Monzo: The UK’s most downloaded finance app with big travel benefits

• Holidaymakers, travellers and those who frequently send money abroad.
• Those looking for a modern bank account with extras and perks, by which I mean insurance cover, a railcard, a gateway into investing or crypto, and advanced spending insights.
• Anyone wanting to get organised with their finances, budget and keep on top of spending.

Monzo customers can choose between a free account, or one of three paid-for accounts. The perks and range of features available to you as a Monzo customer – and the fees you will pay to access those perks and range of features – vary depending on the account you choose.

There are a few partner perks if you opt for a paid-for account, although Monzo doesn’t go to town on this quite as much as Revolut does. That said, you’ll be paying far more for a top-tier Revolut account than with Monzo (£45 per month for Revolut Ultra vs £17 per month for Monzo Max).

The three paid-for accounts were only launched in April 2024. Before that, there were two paid-for accounts; Plus and Premium. Customers with those accounts can continue to use them. New customers, however, can only access the account types listed in the table above.

Monzo’s offer of unlimited fee-free debit card used abroad and unlimited fee-free ATM withdrawals makes it one of the the best cards for travel. It’s important to remember, however, that unlike Starling, which attaches no terms and conditions to its offer of fee-free foreign card and ATM use abroad, there are some conditions attached to Monzo’s offer of fee-free foreign card-use:

• You must be using your card within the European Economic Area (or the UK)
• You must treat Monzo as a main bank account, or pay for a Perks or Max account

What does ‘main bank account’ mean? It means at least £500 was paid into your Monzo account over the last rolling 35-day period (government benefits and student loan payments count), and you must have had at least one active Direct Debit in the same period. So, it’s not too hard to meet the criteria and it doesn’t mean you need to transfer everything over if you still want to keep another account open.

If you don’t meet those criteria, however, then you won’t see quite the same benefits. When travelling within the EEA, you’ll be limited to £400 per month from ATMs – still more than many competitors allow – and there’s a 3% A foreign exchange (FX) fee is added to all trades involving foreign currencies. If you buy a stock that trades in US dollars, for example, and your home account is in GB pounds, you’ll need to pay an FX fee.FX fee for exceeding that threshold.

That 3% FX fee is one of the highest FX fees I’ve come across outside of a high street bank. Revolut charges 1% or 2% for transactions outside of its fee-free criteria. There are ways to avoid it, however, so be careful you meet the criteria if you want to visit the cash point or tap your Monzo card care-free on holiday.

Easy access savings account

With Monzo, you can earn 4.10% – 4.60% The annual equivalent rate (AER) is used to describe the percentage of interest you’ll receive on your savings and investments. AER accounts for compound interest whereas the gross interest rate does not. AER is also known as APY (the annual percentage yield). AER interest (variable) on your savings. The higher rate is just for customers saving in the Perks and Max accounts and isn’t as high as Revolut’s highest rate (4.75% currently). But generally, those rates compare favourably and, as it’s an easy access account, you can withdraw funds whenever you like without losing the interest rate on your remaining funds.

If you’re wondering how you pay cash in without physical Monzo Bank branches – you can use the Post Office or any UK PayPoint.

Instant access cash ISA

Earn 4.10% AER interest (variable), paid monthly. That’s a reasonably good rate, especially when you consider there’s no minimum deposit, and you can access your money at any time. You could get a better rate elsewhere, however, and you’ll need to be a Perks or Max customer and pay for your account to get access to the A cash ISA is a type of individual savings account where you can earn tax-free interest on your saved cashcash ISA. You’ll also need to factor in that this ISA comes with a variable interest rate – meaning the rate can rise and fall.

Monzo does also offer another cash ISA, provided by Shawbrook, which is available to everyone, even those on the free Monzo Basic account. However, rates for that ISA are not as generous as the Monzo-branded cash ISA. It’s currently 3.86% AER variable.

Check out our Best Cash ISA page for the top payers.

