I’ve been thinking of opening up an account with Dozens.
It’d be my fourth account. I use RBS for bills & Revolut daily, Monzo just for a shared tab with someone who uses Monzo for everything.
Would you say it’s not worth looking into Dozens then? Just for another personal account with fintech features?
Depends what you’re after. I’ve never regarded Dozens as a current account product - but as a savings/ investment vehicle. It may have moved on though…
I hope to chip in some information - only for reference (not marketing) since it has been raised
I remember chatting to @RB51 in days gone by, and IIRC it was our lack of Apple Pay integration that was a major issue (sorry about that). I’m glad to say that is now available (as is Google Pay), and we’ve added other current account, or ‘fintech’ features if you need them @anon22494410.
However, as @Graham rightly points out, the intention of the app is to make it easier for customers to start saving & investing (but not trading) - you don’t mention if you also do that, so not sure if this is what you were looking for.
Hope that helps.
Hello Rob,
Its unlikely I’d use it for spending features at present, but if the analytics look good I could give it a try in future.
Currently have some funds with Wealthify which need to be kept there for a further 3 months to obtain some cash back, I may in future have over 1k spare to invest so could use it for this purpose should the investment options look good. Aware it wouldn’t be to pick stocks or the like, I tend to use Revolut for this.
Besides investing over 1k or bidding small amounts for the bonds, how else could I put my money to work?
I do appreciate a fintech app that tries to cover a variety of customer needs, it’s why Revolut wrestled my business away from Monzo from a day to day perspective
(I don’t want to derail @RB51 's topic about his journey, because that is definitely something of interest - so maybe a moderator can split these into a separate topic?)
In answer to your question, right now you could bid for the 5% bonds each month, or choose a suitable ETF or multi-asset fund (from Vanguard or Blackrock). We are working on bringing some further options to the Grow and Invest shelves but we’re also doing a lot of work on the app behind the scenes now that we’ve completed the migration (and added the current account features), so I’m not sure when they will be publicly available.
To avoid me doing too much ‘marketing’ here (which is not my intention), do feel free to drop me a PM here or ask over at our community - I’m happy to explain more.
That’s fine Rob, any info on these new features you can share I’d welcome by message. Otherwise have a nice day
Appears we have our thread, so I’m all ears!
And it was so…
Well, it’s not going to compare with RBS, Revolut or Monzo. It just hasn’t had as much time for development yet.
Personally, I think their budgeting is the best in a banking app (ie not an aggregator). So if you’re trying to stick to a tight budget, it could be very useful.
The bonds are great if you have up to approx. £600 to put in a month. It could make sense to move over eg emergency funds bit by bit (you can redeem the bonds at any time, subject to forfeiting any interest in the current month).
Invest is too pricey on the multi-asset funds at least, imo. The £1k minimum is a major hurdle too.
But then, there are promises of more flexible products in the pipeline in Grow and Invest, so again, it’s a case of wait and see.
The biggest structural problem is the same as Revolut. Problem with your card and your Spending account gets locked? Grow and Invest also get locked. So, something to bear in mind. Using different providers limits that risk considerably.
Ultimately though, if you merely want to dabble and see, there’s nothing to lose.
There’s also an element of where you want financial services to go. Imo, dozens doesn’t shout nearly loud enough about its commitment to asset-creating credit only. So, they may do mortgages, but they’re not considering credit cards or overdrafts. All with the aim of aligning their incentives with the needs of customers. It’s a refreshing approach that sets them apart from anyone else I can think of!
Could you elaborate on this please! What have the analytics got over the competition? I do like to narrow down my week to week spending a lot
Also why £600 specifically for the bonds? Is that just what you try to do?
Ps agree about the dabbling!
Well, I can’t provide specific details at this time as things are still in development, but;
I can’t say too much more at this stage, and I am VERY conscious that fintechs making claims of “coming soon” are a running joke around these places, so … I’m not even saying that! However, I wanted to explain that what you see today is not the extent of the Dozens vision.
The experience of 2019 (wirecard etc) and then 2020 (!) did redirect some of our efforts, but we got through that and improved the platform we already had (oh, and @Gaoler, the freeze card no longer freezes your account, only the card … and you also get the virtual card to use if you don’t have the physical one)
Now we are working on exciting new offerings.
Hope that helps 
Yes, but I was thinking more of the Spending being locked for a suspicious activity report. That still locks everything, doesn’t it?
dozens publishes details of the bonds issued each month on their forum. If you’d bid £600 each time, you would always have been accepted. Above that, it’s increasingly less likely your bid will be accepted
It’s more budgeting than analytics. You can set your monthly/weekly/daily budget exactly and track your spend against it. Imo, it’s designed very much to help you stick to a strict limit. Say you only have £60 a week discretionary spending, you can track it to the penny if you want. Streets ahead of Starling and Monzo on this.
Interesting. I do currently operate a weekly discretionary budget via Revolut, I could try this out with Dozens for a week and see if I prefer it.
Thanks for the info r.e bonds, I’d read about it rewarding lower bidders so that’s a higher medium than I expected.
From experience, I’d say a budgeting system worth it’s salt may reward a bit more than a week, but maybe you weren’t being that literal 
See how you go?
Well, it’s more that as it’s a weekly budget I’d start with a week - but I can see what you thought I meant lol
Applied. Briefly gave me app access but then said unable to verify and has gone to compliance. Hope to give it a try soon.
All open! A few days ago in fact.
Lining up some saved funds from my previous pay to bid for a Bond.
I may test out the current account features next month, but I am a bit of a Revolut sucker for spending now & having compared the budgeting tools I haven’t found enough there to switch over as of yet (unless I’m missing something?) . Certainly both an improvement on Monzo’s budgeting offering.
I would like to invest via the app also, I do think reducing the minimum amount to even £500 would be an improvement. I have the funds but need a bit of an extra avaliable buffer at present, maybe if I ‘grow’ a bit more eh 
Yeah, the £1000 minimum per fund is a major limitation at the moment. The structure of the Invest page also treats all asset classes the same, but any sensible strategy would involve a mix.
The only way to get a sensible spread is via the Vanguard and Blackrock funds, but then you are probably better off going directly to Vanguard, imo (Vanguard has a £500 minimum, so may suit you).