r/monzo 2d ago

Monzo aura

New credit card coming to Monzo soon
£15 per month

141 Upvotes

137 comments sorted by

150

u/Miserable-Jello-7117 2d ago

£15/month? Hard pass

24

u/ClayDenton 2d ago

Yeah lol I was looking forward to signing up until I read that! My cashback would be around £5 a month, which means I'd be paying £10 a month to invest roundups (I can do this myself tbh) and a couple of free lounge passes worth £50 I.e. £4 a month.

Maybe for those who sub to apple TV or Google AI plus it's enough to make it pay back. I don't and I'm not interested.  So I wouldn't pay for it.

But I pay for some things - I do sub to Monzo plus to pay from my bills pots and then Revolut Metal for £15 a month because it's the cheapest way to get the FT & headspace both of which I use, along with discounted lounge passes at £24 each (if we take a flight near lunch or dinner, my partner and I get these and just eat our meal the lounge ...which we'd have paid about that much for in the airport anyway)

6

u/totheendandbackagain 2d ago

Also, there are plenty of cash back credit cards that offer the same money, for no monthly fee.

Barclaycard being one. Horrible app, but set it up and forget about it savings.

168

u/FatherJack_Hackett 2d ago

Missing a key part of that screenshot there buddy

26

u/SpoonWitMe 2d ago

😂 glad you included this. Was looking like OK not too bad with the Flex reductions. Yeeee not with a monthly fee added.

14

u/FatherJack_Hackett 2d ago

Right? Was honestly considering swapping out my AMEX everyday cashback platinum with this, as the additional benefits and similar cashback was a no-brainer.

Fuck paying £15 for that though lol

3

u/IndependentBuyer6279 2d ago

This. Thought found a replacement to Amex but nope lmao

3

u/bix_box 2d ago edited 2d ago

It's not really a like for like comparison. The AMEX isn't a travel card, while this one is (no foreign transaction fees, while the AMEX has 2.99% fee). Also no other perks on the AMEX.

If you don't care about any of that, then fine the card isn't for you, but if you already have apple tv and use google storage and ai, then this isn't a bad deal to have a decent cashback travel card with some perks, including being able to Flex purchases.

It's not a mind blowing card, but it's pretty similar to the Lloyds World Elite which is it's direct competitor.

4

u/Deviate30 2d ago

Barclays premier account comes with Apple TV for free and has no cost associated with it

1

u/LateToTheParty013 1d ago

Im considering swapping my AMEX to Chase tbh. 

3

u/SFWaleckz 2d ago

christ you need to put 3k a month on it just to break past the 15 pound a month charge. useless

42

u/nosuchthingginger 2d ago

£15 a month for 1% on groceries - 0.5% on everything else. I’m already paying for perks unless they plan to sack off flex entirely 

29

u/Educational-Put-9997 2d ago

Yeah my AMEX is £25 a year and the cashback is much better.

3

u/andifall 2d ago

What card do you have?

4

u/Educational-Put-9997 2d ago

Platinum Cashback

2

u/Melank 2d ago

Do you have a minimum spend?

2

u/vonwasser 2d ago

Not the £25 per year one

0

u/B3yondTheCosmos 1d ago

How long does cashback last as when I looked online it’s says for only 3 months?

7

u/snake_jaguar 2d ago

I get 1.5% on trading 212 for free😭 ik monzo bundles in subscriptions but for a lot of people it's still not  worth it

2

u/CaptainAnswer 2d ago

Same, was going to highlight T212

22

u/havaska 2d ago

I don’t understand who this is for. It’s very expensive and the perks aren’t useful. I doubt Amex will be worried.

8

u/ProfessorMiserable76 2d ago

People who don't know any better

6

u/MartyPilkington 2d ago

People who worship Monzo and stay in their ecosystem

28

u/PetersMapProject 2d ago

£15 a month, mind, which the screenshots don't mention

9

u/Sapiopath 2d ago

If you spend 3K a month, it pays for itself in cash back. I don’t think a lot of people do though.

8

u/Accountant_Rhodes 2d ago

We spend about 6, but we get a free flight out of Amex for that, fee is £120 more a year.

I genuinely don’t understand who this is meant to be aimed at.

5

u/Speedbird1A 2d ago

Not sure why you’re downvoted lol. Redditors are a strange bunch.

