It has been a big year for Monzo, with the challenger bank now recording profitability for the first time. Most websites will have a questionnaire at the bottom asking “how likely are you to refer this service to a friend?” Often, the answer, the real answer, is unlikely. Purely based on the fact, people don’t always talk about who their payment provider is.

Well that’s not quite the case with Monzo, as the bank has become a company doing well from word of mouth. Once known as a good product to have if travelling abroad, Monzo has evolved to be much more.

But what is the big reason for this? Its clever and well-thought-out use of language certainly has had a huge impact.

Monzo is well aware of the power of language

In many interviews, I have asked companies how they approach the use of language when conveying information and conversing with customers. Monzo however, would appear to beat me to it, holding this at the forefront of what they do and are now reaping the rewards.

Harry Ashbridge, Head of Writing & Customer Experience spoke at the Customer Experience in Financial Services Conference 2024. The session was titled: ‘Your writing is your customer experience’.

Monzo reported a 1% increase in weekly activity when they changed just 4 words for the description when uploading a card to Apple Pay. Which seems incredibly simple, because it is, but sometimes it can be the simple chances like this that make a difference.

Further impressive changes were seen when there was a 57% decrease in customer queries when it reworded the description of how to upload an ID to an account.

Each staff member at Monzo undertakes its writing course, titled: ‘Writing Slightly Betterly’. This course is something it may attribute to its success, putting the power of language at the forefront and using it as a key tool it’s the company’s progress. Perhaps it is something for other banks to learn from.