Monzo makes the viral ‘1p challenge’ official with £668 per year, but pays no interest

  • Digital bank will pay £10,000 to one lucky customer who takes part in the challenge

Monzo has made the viral ‘1p saving challenge’ official by launching a feature that can help customers save almost £700 a year.

The decades-long 1p challenge sees savers put aside 1p on the first day of the year, 2p on the second, 3p on the third, and so on.

The challenge allows savers to build up a pot of £168.36 at the half-year point and £667.95 if they complete each day of the 365 day period.

Now, the digital bank has launched a new feature that allows its customers to automatically participate in the challenge.

Monzo users can sign up for the program before January 31 and will be invited to set up a ‘challenge pot’ that will last 365 days.

Customers can pause their savings at any time and top up the pot for any missing days.

Appy Days: The 1p savings challenge can be set up using the Monzo smartphone app

Any money saved as part of the challenge will earn no interest, meaning it will lose value in real terms once inflation is taken into account.

However, the 1p challenge could prove valuable as it encourages a savings culture that can encourage non-savers to build up a pot of money.

In addition, Monzo will pay £10,000 to one saver who completes a 365 day savings programme.

Monzo’s AJ Coyne said: ‘This challenge is a great starting point for those at the start of their journey, and a fun competition for those already used to it.’

Monzo, which recently reached 11 million customers in Britain, was ranked by customers this year as the number one bank for overall satisfaction, closely followed by Starling and Chase.

Four in five Monzo customers said they were ‘very likely’ or ‘extremely likely’ to recommend a Monzo current account to friends or family.

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