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This is nuts I don't know of another crowd source that raised so much so fast. How did you hear about them to invest, and why did you?
by xivzgrev 11y ago
This is nuts I don't know of another crowd source that raised so much so fast. How did you hear about them to invest, and why did you?
- shawabawa3 11y agoI heard about them on Hacker News I think. I invested mainly because I like the idea of a bank where I can do everything online. There's no reason I should still have to call or go in to a store to change my address/unblock my card (because of their crappy fraud detection) etc
- birdman3131 11y agoSimple had the exact same idea years ago. I think they are still around and doing well although I have not looked at them in a while. (I think last time I looked you needed android or iOS and I am a windows phone user.)
- Scottymeuk 11y agoSimple only went so far. They are just a nice interface on top of another bank. Mondo are becoming a full bank themselves.
- izolate 11y agoI spoke to Tom (CEO of Mondo) at HN London about Simple. His take is that Simple failed, and that Mondo are following a different path. I'm not clued in enough to know the benefit of being a bank vs. building a UI over a willing banking partner's service.
- onion2k 11y agoI really like the idea, but mainly as a driver for the other high street banks to do better. While I don't have the sort of money where I'd actually lose anything if Mondo failed (the government insures everything up to about £35k) I can only imagine how much hassle it'd be to try and move everything away from them if they did fail - especially if they failed in a way that meant they closed their mobile app API down without notice.
- Scottymeuk 11y agoIt's worth noting that Mondo are not insured yet, so any money in there now is not insured.
- shawabawa3 11y agoUntil they get accredited all the funds are stored by Wirecard, their issuing bank, which is insured
- forgetsusername 11y ago>I invested mainly because I like the idea of a bank where I can do everything online. Is this really unavailable in the US? Here in Canada, PC Financial has been operating like that for well over a decade. Sure, they have kiosks in some of their grocery stores for those people who want to talk to somebody (which is genius, really), but it's entirely virtual. I've operated almost exclusively online, outside of lost cards and things of that nature. Ordering cheques, creating new accounts, switching pins, transferring money, it's all a couple of clicks. >There's no reason I should still have to call or go in to a store to change my address/unblock my card So you'd prefer your bank didn't freeze the card based on what they deem to be suspicious activity? Good luck to those banks...
- shawabawa3 11y ago> Is this really unavailable in the US? This is in the UK, and it might be available but certainly not with any of the major banks > So you'd prefer your bank didn't freeze the card based on what they deem to be suspicious activity? They'll still block cards on suspicious activity, but they allow you to manually unblock/block cards using the mobile app, and they can also use your phone location in their algorithms if you open the app while abroad
- beejiu 11y ago> This is in the UK, and it might be available but certainly not with any of the major banks I recently opened an account with HSBC fully online; didn't need to go into a branch. Think I have been to my Santander branch once over 4 years. I think the real advantage of 'online only' is not for consumer convenience but for lower operating costs on part of the bank. Smile and Egg were online only banks created in the late 90's, so the idea isn't new.
- phillc73 11y agoI guess we might disagree on the definition of major bank, but I've had an account with Smile[0], part of the Co-Operative Bank, for over 10 years. It's an Internet only bank, with no physical branches. I've always done everything online. What does Mondo offer that Smile doesn't? Also, as it is actually part of the Co-Operative bank, on the rare occasions where I've needed to withdraw a large lump sum of cash, I've been able to use those Co-Operative branches (that's happened about three times in 10 years). I also have a Number26 account,[1] which I only opened a few months ago. Again, I don't see the Mondo advantage. In the Mondo Beta phase customers must be London based and iPhone users. No such Number26 restrictions. I suppose I just don't understand the Mondo hype. They're good at marketing, but don't seem to offer much that isn't already available elsewhere. [0] http://www.smile.co.uk http://www.smile.co.uk [1] https://number26.eu/ https://number26.eu/
- jhoechtl 11y agoHow will a pure online bank be any better ... What guarantees that their fraud detection will be any better? Second, I dont know about your situation but for us Austrians getting my money from the ATM is free because traditional banks finance the ATM infrastructure. As there are now more and more online banks in the future I will have to pay once I want my money because online banks effectively utilize the infrastructure created by traditional banks.
- d4nt 11y agoThe transition was subtle, but these days [checking] banks are actually just Software/API companies. They provide an online account that supports the established electronic money transfer protocols in whatever country you happen to live. The fact that they have a network of retail stores in which you can talk to a salesperson about a loan is just a hangover from history. A bank without those elements would probably have much lower costs.
- vidarh 11y agoWhich bank is this? I have have cards with Barclays and MBNA in the UK, and neither makes you visit them to unblock cards. At least they've never made me do so.
- jmedwards 11y agoIf we assume that when Mondo raised from their investors a year ago - £2m for around 20-30% (assumed) of the company (http://techcrunch.com/2015/06/30/mondo-gets-passionate/ http://techcrunch.com/2015/06/30/mondo-gets-passionate/), how do you feel about the £1m valuation on 3.3% today?
- tehwalrus 11y agoFirst direct?
- charlieegan3 11y agoThey've been talked about on HN more than once. Pretty sure that's how I heard of them. I invested to show support, I've had various current accounts and the usability has always been really poor. Time for something to shake the uk banks up a little, hopefully make them care about their customers a little more.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- neximo4 11y agoI like there's absolute no fees when using the debit card abroad and you get the exchange rate 'at cost'. There's a building society that does this but it needs 5k or 500 a month in deposits I absolutely love that because I visit my family quite often and I'm usually ripped off with fees. I heard about them when they were applying for their license and just felt lots of people would find it appealing. While it is making less money they save a lot too.