Not paywalled, but in-app discoverability of support is different for different people. Some people have easy and obvious access to chat button directly on the help screen whilst others do not. This was introduced as an experiment a while back (maybe 1-2 years ago) but hasn’t changed. Leads to a lot of people wondering how to access support.
More detail in this current thread
I can’t find the post now, but on their forum Monzo said that it wasn’t a trial but deliberate policy to encourage customers to use their FAQs.
As such, most customers no longer have the option.
Maybe not a formal controlled experiment but when it was introduced to some actual customers they were just trying things out and this would have informed subsequent decisions
I can’t figure out whether that is better or worse than a paywall. Some people are able to find support easily while others cannot. It almost reminds me of when HSBC closed counter services in my usual branch to all but the well-heeled.
I don’t usually agree with Peter very much, but I think he’s spot on here: it really is worse than a paywall:
I agree with this and I’m one of the lucky ones that have the chat button at the bottom
I used to have the button too, but these sorts of shenanigans put me off using Monzo so I cut them in the latest round of downsizing
Anyone fancy a Monzo personal loan?
I recently, last November, took out a loan from Nationwide for £5k to pay for a second hand car at a fixed rate of 3.9 percent over 3 years. I now feel traumatised that I didn’t find a rate of 22.8 percent 
22.8% ?! What did they smoke?
Let’s be fair to Monzo, they aint a charity and there will be some hardcore Monzonites who will be more than happy to contribute their hard earned dosh in profit to the Monzo coffers because it’s ‘convenient’ to keep their finances ‘in house’. I too am guilty of that, a Nationwide customer who took out a personal loan thereby keeping it in house because it was completely convenient to do so. Stupidly however, I applied and was accepted for a loan at a ridiculously low APR when I could have found another loan elsewhere for a truly eyewatering APR. It’s called choices 
MONEY!!!
I’m not really in the know on personal loans, but isn’t the APR of these usually measured in single digit percentages? Even for the small amounts in question here?
Quick google search seems to reveal typical rates of 8-10% for really small personal loans (2-5k), reducing as the loan amount increases. That would make 22.8% more than uncompetitive. in a wholly different ballpark.
Perhaps some of the customers applying for Monzo loans are so enthralled with their banking experience, they’ll pay absolutely any percentage rate to keep their bank in healthy profit. Fair play to 'em I say! I mean, why would anyone want to find the cheapest most competitive loan on the market when you can take a stonking APR loan in double figures and possibly be happy in the knowledge you’re keeping the shareholders happy too? 
And what does it say about Monzo’s view of its potential loan customers?
One suspects to Monzo, it’s just business 
Once you have a loan you can now borrow more.
Yes, I’ve been reading through the thread in the other place and it clearly shows that Monzo completely believe in their product, so that’s all right then.
So once they’ve attracted that certain type of Monzo customer who has weighed up all the pros and cons of an absurdly high loan APR over a market leading low rate in single figures and made the decision to apply for the high APR product, then Monzo offer the option to borrow more, fantastic marketing!
It seems there are still folks that believe that applying for loans at ‘traditional’ bank is somehow hard work or not easy. Well from my experience with Nationwide just a couple of months back, it was extremely easy, I just applied in house on their website, was approved within minutes and the funds were in the bank within 48 hours, hardly a chore. Indeed, a few years ago, I even took out a loan with Hitatchi Capital which at the time, was also a market leading rate of around 8 percent I believe, some 5 or 6 percent below what the car dealer I bought a brand new car from was offering, and that all went through within a couple of days.
Yes, we all like things to be instant, but sometimes, especially when you plan ahead, I think it’s possibly wiser to weigh up all the offerings on the table, not jump right into the firepit because it’s made super easy. Harsh I know, but that sort of customer in my view, deserves to be burned imo.
I think too many people but into this whole ‘support business you value’ when really you should just use the services you require of them and if they profit from that it’s by the by from your own perspective.