Doubt I'll use the card much, but I wonder if the full account this will transmogrify into will at least be a useful donor account for getting bank switching bonuses?

Looking for a way of giving the kids a pocket money on a card , any opinions of whether this is a good option and whether there would be an issue with them using the card in shops as it would be in my name. Cheers for any advice

is it just a prepaid card still, or now comes with a current account? Do they credit check?

Thank you, just skipped 20000 people in the queue!

So let me chuck in my 2 cents for what it is worth.

I am currently in Florida on holiday. Same holiday as last year. I have a monzo, revolut and Halifax clarity card. One of my party has a Barclaycard platinum.

Revolut is dead in my opinion. Whilst it is free to set up you need to look at the limits for top ups and withdrawals as after 200 quid you incur fees. I really like the fact you can exchange between currencies in advance allowing you to jump on a good rate rather than relying on the rate at the point of sale. I used it last year and these limits did not apply. This year I have not bothered with revolut.

Monzo is a great card that just has pounds so the conversion is done when you make a purchase. There have been no fees and about 700 quid has gone through as a mix of purchases and cash. The app gives you immediate messages when you use it telling you the sterling values. Also gives you a total of your daily spends. Topped up in a similar way to revolut via your debit card. Pin code and card managed from app. There isn't much to separate revolut from monzo past the fees. Exchange rates are decent as well. Pretty much same as halifax credit card rates. Well as far as I can see. Not had any issues with it being accepted

Halifax clarity card is my weapon of choice. Mainly as I have had about 80 dollars in cash and managed so far to do everything on my card. Load up all my spending and pay it off when i get back. The Halifax app gives you a running total along with pending transactions. I have used it in Spain for cash and just paid the equivalent in pounds straight off the card. But even with interest I think the highest interest rate is 21% so look at it as less than 2% per month so if you took 500 quid at the start of the month and didn't pay It off for a month then you would get less than 10 quid interest. In reality it would be far less than that. Been getting the best exchange rates on this.

Barclaycard isn't really too different on the whole from Halifax but the transfer rate seems to be a smidge under.

Any fees from atms are a result of the atm owner and not the service provider.

In summary monzo if you have credit issues maybe or work in cash. As you can freeze the card on the app if you lose it. But I really like the clarity card and have usednit for the past 5/6 years of holidays through Europe usa and even in Mauritius without any problems.

I've ordered. Off on holiday in a couple of weeks and the Euro rate is far better than my current ICE currency card.

Not sure how much I'll use it in the UK. Time will tell.

I am amazed Starling bank have not been mentioned much at all - instead Revolut/Monzo.

Starling bank is far superior to both. If you don't have a County Court Judgement against you, you should be going with Starling bank IF you don't want a credit card. If you want the extra protection of a credit card, then go for the Halifax card.

Very strange it seems to have been neglected in this thread. It is the card to go for.

Thanks op, ordered one for me & one for the Mrs. Planning on using for holiday spending so I like the idea of freezing the card via the app thus making it useless if lost or stolen, top idea, can't do that with my regular bank cards.

This proved an awesome card for use in botswana last few weeks. Paid for pretty much everything and as money reduced I just recharged via wifi. Super cool for holidays.

The only thing I'd say in negative about Monzo is they should have some sort of app side security and not just rely on the user's device pass-word/code/ID.

Otherwise, excellent so far.

I use mine to put money from my UK acct into my French acct.
i load up here then when in France I transfer the money over a few days (due to daily limits) into my French bank account.
this costs me absolutely nothing at all. Bank transfers would cost me tens of pounds.
you can't do that with a clarity card, you'd be charged interest and credit reference agencies do not like credit cards being used for cash advances.

I have also used it in Greece, Spain and the US every time without problems.

for me, metro bank is a better option and you don't have to pay a £100 "fee" with them either.

and yes, I know you get it back ..

even a basic account with metro will give you a contactless debit card.

Got to the "send us a pic of your passport and a 5 second video of yourself" and got spooked... u wot m9? I don't like this.

Don't think this is a deal. I used this card for over half year now. Sometime they have issue, but this card always better than carry cash or used Uk domestic bank card in europe

Thanks for posting this OP, I didn't know about this card as I've alway used my Halifax Clarity card when traveling abroad. I've used ordered myself one for going on holiday in a few weeks.

Can anyone confirm if it will work on most ATM machines abroad? Should I bring my debit card in case?

I gather this card is in your name? Anyone know of a card you could use as a universal gift voucher, i.e. a prepaid card that you could give to someone as a present but which isn't tied to a person, which could then be used on any website?

Is this the same as Revolut? Anyone know which is better?

So it really doesn't charge you anything when using it abroad? I got a post office travel card last time I went travelling but it charged me every time I used it so I just ended up using my bank card as the fees were the same.

How do they make money?

How is it compared to Revolut?

