A slick and easy to use mobile app has become a must-have for challenger banks, but not all financial institutions are quite there yet. This guide focuses on apps for personal banking. We have created a guide to best business accounts for anyone looking for an app to run their business account from. We also have a guide on the best money saving apps if you are wishing to create a savings pot.
Our best mobile banking apps
Rank | App | Review | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
#1 | Absolutely packed with features, Starling’s banking app is easy to use and lets you handle all aspects of your current account, including categorising your spending, setting savings goals and paying in cheques digitally. | |||
#2 | Monzo’s reputation for being one of the coolest banking apps available isn’t unwarranted. It’s slick and colourful, lets you access all the features of your bank account and its spending reports make budgeting almost fun. | |||
#3 | The Revolut app integrates effortlessly in your day-to-day money life, offering a series of useful features for saving and organising your finances, including spending notifications and savings pots. | |||
#4 | Lloyds tops the chart of traditional banks and has got all your banking bases covered, from carrying out your everyday banking and making payments, to categorising your spending and planning a budget. | |||
#5 | The Barclays app meets all your basic banking need and more, with spending notifications, card locking and a 24/7 in-app customer support chat. | |||
#6 | The NatWest app comes with all the standard banking features you’d expect, plus card freezing, spending categories and cheque scanning. | |||
#7 | The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) app also offers digital cheque deposits and card locking, as well as spending analysis and all the usual banking features. | |||
#8 | Halifax has built a solid banking app, where you can log in using face or touch ID, see what you’ve spent and where, and round up your spare change from purchases. | |||
#9 | You can use a biometric log in for the Bank of Scotland app, receive spending notifications, freeze your card and round up your spare change. | |||
#10 | Digital-only Monese has all you would expect in its banking app, from the ability to instantly freeze your card if you lose it, to spending pots and a nice visualisation of your spending data. |
Top banking apps for managing your money day-to-day
Revolut Standard Account
7.6 GreatRevolut calls itself an “all-in-one finance app” and it lets you do most of the things you might want to do with your money, all in one place. That means you can save and earn interest as well as invest in stocks, commodities and even crypto. If you’re travelling, you can spend and send money abroad with ease, with low fees.
In the app you can set and customise spending categories, set spending budgets, freeze and unfreeze your card, send round-ups to a savings account, pay direct debits and have your salary paid in, among other things. It also has 24-hour in-app support.
Monzo Free Account
9.3 ExcellentMonzo has a reputation for being one of the coolest banking apps available. It’s slick and colourful, lets you access all the features of your bank account and its spending reports make budgeting almost fun. It’s easy to use and relatively simple, but full of features and account options.
It is constantly growing what it offers in the app but is already among the best banking apps available in the UK, with current accounts, joint accounts, teen accounts, business accounts, savings pots, cashback, loans, mortgages, pensions, ISAs and investment accounts all available. This is on top of an array of in-app features to make it easier to manage your money
Representative example: If you use an arranged overdraft of £1,200, you'll be charged interest at 39% EAR variable.
Starling Bank Account
Minimum opening balance | £0 |
---|---|
Account fees | £0 |
Interest (AER) | 0% AER |
Absolutely packed with features, Starling’s banking app is easy to use and lets you handle all aspects of your current account, including categorising your spending into more than 50 categories, setting savings goals and budgets and paying in cheques digitally. It offers current accounts, savings accounts, joint accounts, children’s accounts and business accounts, as well as loans and overdrafts.
In terms of app features, you can also have your salary paid in, create separate savings accounts, round up spending into a savings account and send money abroad. There’s 24-hour in-app customer service and you can freeze and unfreeze your card from the app.
Minimum opening balance | £0 |
---|---|
Account fees | £0 |
Interest (AER) | 0% AER |
Chase Current Account
8.6 GreatChase has a simple app, but it still has plenty of features. You can see a visual breakdown of spending, set up direct debits, top up via bank transfer, have your salary paid in and have separate savings accounts that pay interest on the balance. The app also has 24-hour customer service and lets you freeze your card if you misplace it (then unfreeze it if you find it again).
