Ewan MacLeod’s Post

So I bank with Monzo Bank. And their rise to being a successful bank tells us a lot about disruptive brands. 1️⃣ Be Distinctive Separate yourself from the bunch and stand the f⚠️k out. Monzo manages this in communication, just check out their excellent social media game, and physically, in that you can tell a Monzo card from the other side of the room. 2️⃣ Meeting users where they are rather than where you think they should be Banking was clearly a building, a cash point, a badly made digital experience. Monzo being mobile-first in approach was a winning move, as the established banks were (and in some cases still are) a few years behind. 3️⃣ Solve user problems that are minutes, hours, or days in timeline, not weeks, months or years. I've been pitched a lot of ideas, and while an idea can be good, it is hard to get traction if the problem you are solving only delivers value in the long term. When I went to create a business account with Barclays, they gave me a massive form to fill out; I didn't get around to it. Monzo, on the other hand, in the app, just asked me for my name, my business name, and my company number, and I was up and running.

🍑 Money never felt so Monzo 🍑 Monzo Bank launched its first above-the-line campaign in five years and I LOVE it. Why?... It shifts a traditionally left-brain, rational thinking sector into the right-brained realm of intangible 'feelings'. It's rare to see a banking brand equate financial decision-making with emotions, but Monzo does it exceptionally well. 💡 INSIGHT: Money management doesn't make people feel good. The campaign highlights the pain points, stress, tedium, and friction commonly associated with money management, positioning Monzo as the solution—effortless, exciting, and positive. The ad features a series of beautifully shot vignettes juxtaposing love and hate, anger to warmth, to the terrifying and enjoyable. (TV ad in the comments)

😲 How things change! This rather dreary photo shows where I started my career. No, not Pizza Express nor Aliment Juicery! Once upon a time this was the Cranleigh branch of NatWest Bank. Who knows, perhaps the vault is now the pizza oven!😋 But it got me thinking how different the world is now, compared to then, and how different it will certainly be in a another 25 years time. Back in '98, nobody had ever heard of a smart phone. Cheques were a standard method of payment (when did you last write a cheque?) and Switch was the new processing system of card payments everyone was excited about.😲 Today, contactless payments can be made on your android or iPhone. Cheques are largely obsolete, as sadly are the branches that used to be manned by the likes of my colleagues and I. So what will the future look like for financial services? From a banking perspective, the likes of Monzo, Starling and other online only banks will surely become bigger players. Banking is no longer the domain of "The Big Four". Exciting times in deed! One thing's for sure though, change only comes from the disruptors. And at the Equity Release Partnership, like the online banks, we'll continue with our partners to fight for disruption, because it's the only way you can innovate and progress. 🛫 #disruptors #laterlifelending #doingsomethingdifferent

The hot pink bank card that’s taken over a generation… 👛 Of course, I’m talking about Monzo — the “neobank” that’s quietly dominated the millennial market with its friend-centric features and approachable, emoji-laced comms. With a personalised analytics dashboard, hyper-convenient payment tools and an automated spending round up after every holiday — Monzo provides a level of control and visibility that borders on gamified. But how have banks like this changed our relationship with money? And how will their brands age alongside their cohort of users? Flick through the slides below for a preview, or read my piece in full over on #HowWeThink. The link is in the comments 👇 #gamification #mobilebanking

Is change a good thing, or should we hold on to what’s always been? When speaking with new potential clients, there’s often a strong reluctance to change what they’re familiar with and have relied on for a long time. They worry that altering the elements they’re recognised for—whether it’s a name, logo, or even a colour—could harm their brand identity and impact customer retention. Was this also the case for Lloyds Banking Group? Before the project officially launched, I kept coming across discussions about the direction of the horse's head and the friction surrounding this change. While those on the ground floor may be reluctant to embrace this monumental change (and in some ways, it is), the reality is that nothing really changes. Most people likely won’t even notice—yet this subtlety is exactly what makes the transformation so effective. This outcome is a perfect example of ‘progressive reduction.’ By shortening the name from Lloyds Bank to simply Lloyds, and aligning the horse’s head to face the same direction as its body, we finally have a brand that truly feels like it’s moving forward and progressing! The funny thing is, before I noticed the changes in my online banking app, I was already thinking about how traditional banks like Lloyds and Nationwide might fall behind online-only banks like Revolut, Starling, and Monzo if they didn’t make a dramatic shift. Clearly, Lloyds got the memo and acted accordingly. Massive congratulations to Wolff Olins for the incredible work and development on this project. Bravo! #Branding #VisualIdentity #BrandStrategy

