Supporting mental health is part of our culture at Monzo. It's something everyone struggles with sometimes, and the more we talk about it, the better. Back in January we released a blog post talking about how we're supporting our team internally, but what about our customers? Today, we're sharing what happens when you disclose your circumstances to us, and the support we offer.
Last September, we created a way for our customers to tell us about their circumstances. It's a simple way for anyone who needs extra help to ask for it in confidence. And by having that conversation we can suggest ways to make sure we're fully supporting you.
What happens when you share with us
Here's a message we received from a customer we'll call Linda (although we've changed the names and details here to keep them private):
'Hey Monzo team! I'm diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder. I really struggle with phone calls and I get easily suspicious of new people. I really don't like domineering voices and I can get angry and frustrated so easily. Please don't take it personally if I swear at you or call you names!'
When Clay, from our Vulnerable Customer support team, received Linda's message he sent her a message back straight away. He thanked her for being so open with us and, after a friendly chat, started to talk about how we could help her.
They agreed that interacting with customer support was difficult thing for her. He suggested to Linda that they write a note to go on on her account, about how we should treat her if she got in touch. They settled on a few bullet points together:
Please check Clay's schedule, and if he's online, ask him to speak to Linda
Please avoid phone calls entirely
Please use lots of emojis and casual language with her
Please be tolerant if she uses difficult language with you
Linda felt comfortable with Clay, and wanted to speak to him again if he was around. But she knew that she might end up speaking to someone else in the team if he wasn't. She said she was really glad she got in touch, and felt much more comfortable about speaking to us in the future.
Sometimes we're not able to help people in the way they need just yet. But by giving you a chance to share your circumstances with us, we can get a better understanding of your needs, and what we need to do to meet them.
What support do we give right now?
We'll listen
We're here to listen, and we have a team of empathetic people who will be there for you - whatever you’re going through. If you need to talk to us urgently, we're around 24/7, for anything non-urgent our friendly customer service is available between 7am and 8pm.
We'll take a note of your situation
If it helps, and with your permission, we can leave notes on your account for other support staff to see so you don't need to explain yourself again.
We'll direct you to resources
We have a huge bank of both local and national organisations, for every situation, who we can refer you to for free professional advice.
We'll suggest ways to use Monzo
We know the Monzo app better than anyone. If we think something might help, we can talk you through useful features, particularly around budgeting and saving.
We'll make changes to your account
If there’s something affecting how you manage your money with us, we can look at making some changes that might help.
We can turn off the option to take out an overdraft or loan
We can stop advertising overdrafts and loans to you
We can sometimes adjust your daily limits for card transactions, ATM withdrawals and transfers (but only if you've disclosed a health condition).
We can block certain merchants for you
We can add the name of a trusted person to your account who we can speak to on your behalf.
If you're going through difficulties and there’s something you think might help you with your Monzo account, just ask! We can’t always fulfil every request but if enough people ask for something, it helps us prioritise what to work on.
What more could we be doing to support your mental health at Monzo? Join the conversation over on our forum and let us know!