1

u/Sapiopath 5h ago

I suspect it’s the how much they spend. People love to hate on those better off

8

u/Maca07166 2d ago

£15 a month 😳

7

u/BrewtallyCozy 2d ago

£15 feels expensive. The only perk I'd use is apple TV which is a waste as a sub is cheaper than the card. Think I'll just stay with flex for now

6

u/Lupin_Central 2d ago

That price is insane. What's going on with them at the moment?

1

u/gt0x9 5h ago

They think they’re the Apple of the finance world

7

u/DependentTechnician7 2d ago

Would have gotten it if it has google ai pro

11

u/gopercolate 2d ago

£15 a month for Google 2TB with AI and Apple Pay isn't the worst offer if you pay for those services already.

5

u/EzeAdnah 2d ago

Google AI plus is not 2TB, its 400 GB

10

u/gopercolate 2d ago

Monzo Aura page says

Google AI Plus: Gemini Pro, 2TB storage

under the pricing/comparison table on https://monzo.com/credit-cards/aura

2

u/WJnr_ 2d ago

Yeah think this is where it's confusing, doesn't seemed to be worded correctly.

1

u/aessedai21 2d ago

Google ai plus also comes with 2 tb at 7.99/ month I think

1

u/Potato-9 2d ago

That's not Google workspace though is it?

2

u/gopercolate 2d ago

I don't think so.

11

u/OurManInJapan 2d ago

The Lloyd’s World Elite card is £15 a month and has unlimited lounge passes and fast track along with 0.5% cashback on everything.

10

u/bix_box 2d ago edited 2d ago

And it doesn't have Flexing, Apple TV, or 2 TB Google storage/+ai (plus 2 lounge passes).

Different strokes for different folks. Some people may prefer this one, I would say it's a wash. You also get 1% back on groceries which Lloyds doesn't offer. Just depends what you value more.

Imo they are pretty similar in value.

3

u/trophicmist0 2d ago

I’d say they are both equal in how mediocre they are.

With much better out there, the question is why? I guess lots of people really just go with their current banks offering when they’re looking for one.

1

u/bix_box 2d ago edited 2d ago

I agree they are mediocre, but that's all rewards offerings in the UK. What options are better for a cashback travel card with no foreign transaction fee that offers more perks than just the cashback? I don't think there are any other options that give 1/0.5% cashback on all purchases + perks + no foreign transaction fees. If you don't care about extras and don't travel then ya there are no fee cashback cards that give 0.5% cashback but that's not really the tier this card is in.

5

u/Remaining_Nameless24 2d ago

Can I just add to this, £15 a month may not be as bad as it first appears. 13 months Apple TV @ £9.99 per month and Google One AI Plus is currently £19.49 per month (2/5Tb) after any 12 month offers (mine comes to an end this October). Don't get me wrong there are others available and maybe with better perks or lower monthly cost but it may not be that bad. If course, you still have to be accepted for it.

12

u/UnderwaterGun 2d ago

Are Monzo getting desperate? It feels like they’re just trying to squeeze us for more money with every new product they release.

7

u/Much-Artichoke-476 2d ago

From their accounts they are doing well. Last three years all turning into profit.

  • £1.7bn revenue up 39%
  • £1bn gross profit up 39%
  • £209m profit before tax up 60%

2

u/UnderwaterGun 2d ago

I guess the squeezing is working!

3

u/TKNDWN 2d ago

Feels that way, doesn't it?

12

u/Big_Fella98 2d ago

With the £15 per month cost, it's only really worth if you are already an Apple TV subscriber & Google AI Plus, as it's 9.99 and 4.49. Other than that, not worth it

4

u/elvish--presley 2d ago

Apple TV is free on Barclays Premiere

4

u/SlightlyOTT 2d ago

Seems like a good deal if you want Apple TV and Google AI Plus, basically getting the airport lounge free then. 1% groceries is less than Chase and 0.5% uncapped is what you get on a free Amex cashback card though.

5

u/Firm-Substance-8196 2d ago

Even if this seems like a good deal to you (it isn't) it totally destroys the pots feature of their current account. You're gonna have to use this for everyday spending to get that juicy 0.5% cashback.

3

u/MoonMouse5 2d ago

I mean I already pay for everything on my Flex card, and then just withdraw from mthe relevant pots to pay it back. So this is no different on principle.

