_edit_ I didn't mean to imply that this was _unique_ to only Monzo and Revolut worldwide. But it is unusual in the UK - it is it is something that regular UK Big banks don't do, or are rushing to catch up with now.
I get the iOS notification instantly when I pay for something with the card, whether in person or online.
Is this something more? (I'm a potential adopter if so)
1) good fx rate, I think it's google exchange rate with no fees for converting from/to various currencies
2) really easy transactions between friends (makes it really easy to settle up our holiday bills, could have an integration with Splitwise...)
3) almost instant feedback in the app about purchases
4) really nice analytics
5) virtual (unlimited?) cards, each with their own limit: I have a virtual card for my online purchases and my physical card has online purchases disabled
6) despite what others said, I've found the customer support to be all right
7) traveling insurance
8) (don't remember the exact amount) cheap-ish device insurance (eg for my phone)
9) metal card (as in, not a piece of plastic)
10) accounts in a shitload of currencies (used gbp, euro and usd so far)
11) contactless (but well, all cards seem to be like that)
12) (not using this) one can buy crypto coins via the app
Edit: It seems the functionality is there, but it doesn't work for Contactless, which is the majority of transactions I've done.
It has its benefits, but travelling around the world currently doesn't seem like one.
I have learned on my own skin that travelling with a single card is not a good idea. I always have two (plus some hard cash just in case). But Revolut has became my first choice to pay abroad because it charges no commission when paying with foreign currency (I suppose they make some money by tweaking exchange rates, but so do normal banks, and I have checked in practice that Revolut is much cheaper). So even if it's not perfect, I would say travelling around is and advantage.
By the way, what I don't understand about Revolut is why they never charged me the tips I paid when I was in New Orleans last summer... they had this weird tipping system at restaurants where you would first pay the raw prices, and then you would write the tip manually on a piece of paper and they were supposed to charge it later on, except they never did.
I really don't want to deal with my bank if by some chance amount Y is not what I wanted.
From my (European) point-of-view this seems completely ridiculous, since here I see the actual amount before I have to swipe/insert the card into the device.
However, I completely agree with you that it's not fair to the restaurant/workers if they don't actually get the tip.
Not that I like tipping systems at all, I find them an unnecessary hassle for the customer and detrimental to workers' rights, but if you have to have it I found the system in Canada (at least in Vancouver) much saner: you could key the tip amount into the POS machine when you pay, or directly select a tip percentage and the machine would add the tip for you. Compared to that, having to actually calculate the amount by hand and write it with a pen in the restaurants in New Orleans, blindly trusting that they would eventually charge that amount, looked like... last century.
Checked Monzo again, they have this in american transactions:
> Restaurants in the USA
> Restaurants in the USA are a bit of a special case. The waiter runs your card for the meal's amount and then, after youtip, they cancel the first transaction and charge you again for the meal plus your generous tip.
> REAL TIME
> The problem is that, until the first transaction reverses (10 days later) we don't have a way to tell that the restaurant charged you once or twice.
> Legacy banks will block the initial transaction amount in your account and release it 10 days later, but only the amount + tip will appear in your statement :)