Monzo began life in 2015 under the name Mondo. It is now a fully licensed UK bank that says more than 16 million personal and business customers use it, and its app is the one most people under 40 picture when they hear the words “app bank”. The free account is still the main event. The paid plans, Extra, Perks and Max, are where Monzo makes its case for a monthly fee, and where readers most need a calculator. This review sets out what each tier costs, what you earn on savings, what happens to your money abroad, and who should pay for an upgrade. For the wider field, see our banking apps hub.
This review is information, not financial advice.
Monzo Promo Code box
- Offer: free current account; paid plans from £3 a month ($4.00 / €3.56); invited friends can earn a referral reward
- Promo Code: No Promo Code needed
- Who qualifies: UK residents; the free account from age 16, Extra and Perks from 18, Max from 18 to 69
- Key terms: referral rewards are randomly drawn and paid only if the new customer adds money and makes a card payment within 30 days; Max has a three-month minimum term
| Offer detail | What you get |
|---|---|
| Promo Code | No Promo Code needed |
| Welcome offer | Free account with no monthly fee; join through a friend’s invite and both of you get the same randomly drawn reward, most often £10 or £20 ($13.33 or $26.65 / €11.87 or €23.73) depending on the scheme |
| Who qualifies | UK residents aged 16 or over who have never had, or started applying for, a Monzo account |
| Key terms | Within 30 days: download the app, apply, add money and make a card payment of any amount; Max carries a three-month minimum term |
| How to claim | Open your friend’s invite link, download the Monzo app, apply, top up and make a card payment |
Monzo: key facts
- Official website: Monzo
- Owner: Monzo Bank Limited (company no. 09446231)
- Headquarters: Broadwalk House, 5 Appold St, London EC2A 2AG, UK
- Founded: 2015 (full UK banking licence 2017)
- Regulation: Authorised by the PRA, regulated by the FCA and PRA; Financial Services Register number 730427; FSCS up to £120,000 per person
- Support: Live chat: yes, in-app chat 24/7 for urgent issues; 7am to 8pm for non-urgent; Email: help@monzo.com (if you cannot access the app or sign up); Phone: 0800 088 4040 (UK); +44 20 3872 0620 (abroad)
- Ratings: App Store 4.9 (363k ratings, UK App Store); Google Play 4.8 (about 183k reviews, 10M+ downloads); Trustpilot 4.6 (73,577 reviews)
- Headline offer: Free current account; referral reward for both sides, randomly drawn (most often £10 or £20 depending on scheme) after adding money and a card payment within 30 days
- Promo Code: No Promo Code needed
- Price from: Free; Extra £3 ($4.00 / €3.56) a month, Perks £9, Max £19, Max with Family £23
- Free plan or trial: Yes: Monzo free account (16+); paid plans optional
- Payment methods: Bank transfer (to fund account), Monzo debit card (Mastercard)
- Best features: No Monzo fee on foreign-currency card payments; free cash withdrawals in the EEA; Pots, instant notifications and budgeting tools; Optional Perks and Max bundles (Railcard, Vue, travel and phone insurance)
Key facts
- Owner: Monzo Bank Limited, London
- Founded: 2015; full UK banking licence in 2017
- Regulation: authorised by the PRA, regulated by the FCA and PRA, Financial Services Register number 730427
- Deposit protection: FSCS, up to £120,000 ($159,912 / €142,404) per person
- Monthly fee: free; Extra £3, Perks £9, Max £19, Max with Family £23
- Card spending abroad: no Monzo fee on any plan
- Cash abroad: free in the EEA; outside the EEA, £200 a rolling 30 days free on Free and Extra, £600 on Perks and Max, then 3%
- App ratings: 4.9 on the UK App Store (363k ratings), 4.8 on Google Play (about 183k reviews)
- Trustpilot: 4.6 from 73,577 reviews
Verdict
Monzo remains the best all-round app bank in Britain for most people. The free account does the essentials well: instant notifications, Pots for saving, salary sorting and fee-free card spending abroad. The paid plans are harder to recommend on the numbers alone. Perks and Max make sense if you would buy what they bundle anyway, such as a Railcard, Vue cinema trips or travel insurance. If you are paying for a slightly higher savings rate, you will usually lose money.
Pros
- No Monzo fee on card payments in foreign currencies, on any plan
- Free cash withdrawals in the EEA, including Portugal and Malta
- Clear, well-reviewed app with Pots, bill splitting and spending categories
- FSCS protection and full UK banking licence
- 24/7 in-app help for urgent issues
Cons
- Paid tiers cost up to £276 a year ($367.80 / €327.53) on Max with Family
- 3% fee on cash outside the EEA once you pass your allowance
- Instant Access savings rates are lower on the free plan than on paid ones
- Some Trustpilot reviewers report frozen accounts and strict verification checks
- Fined £21m by the FCA in 2025 over financial crime controls
Monzo referral reward and switching offers: what is actually on the table
Monzo does not advertise a cash switching bonus on its own pages. What it does run is a refer-a-friend scheme, and its terms are unusual. Instead of a fixed sum, both the existing customer and the new one receive the same randomly drawn reward. Monzo publishes two sets of UK terms. In one, the odds are 94% for £10, 5% for £20 and 1% for £50. In the other, they are 94% for £20 ($26.65 / €23.73), 5% for £50 ($66.63 / €59.34) and 1% for £100 ($133.26 / €118.67). Which one applies depends on the invite.
