Avios invests in online banking app Monese – what is its plan?

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On Monday I published a mini-rant about the bloated state of the UK credit card industry. As part of that, I asked why investors were pouring vast sums into online current account start-ups (Monzo, Revolut, Starling etc) when such products have never made money even for legacy banks.

On the other hand, few start-ups are pushing into UK credit cards which have historically been hugely profitable.

A reader pointed out to me that Avios Group recently invested in Monese as part of a $60m funding round – see here.

If you’ve never heard of Monese, it is like Revolut, Starling or Monzo but aimed at people who are new to a country and would otherwise struggle to meet the checks required to open a traditional bank account.

You can open a Monese account in various European countries, including the UK, simply by uploading a scan of your passport. Monese is, of course, also happy to open an account for you if you are living and working in your home country. If you are reading this on a tablet or mobile, you can click here to download the Monese app and have your account open within minutes.

I am assuming that Avios has a plan for Monese – we need to see what develops over the next few months.

How to earn Avios points from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways BA Amex American Express card

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus:

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

(Want to earn more Avios? Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)

Category

British Airways and Avios

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

clarence says:

13 Dec13 December 09:45

a bit o/t but where is the combine my avios on Iberia Plua. I have used it before but cant see it anywhere now. Surely it hasn’t been removed.
- Peter K says:
  
  13 Dec13 December 12:01
  
  It was missing a few weeks ago for me. Just drag from BAEC or an avios.com account instead.
  - Clarence says:
    
    13 Dec13 December 13:13
    
    Trying to move from IB to BAEC
Guy says:

13 Dec13 December 09:57

Hi all,

Quick OT and follow up from a post yesterday, what is the quickest way anyone can think of getting an Avios credited to their BAEC account? Friend joined up to buy avios in the 50% offer but is hands tied until the first avios is credited with the offer due to expire on sunday

Any help appreciated

Thanks

Guy
- The Original Nick says:
  
  13 Dec13 December 10:13
  
  Amex MR points transfer?
- Rob says:
  
  13 Dec13 December 10:15
  
  Tesco Clubcard transfer or Amex MR transfer – should be overnight.
- Alex says:
  
  13 Dec13 December 10:21
  
  Fly with ba somewhere cheap?
- Anna says:
  
  13 Dec13 December 10:27
  
  Hi Guy, it’s not looking good for BAEC, but if your friend doesn’t need the avios urgently he could open an Iberia account and buy them via the better value offer on Spanish Groupon. Then after 90 days he could transfer them to BAEC.
  
  My own Groupon avios have now posted! No notification from Iberia, but I did get an email from Spanish Groupon (need to unsubscribe from these!) asking me how my experience was which prompted me to check my account.
  - Anna says:
    
    13 Dec13 December 10:36
    
    Apologies, the price difference is minimal, however there does not seem to be a restriction on how soon you can get them into your Iberia account (I opened my Iberia account and bought and redeemed my vouchers on the same day). Of course it depends how many your friend is looking to purchase and how soon he wants to use them.
- Rich says:
  
  13 Dec13 December 11:11
  
  If the opinion/survey options eg ‘rewards for thoughts’ or similar are still available they post pretty quickly after completing the first one?
Neil Spellings says:

13 Dec13 December 10:35

Note that there is also a Norwegian offer on No.1 Lounges which price at approx £1 cheaper than Virgin:

No1 Lounges
£21 (usually £28) – Birmingham
£19.50 (usually £26) – Edinburgh
£24 (usually £32) – Gatwick
£24 (usually £32) – Heathrow T3

My Lounge
£18 (usually £24) – Gatwick North
£18 (usually £24) – Gatwick South

https://no1lounges.com/norwegian

You get 25 Norwegian “Cashpoins” with each booking
- Rob says:
  
  13 Dec13 December 12:27
  
  Thanks. My Lounge pricier, oddly.
Geoff says:

13 Dec13 December 11:01

O/T – anyone know how a Curve online purchase of foreign currency (eg Travelex) is treated? No info in Curve FAQs.

Am I right in thinking that most currency purchases are treated as a cash advance on a credit card?
- Sammyjlb says:
  
  13 Dec13 December 11:49
  
  Hi Geoff
  Curve didn’t charge me for a recent currency purchase but the card that the transaction was processed through (Virgin) charged me a cash advance fee. Hope this helps.
  - Geoff says:
    
    13 Dec13 December 12:30
    
    Thanks – yes, that’s what I expected.
Callum says:

13 Dec13 December 11:15

I don’t buy that analysis. They’re trying to become fully fledged banks, not just current amount providers – that’s their first step. Banks obviously make vast sums of money (more than credit card providers I’d wager), it doesn’t matter if the current accounts themselves do.

I didn’t comment on the credit card rant as I’m not too familiar with the French/Italian markets, but allowing for differences in exchange rate/wealth etc. between the three countries, I can’t say the cards you highlighted seem vastly superior to what’s available here.
- Rob says:
  
  13 Dec13 December 12:34
  
  Oddly most of the ways that traditional retail banks make money are not available to start-ups. Cash handling, fees for running ATM networks etc. It is going to be harder than most people think.
  - Callum says:
    
    13 Dec13 December 14:17
    
    Oh it’s definitely going to be difficult, and I’m sure most of them will fail. I just don’t think it’s accurate to say that their entire future is only based on current accounts. No doubt over time they’ll expand into overdrafts, loans, mortgages and credit cards.
    
    Not to mention you’ve missed entirely their major business model – big data. It’s not yet proven in the financial sector but you’ve seen what it has done in the tech industry. They could potentially generate large sums from this.
    - Charlie T. says:
      
      13 Dec13 December 15:12
      
      +1 on data being the buzzword to open the invetors’ wallets.
      although i’d Imagine this would apply equally well to a card company that issues cards for spending on (rather than balance transfers) – Amex have a rather better idea of where I spend my money compared to my current account provider.
    - Callum says:
      
      13 Dec13 December 17:40
      
      But do Amex have the systems to analyse it into a form that could be sold? Or to link with other financial institutions and get commissions from referrals? It wouldn’t surprise me if the more successful start ups eventually get bought out by an established bank.
      
      I agree credit card data would be useful too (and is surely coming), but starting with debit cards is easier given you need far less capital, and they are used for the majority of spending (a quick Google suggests it’s around 75% of card payments and rising).
Chris says:

13 Dec13 December 11:20

Amusing text from Iberia about my (ahem) flight today

“For your comfort and due to the high occupancy of your flight, you can check-in your hand luggage free of charge at check-in counter 799. Thank you.
- Anna says:
  
  13 Dec13 December 14:13
  
  Lol! Obviously you’d prefer not to travel on such a crowded plane…
ChrisH says:

13 Dec13 December 11:38

Hello, OT sorry and I think I know the answer but can’t find a categorical answer…
If I have BA 2-4-1 and cancel card do I lose the voucher.
I can see that I wouldn’t lose the flights if I’ve booked using it but not if I just have the voucher lying around waiting to be used.
Is it safer just to downgrade to the free card?
Thanks all!
- Peter K says:
  
  13 Dec13 December 12:04
  
  Amex will say you lose it, but once it’s in your BAEC account it is safe to cancel the card. I, plus many others here, have done this.
  - ChrisH says:
    
    13 Dec13 December 12:16
    
    Brilliant, thanks Peter
    Merry Christmas!
MM says:

13 Dec13 December 11:56

OT. Can I refer someone for the Costco AMEX from my Gold MR card and still get 9K bonus? Is there any bonus for the referee?
- Rob says:
  
  13 Dec13 December 12:22
  
  Can’t refer to Costco.