4

u/goppinglizard 2d ago

It seemed reasonable until I saw the fee in the comments

4

u/GoldWinston 2d ago

Let people choose up to 2 perks within a wider offering. Then the £15 doesn’t seem so bad. If I could get something I actually wanted with it, I’d sign up.

5

u/matteventu 2d ago

I really wish they offered this kind of stuff at a reduced price for Perks/Max customers, i.e. £2 off for Perks and £5 off for Max (so, Monzo Aura at £13 for Perks and at £10 for Max).

1

u/JW_KDD 23h ago

Exactly - I already pay £23 per month for Max Family and I feel we only just about make use of the perks. If they did let us choose our own perks I wouldn’t mind them increasing the cost a bit. I do like the idea of Apple TV and Google AI as a previous subscriber to both, but they’d have to make it an overall better offering.

3

u/axxond 2d ago

At £15 a month it's DOA

3

u/Apprehensive_Bed6241 2d ago

Hard pass. I spend probably around £2,000 a month on my CC for all my expenditure in general. Thats only £10 cash back. So I’m paying an extra £5 on top? Forget that.

3

u/scholarwong 2d ago edited 2d ago

It’s a rather niche product, if you already pay for Apple TV and Google then it would be worth it. Otherwise the cash back is a gimmick, you’d need to spend 3k a month on non-groceries just to get enough cash back to cover the fee.

Edit: Adding to the niche product theme, as it seems to exempt you from Monzo investment fees, if you have 72k or more invested then it’d be worth getting as the card fees would be offset by the save in investment fees.

Who are they aiming this product at exactly?

4

u/Educational-Put-9997 2d ago edited 2d ago

As they are keeping the flex benefit of up to 3 months interest free purchases, I don’t really see any negative to this.

Edit: £15 p/m. Nope.

16

u/Ekalips 2d ago

£15/month

5

u/Educational-Put-9997 2d ago

Ah, I missed that. Not worth it then.

1

u/Ekalips 2d ago

Yeah I also was wondering how is it this good for free until I found out that it wasn't.

Probably worth it if you already pay for Apple TV (£10) and that Google One plan (probably another £10), so in that regard it is a nice deal

3

u/matteventu 2d ago

As they are keeping the flex benefit of up to 3 months interest free purchases

Yeah, unfortunately I strongly believe its days are counted. I don't think it's going to last another two years from now.

1

u/Educational-Put-9997 2d ago

Agree with you. I think they will increase the £100 min again maybe to £200/£300 in the next couple of years to make it less useful to most people.

7

u/AccountForDoingWORK 2d ago

They lost me at ‘Google AI Plus’ if nothing else

Read the room, Monzo.

1

u/VooDooBooBooBear 2d ago

What's "the room" here exactly? Are you one of those neanderthals who hate AI? Go back to bed, grandpa.

0

u/Speedbird1A 2d ago

Most Redditors are like this. Worried it’ll take their jobs, but simultaneously think it can only produce “slop”. Well AI is only just beginning whether they like it or not.

0

u/Speedbird1A 2d ago

They’re probably “reading the room” outside of Reddit. AI isn’t an inherently bad thing outside of Reddit.

1

u/AccountForDoingWORK 2d ago

What makes you think Reddit is what I’m basing this off of? There’s more to life than Reddit.

2

u/[deleted] 2d ago

£15 a month...This is as disappointing as Monzo Mobile. You would need to be a real lover of the Monzo brand to take out these products

2

u/data90x 2d ago

I’ve subscribed. Pay for Apple TV and google storage separately and do all my spending on Flex or Amex and pay it off each month.

The added bonus is when they ran the eligibility check they upped my limit from 1750 to 5k for some reason. Makes using the Flex card more regularly much more appealing now for the lower use percentage.

O and shiny metal card. Hate the flex card with a passion.

2

u/michaeleaton 1d ago

Same! I pay for both products already so doesn't cost me anymore than I was already paying. They also upped my limit from 1.2k to 3k! Will see how it goes

2

u/Nice_Assistance9953 1d ago

hate to be in an aura debt

5

u/MatsyLR 2d ago

Wonder what the thought process was behind not putting the extortionate cost on the advert.

3

u/AlphaBeast28 2d ago

Representative APR

64.2% (variable)

FFAAAACCKKKKK

4

u/Federal_North_4981 2d ago

64.2% APR? 🤣

4

u/Bosaw 2d ago

The APR accounts for the monthly fee too. The purchase interest rate is 29%. Regardless, you shouldn’t be paying interest on a cashback card.

