It's fair to say new digital-only banks have gone mainstream.
The majority of people out there will have heard of two of the biggest players, Monzo and Starling, thanks to word-of-mouth, eye-catching debit cards and advertising campaigns.
In the last few years, they have seen stratospheric growth as a slice of Britons ditch - or cheat on - the banking big boys for the appeal of a current account with a hot coral or turquoise debit card that simply, to steal a fashion phrase, pop with colour.
You could argue they are attracting a cult-like customer base, and these cards are merely a fashion accessory.

But you can also argue that they're getting the simple things right, meaning more are willing to give them a go.




German challenger bank N26 will close 200,000 UK current... RBS p[url=/money/saving/article-8269737/Nationwide-loses-current-account-switching-crown-Monzo.html]
Bye-bye Bo: RBS recently killed off its attempt at a digital-only bank to rival Monzo and Starling


Coronavirus impact hits sign-ups
The coronavirus pandemic appears to have hit Monzo and Starling.
One in five respondents in our Harris survey stated their view on switching primary bank account has changed due to Covid-19 uncertainty.
This is highest at 35 per cent among 18-34 year olds, the age group who are the most likely to consider switching - and especially to a digital-only bank.
This chimes with recent data analysis from website Finbold.

It says that neobank app downloads dropped 23.4 per cent on average in March, after the pandemic created lockdown and mass panic.
It claims Monzo saw downloads fall 36.1 per cent between February and March. During a similar period last year, the bank registered a percentage increase of 27.7 per cent in new downloads.
Starling didn't fare much better, seeing a drop of 20 per cent in new downloads in March.

A year earlier, it grew 11.4 per cent.
Google Trends, below, shows how searches for Monzo (blue) have fallen to levels not seen for more than a year, while Starling (red) are faring better after a dip - possibly down to its television advertising campaign. 




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Interest: How searches for Monzo have fallen on Google in recent months - while Starling dipped, but is on the way back up


Travel trouble for Starling? 
Like many others I know, I have opened a Starling account, not as my main account, but my second one.

Back in 2014 [url=/money/comment/article-2546636/With-latest-Lloyds-glitch-time-two-current-accounts.html]I argued that having two current accounts was a good idea. I still stand by that.
My secondary account, up until last summer, was Metro Bank.
I ditched it for Starling for one simple reason: a cheap way to spend abroad.
That is the big battle for the challengers - convincing people to use accounts as their main one, not a parked one to use for a specific reason. They want wages paid in, everyday spend.