Monese vs Monzo

Monese and Monzo are both excellent financial companies headquartered in London and fully-regulated by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). They comply with high standards to segregate customer accounts from each other and to uphold cross-border best practices. Millions of customers have trusted their finances with both companies — and so can you.

Monzo scored higher on our trust and credibility category mostly because they are a larger company. Monzo serves nearly 5.5 million customers while Monese serves around 2 million. Monzo’s fee schedule was more direct and accessible than Monese’s schedule, which also impacted our scores.

Is Monese a bank?

Monese is technically licensed in the United Kingdom as an ‘Electronic Money Institution’ while Monzo has a full UK bank licence. This means that Monese cannot offer as wide a range of bank services as Monzo can. Monzo protects your deposits up to £85,000, provides overdrafts, and pays interest on savings. Monese can provide neither of these three services. 

This does not affect Monese’s safety, however. Monese is still required by law to keep your money safe and segregated from its own account, like Monzo. That means that if Monese goes out of business, your money will be unaffected and be refunded to you in full.

Is Monzo available in the USA?

According to a company announcement¹ on February 1st, 2022, Monzo is moving from its beta testing to a full public launch in the USA. Monzo’s full UK bank licence allows them to provide a wide variety of services in the UK, but the company cannot open accounts for residents and citizens in the EU/EEA.

Monese has a much wider reach than Monzo does thanks to its licence as an e-money institution. A Monese bank account operates in 14 languages and is available to residents across the UK and EU/EEA. This includes Germany, Spain, Poland, Italy, France, Norway, and several others. US residents are not eligible to open an account with Monese.

Monese and Monzo can both replace a traditional bank account and come with a range of financial services for users. They provide you with unique bank account details (like a UK sort code), send you a debit Mastercard, and connect you with a slick mobile app. Ultimately, Monese’s multi-currency functionality helped to boost its score. 

Monese Card vs Monzo Card

The cards offered by Monese and Monzo come with identical features. They are both partners of Mastercard, have contactless functionality, and connect with Apple Pay and Google Pay. 

The main difference is that Monese’s card is technically a multi-currency card, while Monzo’s is not. Since you can hold GBP, EUR, and RON with your Monese account, the card can access those holdings whenever you swipe or tap your card in the UK, EU, or Romania, respectively.

The Account Experience

Both providers have financial services, including notifications, financial analysis and budgeting. They both offer savings “pots” and even let you earn interest on your savings. If you lose your phone or card, both providers let you block and unblock your card and get back into the app by installing it on a new device. 

Monese accounts accept direct debits in GBP, EUR, and RON, which can also be managed as joint accounts. Monese does not currently offer overdraft protection. It does not offer loans, but the app can help you get connected with a loan provider. Its Credit Builder feature allows you to build up a credit score without having to use a credit card, which is an interesting and innovative product. Instead, you pay a monthly fee to build credit. Monese does not pay interest on savings, but does have an in-app integration that gives you access to an interest-bearing savings account.

With Monzo, you can set up direct debits (only in GBP though) and joint accounts with your partner. All customers are provided a free overdraft of up to £20. After that, it cost 50p per day overdrawn. Monzo gives their customers access to a unique marketplace for interest of savings too. Monzo has partnered with other British banks to get you interest on your money, although withdrawal and deposit limits may apply. Use Monzo’s Savings Marketplace to choose the most competitive interest rates on the market.

Which Has a Multi-Currency Account?

Monese offers banking services in British pounds, euros, and Romanian leu for their current accounts. Monese also doesn’t require proof of residency, and there’s no need for a credit check, which makes them ideal if you’ve just moved to a country. 

Monzo is currently available in the UK and only offers accounts in pounds. Although they are moving from a beta phase to a public opening in the USA, no multi-currency account is currently available.

Other Bank Account Features

Monese does not provide interest on the money you save or offer an overdraft facility. Instead, you can integrate your Monese account with a savings service provider called Raisin to help you access interest on your savings.

Monzo offers savings accounts, at up to 1.20% interest and also provides an overdraft at 50 pence per day in the U.K. Monzo is a member of the “Current Account Switching Service” which makes it easy to move your existing account to them. 

Topping up Your Account

Monese lets you top up with cash in the U.K. and via a bank transfer or debit card in the U.K. and Europe. Monzo offers cash and bank transfers to topping up an account and allows you to use a cheque. 

Monese and Monzo compare very well to each other for their basic, free plans. Neither charges you to open or hold an account; both allow you to send money internationally, and both come with good mobile apps. Monese has higher fees for international money transfers, foreign transaction fees, and ATM withdrawals, making Monzo the clear winner of this category.

Overall Banking Service

Monese and Monzo offer a wide range of services under their free plans. You get a current bank account without monthly maintenance fees, a Mastercard debit card, international money transfers and a range of other services. Both services have options including notifications, direct debits, budgeting, financial planning, and multi-currency summaries.

Both services make domestic bank transfers for free. In this sense, Monese has greater coverage because you can make domestic euro or Romanian leu transfers, in addition to domestic transfers in pounds. As we will discover further, however, Monese tends to charge more than Monzo for the same services. 

International ATM Withdrawals

For international ATM withdrawals, Monzo gives you a free limit of £200 every 30 days but charges you 3.00% of the amount withdrawn after that. With Monese, you will be charged a flat £1.5 regardless if the withdrawal was done in a domestic or foreign ATM. 

Getting a Debit Card

Monzo’s red coral MasterCard is free upon sign up while Monese charges a one-time £4.95 delivery fee for its debit MasterCard. Both should take no longer than 5 working days to reach you. 

You will get a free virtual card with Monese’s free plan. If you want a virtual card with Monzo, then you will have to upgrade to their £5 per month ‘Plus’ plan.

International Money Transfers

Monese’s mobile app supports international money transfers in many currencies, but charges a very high 2.50% per transfer, regardless of the currencies. On weekends, they will charge 3.50%.

Monzo, on the other hand, has integrated its service with Wise (formerly TransferWise) to send money overseas at transparent and industry-low rates. Wise always applies the real mid-market exchange rate (also called the ‘spot rate’) on your transer. You’ll pay a fixed fee of 0.35% to 2.85% of the amount you’re transferring, depending on the currency — the rates that Wise charges for popular currencies are toward the lower end of this range. A GBP to USD transfer, for example, would cost around 0.38% with Wise.

Foreign Exchange Rates: Using Your Debit Card Overseas

If you use your Monese card in a country that does not use the currencies you hold (GBP, EUR, or RON), then you will be charged a 2.00% foreign transaction fee. Monzo does not charge any commission for FX services when you pay with your card abroad.

Monese and Monzo have been highly rated for their customer service on Trustpilot and on the Apple App Store and Google App Store by millions of users. While they are both large and popular digital banking services, Monzo takes the slight edge here. 

Monese, with a Trustpilot score of 3.9, lost out to Monzo’s score of 4.5. Both had over 15,000 four and five-star ratings on the review site. Both offer email and call-in customer support, although Monzo’s phone support is more readily accessible. Both apps offer live chat support and both websites have help centres full of FAQs and resources.