Programmable banking is the next logical step in the development of commercial #banking. The advent of programmable money in the form of digital assets and smart contracts has created a profound opportunity for the #tokenised economy, but accessing this potential today is difficult, expensive and thwart with friction. It's my firm conviction that programmable banking will become the principle means by which institutions will access #DApps and smart contracts on the #blockchain, directly through their programmable bank accounts. Watch this space as we're about to make so more announcements shortly. Until then 🤐

A good customer experience goes SUCH a long way! Especially when we have such busy lives. I have been trying to open my 11 year old son's first bank account for the last 8 months, with the bank I have banked with for over 25 years - TSB Bank. Firstly I had to complete an archaic and barely legible online form, then wait months for someone to come back to me. When they finally did, they said they said we would need to do a zoom call (bring passport, proof of address, blah blah), with my son present, which would take "up to 1.5 hours". Anyone with an 11 year old boy will appreciate this is not ideal! Am sure he would rather not sit on a zoom call with a bank when he could be doing literally ANYTHING else! Anyway good job he didn't sit with me as it was cancelled 10 mins before it was due to start, 6 phone calls to TSB and repeated requests to complete the online form again I gave up. Clearly being a loyal customer for so many years also counts for nothing. In frustration I looked online and checked out Monzo Bank. I saw that I could open an account for an under 16 year old if I had my own account. No problem, downloaded the app and opened an account in 10 mins (no ID required!). Got my card in the post 5 days later. Opened my sons account a few days later (again, no ID required) and it took 2 minutes, set up a regular pocket money payment and he will receive his card in a few days. The app is colourful, user friendly and very child friendly. The whole experience makes me want to move my 25 year banking history to Monzo. Thank you Monzo for making it quick and painless, now my son can start being more independent and understand the value of money.....and stop asking me when his bank card is coming! OH....and its FREE too! Time for high street banks to take note and move with the times. #customerexperience #customerjourney #onlinebanking #customercentricity #customerservice

Monzo Bank is now the UK’s 7th largest bank with over 7.5 million users. What's surprising about this, is that they ✨ still ✨ grow through PLG 9 years after launch... Last year, Monzo's revenue grew 2.3X and new customers increased by 1.6 million - 66% of which came from word of mouth. It also hit profitability for the first time 💸 In the early days, PLG came in the form of their Willy-Wonka-style referral scheme and the bright orange debit card that quickly spread through London and other major cities. The Bandwagon Effect and Scarcity Principle made people wanna bag the cool, hard-to-get card for themselves 🧠🧠 Nowadays, I suspect that strong Product Market Fit and Network Effects drive growth. The Network Effect of the frictionless transfers between Monzo users means that Monzo is better when more people are on it. You’re incentivised to share with your friends. Their value proposition of 'banking made easy' is continuously delivered on too, with easy-to-open pots, seamless UI, good interest rates on savings, piggy banks, round ups & more. I’ve had Monzo for over five years now. I’ve fallen out of love with it at times, and fiercely relied on it at others. But there is a lot to learn about PLG and PMF with Monzo. Interested to see where they take the product in 2024 +. Do you bank with Monzo? Love/hate? let me know 👀

A business delivering scale, growth and profitability. Impressive, indeed.

What's next for Monzo Bank to retain (and improve) this level of profitability? Is it entering a new market, seeking both geographic and product expansion. The UK market is very consolidated, a difficult market to break in. What are the countries and/or segment available for Monzo to break in? #financialservices #innovation #leadership