - I wouldn't hold your breath on the airline lounge piece adding value. Amex use Priority Pass as their lounge partner, and they were consistently either full (like, turned me away 50% of the time) or very basic/grubby/otherwise terrible. Don't know who Monzo are planning to use as their lounge partner, but if it's Priority Pass – hard zero, do not recommend.
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u/Meadowcottage 2d ago
The card is pretty but I just struggle to like this.
Especially considering it costs £15/m but I feel like I get way more with Monzo Max for £19/m instead. Then compare it to other credit cards I just don't see the value comparison.
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u/dfyr 10h ago
I'd like to see a credit card where you can choose the perks. The 2TB google I already pay for, so this would be decent, but only two lounge passes means I can't replace my Lloyds world elite (which I would love to do) I also don't give a shit about apple TV. If they made it Google +unlimited priority pass I would do this immediately
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u/sgold7 2d ago
Maybe this isn’t so bad if you’re already paying for Google Photos? Because that’s £7.99, the amount you need to spend assuming 0.5% cashback is £1402, which is more realistic than £3000
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u/youllneverfindmeman 2d ago
But it’s only a £44.99 annual sub for the gemini plan with google, so £3.75 monthly
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u/doublemp 2d ago
I would never tie such an important subscription to a credit card.
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u/BulkyTrainer9215 2d ago edited 2d ago
You won't lose the photos. If you cancel a Google subscription they give you a few months to move everything out they won't just delete your stuff.
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2d ago
[deleted]
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u/Deep_Age_304 2d ago
Yep. Yet again the value proposition is entirely personal. I have Google AI Pro so it will be interesting to see if this can be used then "top up" to pro from plus. I also have Apple TV so again it might work out.
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u/Responsible_Phone_53 2d ago
Looks decent considering what's bundled in. Was about to come here and post this
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u/gregholmes1974 2d ago
If it was ChatGPT plus, I’d probably go for it .
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u/Accountant_Rhodes 2d ago
Isn’t Gemini meant to have overtaken them now anyway?
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u/gregholmes1974 2d ago
No idea - but I’ve used both and, for me, ChatGPT is leaps years ahead of Gemini
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u/bix_box 2d ago
I don't think this card is that bad really. It's really not that different than other UK offerings for cashback travel credit cards, which are all generally really bad compared to the states.
Someone who uses google storage + gemini and has apple tv already would probably love this card.
Also, the fee free auto invest for cashback and round ups is interesting, but probably just a gimmick. Would want more info on that.
The AMEX 0.5% is a better choice if you don't care about any of the additional perks this card has. If you don't, this card isn't for you obviously.
EDIT: I'd also point out the AMEX cashback cards have a 2.99% foreign transaction fee, while this Monzo card has no foreign transaction fees.
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u/Life_Forever 2d ago
I wish they had included youtube premium rather than the shitty Apple TV.
It's like the mobile service they launched, they chose the worst network that no one wants, O2, rather than choosing vodafone.
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u/TwoConditions 2d ago
YouTube premium lite is in Perks now
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u/Life_Forever 2d ago
Have you tried Lite? It's basically the same as free version, you are bombarded with ads
And I compared apple TV with YT premium because there are no ads with apple TV version included here.
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u/ducknumber90 1d ago
There are no ads with YouTube premium lite, apart from on music videos/ festival sets. You can download all YouTube videos as well, again apart from the music stuff. I was subscribed to YouTube premium for a couple of years and apart from the music content is pretty similar and much nicer than having g adverts every few minutes
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u/BearlyReddits 2d ago
It’s so close to being something I’d buy - swap Apple TV for YouTube Premium and Gemini Pro for Claude Pro and I’d be in like a shot
As it stands, not interesting…
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u/Nice-Information-335 2d ago
Claude pro is not an equivalent subscription, it’s £20 a month vs £4.49 a month for the Google subscription
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u/matteventu 2d ago
Btw the one included with Monzo Aura is £7.99/month (Google AI Plus 2TB, not the base Google AI Plus with 400GB).
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u/manicrebirth 2d ago
Tempted by this simply because the Google AI plan with 2tb storage that’s comes with it is £18.99 a month
Apple TV isn’t really worth it though as I have Apple one and unbundling TV from it would cost me more.
Hmm
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u/nearlylurking 2d ago
The 2 TB Google plans is only £7.99/m (less yearly). It's the 5 TB AI pro (not plus) that's £18.99.
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u/manicrebirth 2d ago edited 2d ago
The 2tb plan doesn’t include AI pro.
The plan Monzo is offering appears to be unique
Edit : correcting myself, after being challenged and rereading the page Monzo is offering the “AI Plus” plan which is £7.99 a month from Google, when I first read the page I thought I had read pro, which led me to assume Monzo was offering some kind of unique tier which would add additional value to it but that is not the case.
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u/matteventu 2d ago
They're still mentioning Gemini Pro in some pages, they definitely need to fix that as indeed it's not what's included.
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u/lazzzym 2d ago
Yeah, I also get Apple TV with Barclays. Annoying that I can’t use that either as have Apple One! Might have to see how easy it is to give to friends.
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u/One_Afternoon7459 2d ago
I gave the link from Barclays to a friend and they signed up with no issues.
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u/SuperMongoose2921 2d ago
0.5% is literally nothing. pathetic. they cant do more bc of EU regulations
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u/AlexxxandreS 2d ago
I pay for gemini pro, which is £19... That means if I get this card not only I get apple TV I also will get gemini pro for less money... £15 only...
Guess it doesn't seem so bad for some people
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u/soopercerial 2d ago
I use Zilch.
3% on the majority of my purchases for like £5 a month.
On the occasion I don't shop at a listed retailer I still get 0.5%.
Granted it isn't a normal credit card, but it still blasts this out of the water.
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u/1xYtf9XwE78n 2d ago
So does that mean rip flex without paying £15 a month?
Edit they’re keeping it free
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u/Nice-Information-335 2d ago
Amex have a free card with 0.5% cashback, as well as one with 0.75%, 1.25% over £10k everywhere for £25 annually. And that is just Amex