Promising free current accounts and slick apps packed with spending insights and budgeting tools, digital challengers like Monzo and Monese are changing the face of UK banking. In this guide you can see how the pair stack up against each other, helping you decide which of these 2 banking providers might be the best choice for you.
Monzo vs Monese: Vital statistics
Finder score
9.8Excellent
6Standard
Customer satisfaction survey
4.4
★★★★★
3.7
★★★★★
Free spending abroad
Arranged overdraft
19%, 29% or 39% EAR
No overdrafts
Representative example
If you use an arranged overdraft of £1,200, you'll be charged interest at 39% EAR variable. Account fee of £0
With the free Monzo current account you get its distinctive coral-coloured card, while Monese’s free current account comes with a white card featuring a blue logo.
Neither bank has branches, but you can deposit money into your Monzo account at any PayPoint, which will cost you £1 each time (and you can only pay in a maximum of £300 in one go, up to a limit of £1,000 every 6 months). You can deposit money into your Monese account at Post Office counters or PayPoints, although there is a 3.5% fee (with a minimum charge of £3) for doing this.
Neither provider pays interest when your account balance is in credit, and while you can apply for an overdraft with Monzo, overdrafts are not offered by Monese.
Monzo has a UK banking licence, which means individual customer funds up to the value of £85,000 are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) if the bank were to cease to operate. Monese is not a bank, so is not covered by the FSCS. It is however registered with the FCA as electronic money institution, which means customer funds must be kept in a separate account at a licensed UK bank, so the money is ring-fenced should the company go bust.
In Finder’s 2025 Banking Customer Satisfaction Awards, Monzo scored 4.4 out of 5 stars, with 90% of its current account customers saying they would recommend the brand to a friend. Monese scored 3.7 out of 5 stars in the same survey, with 67% of its customers saying they would recommend one of its current accounts.
Round 1: App features
Visual breakdown of spending
Spending categories
17
15
Set spending budgets
Set up direct debits in the app
Top up via bank transfer
Have salary paid in
Separate savings accounts
Round-ups
Customer service via the app
Customer service via a telephone line
Cheque scanning
Freeze/unfreeze card in app
Send money abroad
Fee for sending money abroad
When sending through Monzo, a fixed fee of between 50p and £2.68, plus a variable amount between 0% and 1.30%. For currencies Monzo can't support, Wise sets the fee.
2% fee, additional 1% fee on weekends (Subject to currency exchange fee)
There’s a comprehensive range of broadly similar features in the Monzo and Monese mobile banking apps. Both have spending categories, where your transactions are automatically placed into pre-set categories like transport or eating out (Monzo has 17 of these categories, while Monese has 15). This in turn generates weekly or monthly spending insights, which helps you set budgets, with the apps alerting you when payments leave your account.
Monzo and Monese both have “Pots” that let you squirrel money away for particular goals, like saving for a holiday or a new piece of tech you’ve got your eye on. Both also have a “round-ups” feature, where spare change from your transactions can be “rounded up” and put into your savings bucket.
You can pay your salary into either your Monzo or Monese account, manage direct debits and make international payments. You can freeze or unfreeze your card in the apps, as well as contact both customer service teams through the in-app chats. Monzo also has a telephone line that it can be reached on, although the same is not true for Monese.
In addition, Monzo has a cheque scanning feature in its app. You can use this for cheques up to the value of £500, otherwise you can post cheques off to Monzo to add the funds to your account. Monese doesn’t deal in cheques at all.
Winner: Monzo. Although the apps offer a great range of very similar features, you can pay in cheques with Monzo and contact customer services by phone.
You can use either your Monzo or Monese card to spend for free in the UK, plus both cards are contactless for those smaller purchases.
Both cards are also compatible with Apple Pay and Google Pay, should you want to use either of those to make a payment with your mobile phone. Monzo also supports Samsung Pay/Wallet, but Monese doesn’t.
Monzo offers free ATM withdrawals up to £400 every 30 days in the UK, then a 3% fee applies. However, you’ll get unlimited fee-free withdrawals in the UK if Monzo is your main bank account. This will be the case if at least £500 or a benefit payment was paid into your account over the last 35 days, or you’ve received a student loan payment in your account in the last 8 months.
By contrast, Monese offers no fee-free ATM withdrawal limit, and you’ll pay 2% each time.
Winner: Monzo, for offering free ATM withdrawals.
Round 3: using the card abroad
Free foreign transactions
Unlimited
2% fee
Free foreign ATM withdrawals
Up to £400 in EEA and £200 elsewhere every 30 days
If you’re looking to use your card on a trip abroad, you get unlimited free spending on a Monzo card, but Monese charges 2% for foreign transactions.
If you are withdrawing cash on your card abroad, Monzo gives you a free limit of £400 in the EEA and £200 everywhere else every 30 days, then a 3% fee applies. It’s worth noting here that the £400 EEA allowance includes any UK ATM withdrawals you make during the 30-day period.
Monese charges a £1.50 fee per ATM withdrawal.
Winner: Monzo, for its unlimited free spending abroad and a decent monthly limit for fee-free ATM withdrawals overseas.
While Monzo and Monese both operate free versions of their current account, these two challengers have also expanded the number of current account options they offer to include subscription plans.
Monzo’s free account is just called the Monzo account.
Monzo runs joint accounts, as well as teen accounts for 16- and 17-year-olds. It recently launched an under-16s account too. Monese also offers joint accounts, but it doesn’t operate teen or child accounts.
Both providers offer business accounts.
Winner: Monzo wins here as it offers account options for teens and kids.
You can apply for either a Monzo or a Monese account through their respective mobile apps in a matter of minutes. There are no credit checks, although a photo of your ID and a short selfie video is required. The accounts are then usually opened on the same day and both the cards are sent through the post, taking roughly the same time to arrive. The thing to point out here is that Monese charges £4.95 for card delivery, whereas the Monzo card comes for free.
Winner: Monzo, for its free card delivery. Otherwise, both accounts are similarly quick and easy to open.
Round 6: Customer reviews
On reviews site Trustpilot, Monzo scores 4.5 out of 5 from more than 47,000 reviews. Monese has a score of 4.2 out of 5 from almost 46,000 reviews. These were updated in March 2025.
Reviews praised Monzo for its ease of use, but some complained about customer service.
People said Monese works smoothly, though there were some reviews talking about issues with customer service.
In our 2025 Banking Customer Satisfaction Awards, Monzo scored 4.4 out of 5 stars, with 90% of its current account customers saying they would recommend the brand to a friend. Monese scored 3.7 out of 5 stars in the same survey, with 67% of its customers saying they would recommend one of its current accounts.
Winner: Monzo, because it has a higher score in both.
Overall verdict: Is Monzo better than Monese?
Monzo and Monese are both decent choices when it comes to free digital current accounts. They’re both managed via an app, are easy to open and come stacked with features to help you access your funds, make payments, track your spending, set budgets and put some money aside.
Overall, Monzo is better in all of our categories. As well as offering unlimited fee-free spending abroad and some fee-free withdrawals, it also offers a greater range of accounts.
However, if none of those things are important to the way you plan to use your current account, then Monese would also be a solid choice.
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Michelle Stevens is a deputy editor at Finder, specialising in banking, credit, loans and mortgages. She has a journalism degree from the University of Sheffield and has been a journalist for 15 years, writing on topics including fintech, payment systems and retail. In her spare time, Michelle likes to travel, explore new foodie experiences and attempt to improve her own culinary skills. See full bio
Michelle's expertise
Michelle has written 108 Finder guides across topics including:
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