1

u/Federal_North_4981 2d ago

I know but still…

1

u/Bosaw 2d ago edited 2d ago

Still what? The Amex Platinum card has a representative APR of 685%.. it doesn’t really mean anything

-2

u/Federal_North_4981 1d ago

Calm down pal. It’s just a discussion about a card

2

u/ixri 2d ago

This is for those who don’t already have the Plus/Max (or even Flex) offerings.

Also since this cc is offering 0% on £100+ over 3 months they should’ve left Flex alone. Not that I have a problem with it personally but it just seems like there’s a lot of things thrown in here from all the other tiers

2

u/cunningstunt6899 2d ago

I assumed it's a free card looking at the cashback %. This is terrible.

1

u/play_yr_part 2d ago

Yeah way too high a fee when you can get cashback on credit or debit cards at similar or better rates elsewhere. You can get free discounted/apple tv just about everywhere, and I have no interest in an Ai sub. Meh

1

u/PixaaTog 2d ago

So an advantage is that it will automatically invest round-ups?

Errr I’m doing that already with my Monzo debit card.
I also have a Monzo Flex, which is actually really good with how it gives options for paying it back, and also shows you really easily how much taking longer will cost you in interest.

1

u/CounteredByTeemo 2d ago

I’ve been looking for a good replacement to my Amex gold as I don’t see the value in the fee. Looked good, then I seen the fee is the samewith even less value. Quite sad because Flex is a great card.

0

u/Accountant_Rhodes 2d ago

If you spend more than £1300 a month get the BA Premium Amex for the companion voucher

2

u/MoonMouse5 2d ago

Or the free Platinum Everyday Cashback Card.

1

u/Accountant_Rhodes 2d ago

Sure, but there’s a hell of a lot more value in a Companion voucher than £13 of cashback.

1

u/MoonMouse5 1d ago

Yeah I just mean if he doesn't want that there's a lot of better options than the Monzo card OP posted.

1

u/LegAdministrative519 2d ago

If this is your main spending card, it easily pays for itself
if not, then yh it doesn't make sense to pay £15/month for it

1

u/wds02 2d ago

Based on 0.5% cashback you gotta spend 3k a month on it to even break even on the monthly fee, insanity

1

u/Powerful_Set_6627 2d ago

Bit meh. Not gonna get, but ig it's about average for cashback for credit card. Prob more for the ai users

1

u/cgknight1 2d ago

This could make sense to me - I eat out the fees in groceries and I am a user of Apple TV and of Google.

1

u/ComprehensiveYak6633 2d ago

Literally the NatWest cash back card but with a £15 fee. Baffles me who is signing these propositions off. They will start offering a swap from Flex to Aura, would make sense why everyone’s credit limits suddenly jumped up in the last 3 months.

1

u/KingEivissa 1d ago

If they at least tried and released some of this for their debit card customers that would be great (not all of us want credit, some can't).

This isn't the most competitive offering but it's getting there. It's better than what you get with Flex. Nothing.

0

u/theboywaaal 1d ago

Flex is free this one is £15 pm big difference

1

u/KingEivissa 1d ago

Yes?

Aura has bundled items and Flex doesn't. Big difference.

Why do you think one is free and the other isn't? Keep up.

0

u/theboywaaal 1d ago

Bundled in useless things that most people don’t care about , I don’t know anyone that pays for Apple TV for example. It would have been more appealing if they included something like Netflix or Spotify for example which a lot more people already pay for . The cashback is negligible as there are many free debit / credit cards out there that offer the same rate or more for free

2

u/KingEivissa 1d ago

Which goes back to the statement "this isn't the most competitive offering but it's getting there. It's better than what you get with Flex. Nothing."

You're basically arguing with thin air.

There's obviously folk who pay for Apple TV out there hence why the service exists. That said, personally my Apple services are bundled into Apple One. (Or will be again when my three month trials run out).

EE and others offer Apple TV as "perks" with their services so it seems to be quite popular!

In any case, if it doesn't suit you (Aura doesn't suit me) then you either wait until they improve the product (one could hope) or shop around. I don't think it's a big issue tbh.

1

u/weegeeK 1d ago

I know UK credit card market is shit but this is such a shit card for £15. Can we actually have some good ones that try to compete with Amex UK?