You’re also able to earn cashback on purchases with the card and earn a higher rate of interest on round-ups, which are among Chase’s biggest selling points.
Top saving accounts apps
Chip – Chip Easy Access Saver (powered by ClearBank)
Rate | 4.85% AER variable (includes a 0.99% bonus ) |
---|---|
Withdrawals | Instant access |
Account type | Variable |
Chip uses Open Banking and AI to calculate how much you can afford to save, then moves small amounts of money from your current account into a Chip account at regular intervals, which you control. You’re able to set savings goals and create savings plans that suit you and your lifestyle. It has in-app chat support on weekdays.
It offers a range of account options, including an easy access account, cash ISA, stocks and shares ISA, instant access account and prize savings account. On top of this, Chip offers a suite of investment options so you can make your money go further and build your wealth how you see fit.
Rate | 4.85% AER variable (includes a 0.99% bonus ) |
---|---|
Withdrawals | Instant access |
Account type | Variable |
Plum – Plum Cash ISA
Rate | 5.01% AER variable (on balance over £100) (includes a 1.2% bonus ) |
---|---|
Withdrawals | Instant access |
Account type | Cash ISA |
Plum’s app is designed to make managing your money easy. It uses AI and Open Banking to predict your saving and spending habits, then helps find you ways to optimise your finances. It comes with budgeting and auto-save features, as well as in-app chat support. You’ll be given recommendations for saving money and offered deals to cut your household bills, which can be initiated in the app.
Its account options include cash ISAs, stocks and shares ISAs, easy access savings accounts, notice savings accounts, pensions and general investment accounts. Some of these are available on the free plan, but to get full access you’ll have to pick a paid option.
Rate | 5.01% AER variable (on balance over £100) (includes a 1.2% bonus ) |
---|---|
Withdrawals | Instant access |
Account type | Cash ISA |
Top banking apps for your children
GoHenry Account - with £20 pocket money and 2 months free
9.1 ExcellentGoHenry is a debit card and app for kids aged 6–18. The app has a version for kids and adults. Parents can set up regular pocket money payments, spending controls and notifications for card spending, as well as setting chores or tasks for their child to complete to earn money.
Kids benefit from learning resources and being able to set savings goals. They’re also incentivised to earn money by completing chores or tasks their parents set them.
The app allows you to freeze and unfreeze your card if it gets lost and then found again. Children are also able to receive gifts from people other than their parents, which is a win for everyone.
NatWest Rooster Money Account
9.4 ExcellentRooster Money’s app is streamlined and easy to use. It’s available for kids aged 3–17, though the accompanying card is only available from 6 years old. It has a different app view for kids and parents.
The app allows parents to set up regular pocket money payments and set spending controls. They can also view card spend notifications and set tasks for their child to earn money. It’s also possible to set savings goals and freeze/unfreeze the card if needed.
Kids get to explore a range of learning resources that are designed to give them a fun introduction to money.
Top banking apps for your business
Tide Free Account
9.4 ExcellentTide’s app is designed for businesses to manage their finances. Its range of features includes in-app cheque scanning, being able to freeze/unfreeze cards, accountancy software integrations, sending money abroad, in-app applications and customer service. You’re also able to make and receive payments, create invoices and manage expenses through the app.
There are a number of different account options, depending on the size of your business, so you can find one that suits your needs. And it’s easy to earn interest on your cash by setting up a savings account in the app, so you can earn money while on your cash.
UK high street banks and banking apps by customer satisfaction score
In December 2023, Finder ran a customer satisfaction survey about current accounts and banking apps. Here you can see a breakdown of scores by challenger/app-only banks vs the traditional high-street banks. Despite online-only banks not offering traditional features like in-branch access, they still score highly in terms of customer satisfaction.