I've had one for a while and got one for my daughter when she went off InterRailing recently. Just turned 18 and while being cheap for exchange rates it also provides instant tracking and budgeting. Sneaky way to get her into money management methinks...

I love the idea of it and have signed up, but just to confirm though, this effectively acts as a debit card (be it a prepaid one).
It is great that you can get the spot rate of mastercard and have transaction instantly show up to you, but would it be fair to say that the traditional credit cards like Halifax still has advantages when it comes to disputes. With Halifax it's the banks money, whereas with Monzo it's my money?

I think this just edges revolut now since their £200/month limit on atm withdrawals (2% fee above). Gonna give this a bash :smile:

Another vote for Monzo...had one for a while, no problems at all.
Use it as back up for holidays, add a couple of hundred quid so don't have to worry about taking extra foreign currency for "just in case". Then spend whats left over back in blighty as normal.

Also you can use it for online purchases...if anyone scams your card the most they can get is the balance on the card but if you freeze it after use they can't get anything.

Is this a physical card, or just an app? or both?

If it's a physical card, how long does it take to receive the card once I'm signed up?
Is it [the physical card] associated with MasterCard or Visa or something else?

Is it more like a credit card (I use it and then pay the balance I owe afterwards) or a debit card (I already have the funds in the account and spend them directly when using the card)?

Thanks; I'd like to know more as people seem quite excited about it.

I use Revolut, not really sure whether to try Monzo or not? Pretty happy with Revolut so far but I'm yet to try actually physically using it abroad. I will be at some point this year.

Hot! This is not supposed to be a current account, some people just don't get idea...

Cheers. Heat. I just signed signed up because I like the idea of instant balance updates. The sign up process informs you that there is no fscs protection, and you should always carry a backup incase there card doesn't work (as its in beta), so there are a couple of negatives

Question for does how already using Monzo card: When making payments and withdrawing money abroad, from time to time the terminal had asked me which currency to use : pound or the country currency. Which is better (cheaper)?

Great deal :sunglasses:   Thanks OP 

good job on your first post!!

One thing to note, Monzo have said that they reserve the right to charge for international usage beyond the normal, the company is incurring massive costs from a few people taking advantage. Hopefully they won't introduce these to regular users who use it for day to day banking, below is an extract from the annual report.
"Around 40% of the per-customer loss is due to international ATM usage outside the UK or EU, with a small minority of our user-base driving the majority of this cost. As a result, we will explore ways to reduce this cost in collaboration with our community – it will not be a profit-making exercise. UK and EU ATM usage costs us much less, and we aim to keep this free. We still believe foreign exchange at point-of-sale (in shops, restaurants and online) can be provided to customers for free."

This is miles better than metro. Monzo is international free transactions and ATMs and the send money feature is awesome.

Metro is a hit on your credit report and only Europe! No where near the same level imo.

Monzo is great if you want to keep your spending in check. I put the whole family on it and everyone is far more controlled

Thanks OP.

But don't forget that there have been several existing options for fee free transactions abroad including the Halifax Clarity Card (halifax.co.uk/cre…rd/) and the Aqua Reward card (aquacard.co.uk/cus…ad/). These are both credit cards. The Halifax Clarity card is better for withdrawing cash as there is no cash withdrawal fee. You do pay interest as soon as the cash is withdrawn but simply pay it back immediately (or preload the card just before) using internet banking. The Aqua Reward card is better for retail transactions as you get 0.5% cash back (so a better deal than using Monzo or other similar pre-paid cards) but do not use it for ATM withdrawals as there is a fee. The Aqua Reward card has a low credit limit but, again, you can manage this by regularly paying it off (or preloading just before the transaction) using internet banking.

The exchange rate is set by Mastercard: mastercard.com/glo…on/

Edit: I should add that credit cards are much safer for spending abroad (and in the UK) than pre-paid cards as you benefit from section 75 and fraud protection. I would only use a prepaid card if you cannot get one of the credit card options due to a poor credit history.

Great post, Welcome to the HUKD Don't take notice of the negative thread spoiling posts. I'm with Monzo & Love It. Can track in real time what I've spent & Is great for using abroad. They're also rolling out a Current Account as we speak for those that get Monzo & Will be Upgraded for free.

No Fee's at all here so don't be spoofed people.

This is a great card which proved to be very good for
Our recent Holliday. Had no problems with it and when I got back I just used the rest of the money left on the card like a normal Visa card. Would definitely recommend for anyone going away on holiday as good exchange rate and you don't get charged to then withdraw any cash left on the card when you get home. I got mine via the Martin Lewis website and it arrived within two days.

I used it on holiday recently and worked a treat.

Just need to initially load it with £100, which was not an issue.

Wouldn't go on holiday without it again!

Congrats on your first post. Don't be put off by the neg-heads

Currently in Indonesia, monzo completely changes the dynamics of money. It's also very easy to send your mates request for money when you pay for items too. Very easy to use