Would you subscribe to Monzo Mobile?

For the longest time - maybe about 15 years - I've been suggesting banks get into the mobile industry. It's always been a bit of a no-brainer to me. So much so, I actually wrote an April Fool's post years ago suggesting that HSBC had bought 3UK – and for most of the morning, I got calls from people saying words to the effect of 'finally!'

So it's always good hearing about the prospect of banks thinking about offering mobile services. I think it's a rather useful way of anchoring customer attention to your bank brand. Mobile service is also, increasingly, just a data pipe.

The fact that so many conversations are still going on, every single day, about how many inclusive minutes, texts and gigabytes you want... I find it nuts.

It's data. Right? Isn't it?

The mobile industry had the chance to step up and stop the idiocy of international roaming and international calling. The wider industry answered that for them, in the form of WhatsApp and countless mobile roaming services like Airalo.

Now, when I roam, I'm invariably using my Revolut Ultra account's inclusive 3GB allowance per month. Sometimes I'll get a specific amount of data if, for example, I'm going to be sitting in Riyadh for a week or two – but mostly I will buy that either directly from Revolut or via an eSim with Airalo.

So news in the Financial Times this morning that Monzo is apparently considering launching a mobile offering is, in my view, very positive. ("FT: Monzo plans UK mobile service...")

With 13M customers, there is ample opportunity for Monzo to copy with Revolut is doing with Ultra, or take it one step further and charge me a tenner a month for unlimited everything. Or thereabouts.

Revolut is, of course, thinking about this too ("Revolut Mobile is coming to the UK & Germany"). I'm on the waitlist to hear more about their mobile offerings as well.

I'm also a Monzo Max customer so I'm looking forward to seeing how the team factor that into the mix for Monzo Mobile.

Bring it on. Bring on the competition. Bring on the different thinking!