Monzo introduces investments feature

Monzo has launched a feature which allows customers to invest from £1.

Challenger bank Monzo is venturing into offering share trading with its Monzo Investments feature.

Eligible customers can now invest in funds managed by BlackRock with as little as £1.

Monzo says it’s aiming to make investing more accessible, and is offering ready-made options and educational modules to help newbie investors get started.

What is Monzo Investments?

Monzo Investments has 3 ready-made fund options all managed by BlackRock. Each fund has a different risk level: Careful, Balanced and Adventurous.

Monzo customers can join a waitlist for the feature, and those who are eligible will be invited to create an investment pot.

Not all customers will be eligible. For example, if Monzo sees that you’ve fallen behind on debt repayments, it won’t allow you to access Investments.

What can you expect?

If you’re given access, you’ll be shown a series of screens where you’ll learn about the product and you’ll be able to choose from the 3 BlackRock funds, if you decide to invest.

• Careful. Designed for those who don’t want too much risk and are happy that any gains may be more modest than potential gains from higher-risk tiers. Around 80% of the money in this fund is in bonds and about 20% in shares.
• Balanced. Suited to someone aiming for a higher return with a medium level of risk. About 34% of the money in this one ends up in bonds and around 66% in shares.
• Adventurous. This is designed for those with a higher risk appetite. Returns could be higher, but you could experience bigger losses than with the other funds. 100% of the money in this fund is invested in shares.

Monzo says it’s conscious this feature is suited to new investors, so it also has educational modules to help you learn more about investing.

What are the fees?

Unfortunately, this feature isn’t free. You pay 0.59% of your investment value in fees. This includes a 0.14% fund fee and a 0.45% platform fee.

However, if you’re a Monzo Plus or Premium customer, you’ll pay a lower platform fee of 0.35%.

Who else offers investments?

Many established high-street banks have their own share trading offering. But within the digital bank sector, so far Chase is the only other one to introduce investing, through its partnership with Nutmeg.

Savings apps like Chip, MoneyBox and Plum also have their own investment options. So they are worth considering if you want to see how Monzo’s new feature stacks up against competition within the sector.

You can also compare features and fees for a wide range of share trading platforms in our full guide and comparison.