Monzo explained: plans, pots and fees abroad

Monzo is a UK bank whose current account is free and run from an app; paid plans cost £3, £9 or from £19 a month. Card payments abroad carry no Monzo fee, while cash withdrawals outside the European Economic Area (EEA) are fee-free only up to an allowance that depends on your plan.

Who can open a Monzo account

Monzo's current accounts are for UK residents:

• Personal account: aged 16 or over.
• 16–17s account: for 16 and 17 year olds.
• Under 16s account: for children aged 6 to 15, opened through a parent or guardian.
• Joint account: aged 18 or over, and both people need a Monzo account.

Monzo says applying takes about 10 minutes. Paid plans are for UK residents aged 18 or over, and Max has an upper age limit of 69.

Monzo's plans at a glance

All four plans sit on top of the same current account: you need a Monzo current account to add a paid plan.

Extra (£3 a month)

Extra is a budgeting upgrade: connect accounts and credit cards from other providers, see two credit scores, create custom categories and virtual cards, and set roundups to 2, 5 or 10 times your spare change. Paid plans also include Billsback, a monthly chance to have an eligible bill paid back, up to £150.

Perks (£9 a month)

Perks adds everything in Extra plus partner benefits (Monzo names a Railcard, Greggs, Vue and YouTube Premium Lite), three free cash deposits a month, discounted investment fees and a 0.50% AER boost on Instant Access and Select Access savings. It also raises your fee-free cash allowance outside the EEA to £600.

Max (from £19 a month)

Max adds insurance to everything in Perks:

• Worldwide travel insurance from Zurich, with a £50 excess per successful claim.
• Worldwide phone insurance from Assurant for loss, theft and accidental damage, covering phones up to £2,000, with a £75 excess and up to 2 claims in 12 months.
• UK and Europe breakdown cover from RAC, covering you as a driver or passenger rather than a specific car.

A £4 family add-on extends the cover to your family. Exclusions apply, so read the policy documents.

How pots work

Pots let you split your balance into separate pots. They share your account number and sort code, so they are not separate accounts. Monzo describes two kinds:

• Regular pots for budgeting, such as bills or groceries. You can hide or lock a pot to make it harder to spend from.
• Savings pots that earn interest. The rate depends on the type of savings pot and on your plan.

Other details worth knowing:

• You can open up to 20 pots on each personal and joint account.
• A bills pot can pay Direct Debits and standing orders; Monzo moves the exact amount into your main balance just before each payment.
• Salary Sorter moves part of your pay into pots for you.
• Paying straight from a pot with a virtual card needs Extra, Perks or Max.
• Instant Access savings pots have no minimum deposit, and withdrawals usually reach your account instantly. You cannot pay from them or schedule withdrawals.

Fees when you use Monzo abroad

Card payments: Monzo charges no fee for paying in another currency. It passes on Mastercard's exchange rate with no added charges.

Cash withdrawals in the UK and EEA: fee-free with no limit on paid plans and for customers who use Monzo as their main bank. If Monzo is not your main bank on the free plan, its help centre gives a fee-free allowance of £400 every 30 days, then 3%.

Cash withdrawals outside the EEA: fee-free up to £200 every 30 days on the free plan and Extra, and up to £600 on Perks and Max. Above that, Monzo charges 3% of the amount.

Three points are easy to miss:

1. The 30-day period starts with your first withdrawal, not at the start of the month.
2. Allowances are shared across your accounts, so a joint account's allowance is split with your personal account.
3. ATM operators may charge their own fee, which Monzo does not receive. Choose a machine without one where you can.

On a free account, Monzo counts as your main bank if, for example, at least £500 is paid in over a rolling 35 days and the account has an active Direct Debit in that period. Check your allowance in the app under Fees and allowances.

Other fees to know

From Monzo's fee information document for paid plans:

• Receiving euros or other foreign currencies: a 1% conversion fee, capped at £1,000.
• Sending money abroad: until 31 October 2026, a fixed fee of up to £9 plus 0% to 1.80%; from 1 November 2026, Monzo says the fixed fee is usually under £0.80 and can reach £11 in some cases.

If you often receive or send foreign currencies, compare these costs with a multi-currency account; see Revolut vs Wise.

Is your money protected?

Monzo Bank Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. Eligible deposits are protected by the FSCS up to £120,000 per person. Your current account, regular pots and Instant Access savings pots all count towards that single limit; for joint accounts, half the balance counts towards each holder. Read more in is my money safe in a neo bank?. For the FCA's 2025 fine and how Monzo handles scams, see is Monzo safe?.

Is a paid plan worth it?

The free plan already covers card spending abroad without a Monzo fee. A paid plan mainly makes a difference if you often take out cash outside the EEA, deposit cash, want Extra's budgeting tools or would otherwise buy the insurance in Max. Add up what you would actually use before upgrading.

See Monzo's full profile, compare it with Starling Bank and other UK options in UK neo banks compared, or use the comparison table for the UK.

Travelling soon? Our guide on how to avoid foreign card fees when travelling in Europe explains dynamic currency conversion, ATM operator fees and weekend exchange rates.

Sources

• Monzo: Plans
• Monzo: Fee Information (Extra, Perks & Max)
• Monzo: Current accounts
• Monzo: Max
• Monzo Help: Which benefits are included with Extra and how much is it?
• Monzo: Pots
• Monzo Help: What are Instant Access Savings Pots?
• Monzo Help: Understanding fees for using your Monzo card abroad

Prices and features checked on 22 October 2026.

This guide is general information, not financial advice. Fees, features and availability change, so check the provider's own website before you apply. Read how we compare providers and our affiliate disclosure.