Best UK banks and banking providers by customer satisfaction
Bank | Overall satisfaction | Customers who'd recommend |
---|---|---|
Chase | ★★★★★ | 100% |
first direct | ★★★★★ | 100% |
Starling Bank | ★★★★★ | 100% |
Monzo | ★★★★★ | 98% |
Bank of Scotland | ★★★★★ | 98% |
Nationwide | ★★★★★ | 96% |
Revolut | ★★★★★ | 95% |
NatWest | ★★★★★ | 91% |
Royal Bank of Scotland | ★★★★★ | 91% |
Santander | ★★★★★ | 91% |
Lloyds Bank | ★★★★★ | 93% |
Barclays | ★★★★★ | 90% |
Virgin Money | ★★★★★ | 88% |
Halifax | ★★★★★ | 86% |
The Co-operative Bank | ★★★★★ | 84% |
HSBC | ★★★★★ | 84% |
TSB | ★★★★★ | 77% |
Banking scores
How to choose the best mobile banking app
While it’s great to have a bank account with an intelligent mobile app, most consumers would agree that this shouldn’t be their only priority. You may prefer to choose your bank based on the interest rates, rewards and customer service offered instead.
So here are some factors you may want to consider when choosing the best bank (and app) for your needs:
- Branch access. Some of the top apps are produced by digital-only banking providers. If you want access to a local bank branch, then opening an app-only account may not be for you.
- Budgeting help. Some banking apps double up as powerful budgeting software, allowing you to clearly see where your money is going, and where you could reduce your spending in order to save more. We have listed our favourite budgeting apps here.
- Customer service. Some banking apps connect you directly to a staff member via live chat, which is arguably the most efficient way to receive assistance. But other apps only offer access to a chatbot or “virtual assistant” outside of business hours, while some banks can only be contacted 24/7 via a phone line.
- Specific features. For the most part, this is subjective. But if you’re after a specific feature from your account or banking app, then some apps are known as being good for travelling, etc.
Bottom line
An easy to use mobile app with a range of useful features can make your banking experience much easier.
The breed of newer challenger banks that operate primarily via smartphone apps and online banking have been able to build their customer base by offering a strong user experience. Tops apps from the likes of Starling and Monzo enable account holders to manage their finances effortlessly, budget at the touch of a button and keep their accounts secure.
The larger established banks are starting to up their game too, with high street names like Lloyds and Barclays offering great apps for their customers to manage their accounts easily. Elsewhere, NatWest customers are able to withdraw cash from the bank’s ATM network via a unique code generated by its smartphone app. A concept known as cardless cash.
Think about which features are most important for your day-to-day banking app needs before making your choice.
Frequently asked questions
More guides on Finder
-
Best money saving apps in the UK 2025: Build a savings pot
There are times when we could all do with a hand to save money, and we’ve assembled some of the best apps to help you do it.
-
Monzo statistics: Revenue, number of customers and market share
Valued at around £3.7 billion, and having 7.5 million customers, Monzo is a British startup success story.
-
Revolut statistics: Revenue, number of customers and market share
With 30 million customers worldwide and 38.2 million app downloads, Revolut is one of the most successful online banks.
-
Opening a bank account in the UK without proof of address
Just got a job in the UK and need a bank account to have your salary paid into, but have no proof of address? Here’s what you can do.
-
Soldo review
Soldo promises to revolutionise the way your business manages its expenses. Our review analyses its features and fees to see if it’s worth it.
-
How to send money with a smartphone by text
Want to send money to a phone without visiting a bank branch? Learn more about mobile payments, mobile banking and how to transfer money through a mobile phone.
-
A list of challenger, fintech & digital banks in the UK 2025
Compare the UK’s new challenger banks by using our table of features and fees, or by browsing our A-Z list or customer satisfaction rankings.
-
Curve review: An app to combine all your cards
Fed up with the hassle of using multiple bank cards? Curve helps you connect all your accounts to a single app and payment card.
-
Chip savings app review
The Chip savings app will connect to your current account and stash money away automatically. We cover all you need to know about the innovative app in this review.