I get the impression here that they’ve somehow gained insider access without technically being allowed. Think Apple and Nintendo rumour blogs.
Those sort of journalists, when they get exclusive scoops like that, which nobody is supposed to know about, they tend to tease and drip feed. Keeps people going back and clicking on links. I suspect that may be what Sifted is doing here and why it’s light on actual content.
Either that, or it’s a controlled leak from Chase themselves as a means of gauging how warmly their approach may be perceived.
There’s practically zero detail involved and what little there is is totally uninspiring. Certainly wouldn’t make me bookmark them and come back later.
It does sound a bit like a friend-of-a-friend leaked some pictures to them, on the proviso they wouldn’t publish them, and that’s the basis of the article.
I wish them well in launching in the UK market. For me personally, I have no interest in them. Starling does everything I could ever possibly need for a bank and with an overall better offering and service than the high street banks.
I do think Chase UK could very well spell danger for Monzo though. Starling are extremely innovative and have numerous different revenue streams that the launch of a new bank won’t affect them in the slightest. Monzo on the other hand are in a very precarious situation and do they really have the innovation and revenue streams to cope with competition from the likes of JP Morgan?
I’m definitely exited about seeing what Chase’s UK product will entail (I think watching the old arthritic financial big boys trying to adapt to the precedent that Starling and Monzo etc. have set is always fascinating, if not often very frustratingly disappointing!), but if they don’t offer anything innovative over Starling I wouldn’t be inclined to switch my custom. From a personal moral standpoint, I’d much rather support a little disruptive independent UK startup than help feed an American mega-corporation that also happens to be the largest bank in the western world. But I suppose I shall have to wait and see…! The most recent leak in that Sifted article has lowered my expectations if I’m honest.
I guess that’s a deliberate strategy. NDA’s all over the place to keep things under wraps.
I can see an element of subscription being key, but I hope not at the entry-level. They’ll surely want the bank balances of those mature, middle-class(?) who aren’t necessarily gagging to setup investment plans.
I hope so anyway. Be good to see a confident well-organised player who’s not just taking a punt. Their senior team acquisitions must know the landscape well.
I think there’s a gap in the UK market for a bank that answers the phone within two rings the way First Direct used to! I like to bank by mobile and online but live in constant apprehension of the day I next have to ring up and ask for help, and sooner or later that day always comes. So some basic good customer service over the phone would be nice.
There is, but it is doubtful anyone will actually meet that need, as having trained, motivated, well paid staff in sufficient numbers to offer this service (or indeed any basic customer service) costs and undermines the bottom line.
Decided to do some digging around the internet. Currently have a script running to check the chase.co.uk domain for potential pages, files, or sub-domains that don’t return a 403 response. Will report back if I find anything, as unlikely as that may be. Occasionally some terms documents find themselves being published early and lacking any access protections from outsiders. Banks are especially leaky in this respect!
Coincidentally stumbled across this twitter account which appears to be poised ready to become their UK twitter account:
So I decided to do some more digging on Chase UK and found the mobile app on the Google Play Store. I’m not sure if anyone else has noticed this but see the attached screenshots.
Tapping on the join the waiting list doesn’t seem to do anything.