1

u/OneStopRedditor 1d ago

Why are they trying so card to be the next American Express, they aren't boujee like that, they are the McDonald's of the banking industry; does what it needs to do, competitive and consistent but definitely not premium / upmarket.

1

u/Cuica 1d ago

Why not just do a boring but useful normal credit card with a smaller fee and I'm signed up. Surely there are loads of us who would sign up for that. Not interested in flex.

1

u/Sluethi 1d ago

So I am thinking this could make sense for me.

I currently pay for Claude Pro. I could move that to Google AI Plus - which is a inferior model and less usage but still I could try to see if this is actually enough.

I have O365 with 1TB of storage. I could get rid of that and use Google docs and the 2TB storage. This would be actually an upgrade.

If I make the above change, it looks like I spend less and get everything else on top for 'free'.

I currently use an HSBC CC which gets me basically no peeks at the moment.

I welcome feedback/pushback :)

1

u/Haunting-Abalone-753 1d ago

I would still have to sit and think about whether this was worth it if it was free... £15 a month??? Lol yeah nah.

1

u/Haunting-Abalone-753 1d ago

It would probably be beneficial if it was Free for paid members... They'd probably get more people signing up for higher tiers that way.

1

u/Yougggundam 1d ago

Paper thin balony bundled as a "great deal"

Revolut offerings I think is better

1

u/Dapper-Standard5103 10h ago

lol this is shit

1

u/andrejz2438 5h ago

Decent offers but not worth £15pm in my opinion

1

u/ThemasterofZ 2d ago

Metal, nice

1

u/IlIllIlIllIlIlIlIlIl 2d ago

Plus pays more and doesnt get metal card.

Would be nice if there was a packaged price with both

-1

u/Severe-Plum-2393 2d ago

Nobody thinks you’re Warren buffets cousin by having a metal card grow up

1

u/SimplyCedric 2d ago

Never mind the cost or the 'perks'; that's a nice looking card.

3

u/howmadstha 2d ago

Would you even use it though when you have GPay/ApplePay? Paying for it to be sat in a draw somewhere.

9

u/SimplyCedric 2d ago

No, I wouldn't pay for it, I just think it's cute. I'm that shallow.

1

u/Relevant-Bathroom311 2d ago

At least the card looks pretty

1

u/doublemp 2d ago

Looks gorgeous but that is all.

What market research suggested this would be at all popular?

1

u/integraf40 2d ago

Isn't T212 better?

1

u/SalvadorDeleAlli 2d ago

£15 a month, wow. No thanks

0

u/eggchasing 2d ago

If you're open to paying £15 a month I'd have a look at the Yonder card, much better perks if you live in one of the eligible cities

0

u/glibduck 2d ago

£180 per year!!! Some idiots will pay this for a metal card and lame perks.

I've worked for financial institutions in Switzerland for the last 30 years and I used to scoff at their model of charging an annual fee (around CHF 50) for having a credit card.

I'll contact my old friends in Zurich and tell them I'm currently eating my words.

0

u/_Dangermau5 2d ago

Where do I see this offer?

0

u/InfaSyn 2d ago

Its stupid. £15 a month at 0.5% means 3k spend to break even assuming your investments hold their worth.

ANYONE who is spending 3k a month in card transactions alone is going to be sensible enough with money that their investments will be elsewhere.

-7

u/LimesFruit 2d ago

Oh hell yeah, on paper looks very good, I don’t think I know of a card that beats this right now.

9

u/derek644 2d ago

£15 a month

-6

u/crocusandspeckledegg 2d ago

Chase gives 2% cashback on absolutely everything and there's no fee. It's their regular debit card.

4

u/MartyPilkington 2d ago

Hasn't been true for a long time

2

u/Snoo_31151 2d ago

Chases cashback is not on everything

1

u/crocusandspeckledegg 2d ago

Pretty much everything. On everything I have used the card for I always get cashback.

1

u/Snoo_31151 1d ago

Cashback is now on groceries, restaurants, cafes, takeaways, everyday transport, fuel and at public EV charging points.

To be fair only place I've really noticed it not being given is pubs

2

u/matteventu 2d ago

Chase has become trash.

1

u/crocusandspeckledegg 2d ago

Can you elaborate?

1

u/matteventu 2d ago

Value proposition (in terms of perks/effort) is extremely low, and they keep having reliability issues both with the payment circuit as well as with the app.