Get ready – Year in Monzo is back, and it’s better than ever! The leading digital bank’s customers can now dive into personalised insights from 2024 like their top retailers for eating out, shopping and entertainment, favourite places for travel, and more. The experience culminates with Monzo giving each customer one of 48 different “moods” based on their year’s spending habits, whether they’re “fuelled by flat whites” or “on first-name terms with [their] delivery driver.”
Year in Monzo is an experience Monzo’s customers love to hate, and past campaigns have seen thousands jokingly complain about being exposed by their bank for their spending habits. This year, Monzo’s taken things a step further by giving you the option to choose how you want your year played back: pick “nice” if you want them to go easy, or “savage” if you’re ready to get roasted. You’ll see a completely different version of your Year in Monzo depending on your choice.
Monzo is also lifting the lid on UK spending trends, revealing the quirks, trends and spending habits that shaped the nation this year.
AJ Coyne, VP Marketing at Monzo, said:
“It’s been a year of many moods, moments and money habits, and these insights from our 11 million customers show us the different ways people have saved, budgeted and spent in 2024 – using their much-loved Monzo app. From wins like supercharging every penny with round-ups to meaningful steps like working towards goals with pots, we’re there for it all and excited to bring Year in Monzo back for an even bigger year – offering customers an insightful, fun (or even fiery) snapshot of their year.”
FOOD & DRINK:
- The Greggulars: We all love a Greggs sausage roll but it seems Newcastle, the bakery’s hometown, is the true ride or die. Newcastle was the only place where Greggs was the number one place for eating out, and Geordies went to Greggs more than any other city in the UK. This means Newcastle reclaimed the title of the nation’s ‘Greggs Capital’ after narrowly missing out to Sunderland in 2023.
- Fast Food Faceoff: McDonald’s held onto its crown as the nation’s favourite place for eating out everywhere in the UK with two notable exceptions: Newcastle which preferred Greggs, and Londoners who opted to stay in with takeaways instead (Deliveroo and Uber Eats were London’s two favourite places for eating out – but in their homes.
- Coffee Crown: Starbucks emerged victorious in the coffee shop wars, stealing the top spot from Costa, with Monzo customers spending £26m this year. Londoners bucked the trend and remained the only place where Pret was the #1 coffee shop, spending over £21m there despite the end of its subscription model. London also remains the only place in the UK to prefer Pret to Greggs.
- Caffeinated Capital: Edinburgh clearly runs on caffeine, going to Starbucks more than any other city.
- Night Owls: Liverpool and Leicester are the UK’s late-night hotspots, doing more late-night spending (between 11pm-4am) than anywhere else. Revellers from these cities poured over £130m into ‘going out out’. This year Scousers took the crown as the ultimate party capital of the UK, rising from fifth to first place.
- Pub Priority: Plymouth crowned Wetherspoons as its go-to spot, spending there more often than any other city in the UK.
SHOPPING:
- 2020(4) Vision: Apparently, everyone in Brighton did go to Specsavers, spending there more often than anywhere else in the UK.
- Vinted Victory: While M&S held onto its crown as the top shopping destination nationwide, Monzo customers’ spending on Vinted increased by 63% versus last year, taking it to second place in the ranking of top retailers.
MONEY MATTERS:
- Saving Surge: Monzo customers saved a record-breaking £200 million in round ups. This feature rounds spending to the nearest pound, saving the spare change automatically. Plus, they earned £3 million in cashback!
- Holiday Hustle: Monzo customers saved over £2 BILLION into holiday-themed Pots this year. For these avid travellers, Spain, France, and Italy topped the spending charts abroad. In the battle of budget airlines, Ryanair edged out easyJet as the go-to choice for Monzo customers.
- Pay Day Celebrations: London’s music scene is a top choice in Birmingham, Leicester, Bristol and Oxford with locals buying tickets to Tottenham’s superclub Drumsheds on payday. Meanwhile, up north in Leeds, Doncaster, Manchester, Sheffield, and Wakefield there’s a huge and very wholesome trend for celebrating payday with tacos from El Mexicana.
CULTURAL MOMENTS:
- Glicked: Wicked cast a spell with spending on cinema tickets up 65% vs the same weekend last year, with more Scottish customers buying tickets in the opening weekend than any other region. Gladiator II’s debut roared alongside, with the two pulling in nearly £3m combined in Monzo customer sales over their release weekends. Still, despite copycat co-branding, ‘Glicked’ fell behind 2023’s ‘Barbenheimer,’ which drove a 261% sales spike.
- Brat vs. Demure: Only Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle, and Sunderland spent more on gym memberships and self-care than going out. Very demure! Very mindful! The rest of Britain? Fully embracing their inner Brat in 2024 and hitting the town.
- Oasis Mania: Ticket sales were up 5.3x on official sites when the band’s surprise reunion tickets were released vs a typical day, with Monzo customers spending almost £2m.
- Swifties Take Wembley: Before Taylor said ‘So Long London’ back in August, fans spent almost a staggering £900k at Wembley Stadium during the Eras Tour – talk about a ‘Lavender Haze’ of spending!
Customers can see their own ‘Year in Monzo’ from 7am on Monday 16th December, anyone feeling FOMO can set up a Monzo Current Account by visiting: monzo.com/current-account/ to get in on the action next year
For more Year in Monzo fun, head to: https://monzo.com/year-in-monzo/