The conditions are light. The newcomer must be a UK resident aged 16 or over, must never have held or started applying for a Monzo account, and has 30 days to download the app, apply, add money and make a card payment. There is no minimum spend. Join after 30 days and there is no reward. Once a referrer passes 100 referrals, the reward drops to £5.
If you want to move your whole bank account, Monzo uses the Current Account Switch Service, which moves your balance, salary and Direct Debits and is backed by the switch guarantee.
Monzo prices and plans: Free, Extra, Perks and Max
| Plan | Monthly fee | A year | Who can join | Instant Access savings rate | Free cash outside the EEA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monzo (free) | £0 | £0 | 16+ | 2.75% AER (variable) | £200 ($266.52 / €237.34) a rolling 30 days |
| Extra | £3 ($4.00 / €3.56) | £36 ($47.97 / €42.72) | 18+ | 3.00% AER (variable) | £200 a rolling 30 days |
| Perks | £9 ($11.99 / €10.68) | £108 ($143.92 / €128.16) | 18+ | 3.25% AER (variable) | £600 ($799.56 / €712.02) a rolling 30 days |
| Max | £19 ($25.32 / €22.55) | £228 ($303.83 / €270.57) | 18 to 69, three-month minimum | 3.50% AER (variable) | £600 a rolling 30 days |
| Max with Family | £23 ($30.65 / €27.29) | £276 ($367.80 / €327.53) | 18 to 69, three-month minimum | 3.50% AER (variable) | £600 a rolling 30 days |
Extra adds Billsback, virtual cards, connected accounts from other banks and a second credit score, and pays 5% AER (variable) on a Saving Challenge.
Perks adds an annual Railcard, a weekly Greggs treat, a monthly Vue cinema ticket, YouTube Premium Lite, three free cash deposits a month and discounted investment fees, plus the higher cash allowance abroad.
Max includes everything in Perks plus worldwide travel insurance, worldwide phone insurance and UK and Europe breakdown cover. The family add-on costs £4 a month ($5.33 / €4.75).
The Select Access savings account pays 3.15% AER (variable) on the free plan and Extra, and 3.65% AER (variable) on Perks and Max, as long as you make two or fewer withdrawals a year and deposit at least £500. All rates are variable and were checked on Monzo’s plans page; they move with the market.
The worked saving: is Perks worth £108 a year?
Take a teacher in Leeds with £5,000 in an Instant Access Pot. On the free plan at 2.75% AER, that earns about £137.50 ($183.23 / €163.17) over a year. On Perks at 3.25% AER, it earns about £162.50 ($216.55 / €192.84). The extra £25 in interest is a long way short of the £108 fee.
The sums only turn positive if you use the bundle. Someone who already buys a Railcard and goes to the cinema once a month at Vue will cover the fee quickly. A student who never travels by train and lives miles from a Vue will not. The free plan is the right answer for most people; Perks and Max are lifestyle packages with a bank account attached.
Fees abroad: €500 in Lisbon, cash in Malta
Monzo charges nothing for card payments in a foreign currency and nothing for cash withdrawals inside the EEA, which includes both Portugal and Malta. It uses the Mastercard exchange rate.
Picture a couple on a long weekend who spend €500 on dinners, trams and a hotel in Lisbon, then fly on to Malta and take €200 out of a cash machine in Valletta. At our reference rate, that is about £421.34 on the card and £168.53 in cash, or £589.87 ($785.99) in total. Monzo’s fee on both: £0. The only charges to watch are any fee an independent cash machine adds, and the merchant’s own conversion if you agree to pay in pounds. Always choose euros.
Outside the EEA, the picture changes. In Bali or New York, cash is free up to £200 a rolling 30 days on the free plan, then 3%. Taking out £400 would cost £6 in fees on the free plan, and nothing on Perks.
Monzo vs Wise vs Revolut abroad
| Monzo (free) | Revolut Standard | Wise | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly fee | £0 | £0 | £0 (card costs £7 to order) |
| Card spending in euros | No Monzo fee, Mastercard rate | Free up to £1,000 exchange a month, then 1% | Mid-market rate plus a conversion fee shown before you pay |
| Free cash abroad | Unlimited in the EEA; £200 a rolling 30 days elsewhere | 5 withdrawals or £200 a rolling month | £250 a month, then 2.69% on the excess |
| UK bank licence and FSCS | Yes | See our Revolut review for how accounts are held | No: Wise is an e-money institution, so balances are safeguarded rather than FSCS-covered |
| Best for | Everyday UK banking that also travels | Frequent multi-currency spending | Holding and sending many currencies |
For the Lisbon and Malta trip, all three come out at or close to zero. Monzo’s edge is that the same account also takes your salary and pays your rent. Wise wins for anyone holding balances in several currencies, and Revolut suits frequent travellers who want to exchange in advance.
