Monzo vs Revolut

Both Monzo and Revolut are large, duly licensed firms that you can most certainly trust with your money, and neither is an inherently worse choice than the other in this regard.

Revolut scored higher on our trust metrics mostly because they're a larger company. With over 26 million customers globally, Revolut is far larger than Monzo, which has around 5.5 million customers only in the UK. We also found Revolut's fees to be easier to access than Monzo's, which counted in their favour (although we didn't have the impression that either company was trying to obscure or hide any fees).

The only major difference is that, in the UK, Revolut is not yet licensed as a bank, while Monzo is. (However, Revolut Bank does operate under a banking license in most European countries.) While this doesn't necessarily make Revolut inherently riskier, it does mean that Revolut doesn't offer deposit insurance in case of bankruptcy. Monzo, on the other hand, is a licensed bank, meaning it adheres to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) and that up to £85,000 in client deposits will be guaranteed by the government if the company was to go under.

Interestingly, as of 2022, both Monzo and Revolut have consistently failed to draw a profit and still report operating losses each year. Again, this isn't necessarily a major drawback for you as a customer. If you're using Monzo (even as your main bank account), you're completely secure if you hold less than £85,000 in deposits. With Revolut (whose deposits aren't FSCS-insured), as long as you use them as a secondary account, you should be fine here too.

Simply put, both Monzo and Revolut are excellent platforms, and are at the top of their game when it comes to low-cost financial services in the UK. Monzo offers you a fully-fledged current account, a debit Mastercard with no foreign transaction fees, an international money transfer service through Wise, and a range of other benefits. Similarly, Revolut provides you with an online account, a debit VISA or Mastercard, access to international money transfers, and several other innovative offerings.

Both have easy-to-use mobile apps that are popular with users and feature notifications, direct debits, budgeting, financial planning, and multi-currency balances. (However, as we'll see later, Revolut may charge a fee for faster transfers or to accounts not held with Revolut, whereas Monzo does not.)

Monzo claims to be a replacement for a traditional account and offers a range of services to help you replace your existing bank. Revolut is slightly more limited as it’s effectively a prepaid card that gives you multiple currency options and lets you send money overseas quickly and easily. That said, Revolut is still an excellent service and provides several additional features not available to Monzo (not to mention the fact that it's available in more countries).

Monito

Revolut Card vs Monzo Card

The cards offered by Monzo and Revolut come with almost identical features. Both are debit Mastercards, and both offer contactless payments, Apple Pay and Google Pay. Note that the Revolut debit card may be on the VISA network in some countries. Mobile apps from each provider allow you to block and unblock your debit card if it goes missing. Revolut also offers virtual cards, whereas Monzo doesn’t.

Account Experience

Both platforms offer a range of features to make your financial life easier. Monzo offers direct debits in British pounds and has a direct debit switching service to make migrating from your old account easier. Revolut offers direct debits in Pounds and Euros. Monzo also allows for joint accounts, whereas Revolut does not. Both providers have financial services, including notifications, financial analysis, and budgeting. Revolut offers savings 'pots,' though we find Monzo's advanced savings features to be much more capable due to their flexibility and budgeting features.

Revolut is available only through a mobile app, whereas Monzo provides a mobile app with a website available for emergencies. In this way, Monzo might not be your best bet if you prefer banking on your PC over your smartphone.

Local Accounts Available in Specific Currencies

Monzo is currently available in the UK and only offers accounts in British pounds (although they are currently starting out in the US). Revolut offers more local currency options. It can provide accounts in GBP, EUR, NOK and PLN, so if you’re in the EU or from Poland or Norway, Revolut is probably the better choice. 

Other Account Features

Monzo offers savings accounts at rates of up to 1.16%. They also provide an overdraft by percent APR/EAR that doesn't exceed 50 pence per day in the UK. Monzo is a member of the 'Current Account Switching Service', making it easy to move your existing account to them from another bank.

On the other hand, Revolut doesn't offer interest on savings or offer overdrafts. At more premium plans, Revolut does provide extra services like Pay Per Day travel insurance, automatic donations, and rounding-up on transactions.

Topping up Your Account

Monzo also offers cash and bank transfers for topping up an account and allows you to use a cheque. Revolut will enable you to top up your account with a bank transfer, debit card, or credit card, which is more convenient, although you may be charged a fee for card top-up.

Users of both Monzo and Revolut are able to access an impressive number of services through the basic plans of the two providers respectively. For example, neither charges you to open or hold an account, both allow you to send money internationally for very low fees, and both come with good mobile apps with no hidden costs.

However, when it comes to pricing in general, Monzo takes the lead over Revolut as they have lower overall fees and don’t charge for providing you with a debit card, whereas Revolut does. (Monzo is significantly cheaper than UK high-street banks for handling day-to-day finances.)

International ATM Withdrawals

When it comes to withdrawing cash overseas, Monzo gives you a free limit of £200 every 30 days but charges you 3% of the amount withdrawn after that (this is outside the EEA only — inside the EEA it's always free up to a fixed withdraw of £400 per day). With Revolut, the first £200 per month does not attract a fee (though fair use limits and weekend surcharges might apply), but you’ll be charged 2% of any amount withdrawn above that.

Receiving Your Debit Card

Monzo doesn't charge a fee for providing you with a debit card, though the card takes one to two weeks to arrive. Revolut provides a card within nine working days and normally charges a fee of €5.50/£4.99 to send you a debit card. Revolut can also deliver your card within two to nine business days via 'Express Delivery', but you’ll need to pay a fee of between £6 and £10 for the speedy service, depending on exactly how fast it ends up arriving.

Monito

International Money Transfers

Monzo provides currency exchange services through integration with Wise — a much-loved way to send money abroad that offers superb exchange rates and low, transparent fees. This means you’ll pay a fee of 0.35% to 2.85% of the amount you’re transferring, depending on the currency.

Revolut’s pricing is more complex and depends on the currency, your plan, your fair use limits, the volume you trade, and whether you exchange currency during or outside market hours. Over the weekends, Revolut’s currency exchange service can be expensive. Revolut lets you hold over 30 currencies, and you can exchange money between them quickly.

Using Your Debit Card Overseas

There’s good news from Monzo when it comes to using your card overseas: the bank doesn't charge any commission for FX services when you pay with your card abroad. Revolut, by comparison, charges zero to 2% on the first £1,000 or equivalent you spend overseas in a month (though, as always, fair use limits and weekend surcharges may apply), then charges a 2% fee afterwards.

With millions of customers each — many of whom report overwhelmingly positive feedback — Monzo and Revolut are both large, popular, and well-liked digital finance apps. As such, we see this section as a draw, with no clear winner between the two.

In the end, we therefore think its safe to say that both services impress their customers by and large.