Investments

Monzo offers the chance to dip your toe into the world of investing with either a General investment account (GIA) is an account designed to provide access to investments. You may be liable for tax on any income or capital gains earned within a general investment account but this can be a useful vehicle for anyone who has maxed out their ISA allowancegeneral investment account (GIA) or a Sometimes called an investment ISA, a stocks and shares ISA is an individual savings account that allows you to invest in shares, unit trusts, investment funds, and bonds. You will not need to pay tax on any income or capital gains earned on investments within an ISAstocks and shares ISA. An ISA comes with tax advantages that you won’t get with a general investment account as the government allows you to put away £20,000 per year into an ISA without needing to pay any income or Capital Gains Tax on your returns. An ISA is, therefore, a really straightforward and smart way to invest.

For both Monzo’s GIA and stocks and shares ISA, there are just three options to choose from – so this isn’t somewhere you can earn a living trading the markets – rather it’s a gateway into trading. It’s somewhere to put any leftover savings you have that could be earning you an income rather than languishing in your current account.

With investing comes risk, of course. So you’ll need to feel sure that the level of risk your money is being exposed to is something you’re comfortable with. If you don’t like any level of risk, then either of the instant access savings or cash ISA accounts where you returns are more certain, would probably suit you better.

With Monzo, you can choose from three A ready-made portfolio is a pre-made collection of investments that have been put together by investment experts. They are designed to be a simple option for those who don’t want to choose individual stocks or funds for themselves.ready-made funds. Each one is designed to align with a different risk-rating. They are all managed by Blackrock, one of the world’s largest fund managers, so you won’t need to pick individual stocks and shares yourself. That means they’re well suited to those who are new to investing or don’t have the time or desire to get into the nitty gritty of different investment options and strategies.

The three funds are labelled:

• Careful: You don’t want to take too much risk, and you’re happy with a potentially smaller return compared to what you might get with the other funds.
• Balanced: You’re aiming for slightly higher returns and you’re prepared to accept a medium level of risk. As a result, your investment value could dip more compared to Careful.
• Adventurous: You’re happy taking more risk if it means your returns could be higher.

Investment fees

To invest with Monzo, you’ll pay 0.59% of your investment value in fees. That sounds relatively high, but Monzo does something not many investment platforms do and includes their fund fees in that headline rate. It’s easier for them to do this as they have just three funds and one, consistent fund fee of 0.14% across them all. Larger providers will have varying different fund fees, but by having one fund fee, Monzo can make overall fees simple and transparent. Working out fees with larger, investment platforms with lots of choice can often feel like mission impossible, so this feels like a more welcoming and manageable way to get started.

If you want to compare fees with other platforms, you’re paying 0.45% as your platform fee. For £1,000 invested, that means you’d be paying 48p a month (if there was no growth or withdrawals). That’s slightly above average and as there’s not much investment choice here, I’d recommend checking out your other options if you want to get started with investing. There are lower cost platforms out there with cheaper rates. Take a look at our Best investment platform page for our top-rated suggestions.

If you’re a Perks or Max customer, then you’ll pay a lower platform fee of 0.35%. (So the total fee including fund fees is 0.49%). That’s 40p per month for every £1000 invested.

Fees are charged monthly and don’t alter as your portfolio value grows.

So, how does that compare?

Monza’s investment fees are high. Revolut, for example, charges 0.25% – 0.12% commission, depending on your plan type.

Cryptocurrencies

You can use a range of cryptocurrency exchanges with Monzo, including major exchanges like Coinbase.

Following the FCA’s warning on Binance, however, Monzo has stopped allowing payments to that platform for the time being.

Monzo’s travel money benefits make it one of the the best debit cards for travel. However, if you’re looking for a free account, with no limits on where you can use your card, my top recommendation is Starling:

Have a question about Revolut that we haven’t covered? Ask it here and we will get back to you as soon as possible!