What is Monzo?
Monzo is a digital bank founded in 2015. It is a very popular digital bank for UK customers, with a full banking license.
Monzo is an excellent choice if you live in the UK, a digital bank that could easily replace your old bank. What they do they seem to be doing very well and reliably, and recently they've also switched gears when it comes to rolling out new features.
Monzo Review 2019
Monzo pros and cons
Pros
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Has a banking license (deposit guarantee, direct debits and standing orders)
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Smoothest app and user experience
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Great customer service experience
Cons
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Only available to UK residents
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Can't receive international payments (no IBAN number)
Monzo Review 2019
Monzo fees
Account opening and maintenance fee
At Monzo, account opening is free and maintaining your account is also free, with no monthly cost.
Card fees
Getting a Monzo bank card, including delivery, is also free.
ATM fees
Withdrawing money from any ATM is the UK is free without a limit. Withdrawing abroad is free up to £200 /month, but costs 3% after that.
Transfer fee
Transferring money in the same currency as your Monzo account is free, while Monzo's international transfer fee is €0.5-3.0.
Currency exchange fee
Monzo also charges a currency exchange fee for international transfers. This varies between 0.35-2.00% of the exchanged amount, depending on the currency.
Top-up fee
Monzo does not charge a fee when you top up your account using another bank card.
Monzo Review 2019
Monzo vs. Starling
|
Monzo |
Starling | |
|---|---|---|
|
Multicurrency account |
No |
No |
|
ATM withdrawal fees (standard account) |
Free in the UK £200/month free abroad 3% after |
Free |
| International transfer fee | €0.5-3.0 | £0.3-5.5 |
|
International transfer exchange fee |
0.35-2.00% |
0.4% |
Monzo Review 2019
Monzo account opening
Opening an account at Monzo is super easy: it takes only a couple of minutes to do it via your phone and receiving your physical card also takes only a few days.
Monzo countries
Monzo is available only in the UK.
Monzo currencies
At Monzo you can open your bank account only in GBP.
Current accounts
Monzo current account is also available only in GBP.
Currencies in the app
Within the app you have only GBP as well.
Top up currencies
At Monzo, you can top up only in GBP.
Monzo cards overview
Monzo cards are provided by Mastercard.
Monzo Premium account benefits
Monzo has no premium accounts.
Monzo top-up methods
At Monzo, you can use the following top-up methods:
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Bank transfer
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Cheques
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Cash
Monzo Review 2019
Monzo banking features
Monzo offers a wide array of banking features:
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You can see your spending categorized by the type of transaction (e.g. shopping, restaurants).
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You can set monthly budgets and spending goals, both overall and for different spending categories.
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You can send money to other Monzo users instantly and for free. You can also send a money request to another user.
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Smart savings are also available, where Monzo will round up the amounts you actually spend and store the difference as savings.
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These savings can also be stored separately for easier overview and management.
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You can earn interest on your savings.
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Setting up or canceling direct debits is quick and easy with Monzo.
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Overdrafts are possible.
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Joint accounts are also available.
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You can set up Apple Pay or Google Pay.
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3D Secure online payments are supported.
Monzo Review 2019
Monzo additional features
You can only use Monzo through your mobile app. On a desktop computer, you can access Monzo only for emergency functions. You can freeze or unfreeze (Monzo calls this "defrosting") your card and see your transactions.
Monzo does not have any additional features like loans, investments or insurance, but personal loans are in a testing mode.
Monzo Review 2019
Monzo customer service
You can contact Monzo via:
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Live chat: It is fast and reliable. You can choose between urgent and non-urgent ways of connecting.
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Phone: It connected immediately.
Customer service is available 24/7.