Is Monzo safe? FSCS and FCA authorisation
Monzo Bank Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the PRA, with Financial Services Register number 730427. It is registered in England and Wales (company number 09446231) at Broadwalk House, 5 Appold Street, London EC2A 2AG. Eligible deposits are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme up to £120,000 per person.
The record is not spotless. In July 2025 the FCA fined Monzo £21m, finding that between 2018 and 2022 it had not collected enough information when onboarding customers. That episode explains some of the strict checks users now report.
App ratings, support and what users say
The Monzo app scores 4.9 on the UK App Store from 363,000 ratings, and 4.8 on Google Play from about 183,000 reviews and more than 10 million downloads.
Support runs through in-app chat, 24/7 for urgent issues and from 7am to 8pm for everything else. The UK freephone number is 0800 088 4040, or +44 20 3872 0620 from abroad. Email help@monzo.com is mainly for people locked out of the app or stuck during sign-up.
On Trustpilot, Monzo scores 4.6 out of 5 from 73,577 reviews, with 82% five-star and 10% one-star. Reviewers praise the clean design, Pots, instant notifications and good rates abroad, and many describe support as quick. The complaints concentrate on withdrawal restrictions, account access limits and strict verification when moving larger sums, plus a few surprised by cash machine charges outside the EEA.
Who Monzo suits
- Students: the free account opens from 16, has no fee and teaches budgeting through Pots.
- Travellers: fee-free card spending everywhere and free cash in the EEA make it a strong travel card. Long trips outside Europe favour Perks or a second card.
- Freelancers: Monzo offers a separate business account for UK sole traders and limited company directors, which keeps work income apart from personal money.
How to open a Monzo account, step by step
- Check you are a UK resident with a UK address, a smartphone and valid photo ID.
- If a friend has invited you, open their link first so the referral is recorded.
- Download the Monzo app from the App Store or Google Play and enter your details.
- Verify your identity in the app with your ID and a short selfie video.
- Add money by bank transfer and make a card payment within 30 days if you want the referral reward.
- Leave the plan on free, or choose Extra, Perks or Max in the app.
- Use the Current Account Switch Service if you want to move your salary and Direct Debits across.
Monzo vs Starling vs Chase vs Kroo
| Monzo | Starling | Chase UK | Kroo | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly fee | Free; paid plans £3 to £23 | Free | Free | Free |
| Fee on card spending abroad | None | None | None | None |
| Free cash abroad | EEA unlimited; £200 to £600 elsewhere | No Starling fee, £300 a day | No Chase fee, £500 a day, £1,500 a month | No Kroo fee |
| Headline interest | 2.75% to 3.50% AER Instant Access | Easy Saver 4.00% AER for 6 months | Saver 4.5% AER for 12 months (new customers) | 3.00% AER on the current account (new customers) |
| Referral | Random reward, most often £10 or £20 | £25 by Starling invitation | £50 each with £1,000 paid in | None listed |
| FSCS | Up to £120,000 | Up to £120,000 | Up to £120,000 | Up to £120,000 |
Monzo FAQs
Is there a Monzo promo code?
No Promo Code is needed. The only sign-up reward is the referral scheme, which pays both sides a randomly drawn amount, most often £10 or £20, if the newcomer adds money and makes a card payment within 30 days.
How much are Monzo Extra, Perks and Max?
Extra costs £3 a month, Perks £9 and Max £19, or £23 with the family add-on. Max has a three-month minimum term.
Is Monzo Perks worth it?
Only if you use the Railcard, Vue tickets, Greggs treats or YouTube Premium Lite. On £5,000 of savings, the higher interest rate adds about £25 a year against a £108 fee.
Does Monzo charge fees abroad?
Monzo charges nothing on card payments in foreign currencies. Cash is free in the EEA; elsewhere it is free up to £200 or £600 a rolling 30 days depending on plan, then 3%.
Is my money safe with Monzo?
Monzo is a UK bank authorised by the PRA and regulated by the FCA and PRA (register number 730427). Eligible deposits are covered by the FSCS up to £120,000 per person.
Can I open a Monzo account if I do not live in the UK?
No. Monzo’s UK accounts are for UK residents.
What interest does Monzo pay?
On the free plan, Instant Access savings pay 2.75% AER (variable), rising to 3.50% AER on Max. Select Access pays 3.15% to 3.65% AER (variable) with a £500 minimum and no more than two withdrawals a year.
Monzo or Revolut for travel?
Both are close to free in Europe. Monzo is the better main bank with a UK licence and FSCS cover; Revolut suits people who exchange several currencies and want more travel extras.
How do I contact Monzo?
Use in-app chat, call 0800 088 4040 in the UK or +44 20 3872 0620 from abroad, or email help@monzo.com if you cannot get into the app.
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