Monzo Card
UK digital bank with no foreign transaction fees — ATM use limited to £200/month on the free plan.
Visit MonzoATM detail: Free plan: £200/month free ATM withdrawals outside UK, then 3% above that. Monzo Plus/Premium: higher limits.
Our verdict
Monzo is a solid travel card for UK travellers who mostly pay by card and rarely withdraw more than £200/month from ATMs. The zero forex fee on spending is excellent. However, Starling beats it on ATM withdrawals — if you need unlimited free cash abroad, choose Starling instead.
Full review
Monzo is a UK-licensed bank (FCA-regulated, FSCS-protected) offering a debit Mastercard that applies zero foreign transaction fees on all overseas spending. The exchange rate used is the Mastercard network rate — slightly above mid-market by approximately 0.3-0.5%, but with no additional charge layered on top. This makes Monzo competitive with Wise and Starling for overseas spending costs.
ATM withdrawals abroad are free up to £200 per rolling 30-day period for personal accounts (both free and paid tiers). Above £200, a 3% fee applies. This is more restrictive than Starling's unlimited free ATM policy, but the £200 limit covers light to moderate cash use for most trips. Monzo Plus and Monzo Premium accounts offer higher free ATM allowances (£400/month and £600/month respectively) as part of their subscription benefits.
Monzo has built a particularly strong reputation for its spending analytics: transaction categorisation is automatic and detailed, with separate trackers for groceries, eating out, transport, entertainment, and travel. The "pots" system allows you to allocate budget amounts to categories or specific trips, making it easier to track spending against a target. These analytics features are genuinely more developed than Wise or Revolut's equivalents.
Monzo's Flex product (buy now, pay later within the Monzo app) and overdraft facility give it credit-card-adjacent functionality for existing customers, though these are only available for GBP domestic use. For international travel, the Monzo debit card is the relevant product.
International transfers from Monzo are powered by Wise infrastructure (similar to Revolut's model), meaning money transfer abroad is possible but the exchange rate and fee are set by Monzo/Wise at terms that are competitive but not as transparent as using Wise directly.
For UK users who already use Monzo as their primary bank account, the Monzo debit card provides perfectly adequate zero-fee overseas spending without needing a separate travel card. For users whose primary motivation is the absolute lowest ATM cost in cash-heavy destinations, Starling's unlimited free ATM policy is more compelling.
Pros
- Zero foreign transaction fee on spending
- Mastercard exchange rate — very competitive
- Full UK bank account with FSCS protection
- Excellent app with real-time notifications and budgeting
- No fee up to £200/month ATM withdrawals abroad
Cons
- 3% ATM fee above £200/month on free plan
- UK residents only
- ATM limit is lower than Starling (which is unlimited)
- Premium features require paid plan