Monese Simple vs Revolut Standard
Bank accounts without monthly fees from UK's top neobanks
Review by
Head of Fintech Research
Published: 06.12.22
Updated: 06.04.23
Published: 06.12.22
Updated: 06.04.23
Choosing between Monese Simple and Revolut Standard? Today, we will be comparing these bank accounts, providing you with a complete overview of features available, pricing and fees. Firstly, we will provide a quick summary and key information about the two banks, after which you can explore our comparison table listing all the key information on fees and products available for both of the options. At the end of the article, we provide bullet points of key pros and cons of both options and our verdict.
Comparing Revolut "Standard" with Monese's "Simple" bank account is not easy. These plans are fairly similar: they come at monthly cost and both financial institutions behind these accounts come from the UK. Both banks created an excellent entry-level experience that will - by design - leave you wanting more. However, this should not discourage you - there is plenty both of these offer. As a bonus, Revolut & Monese bank cards are both powerful, accepted worldwide, grant you access to multi-currency and... they look great as well! Although, we must mention that Revolut also offers great metal bank cards - obviously, not on a free plan.
So what makes these two different and what should your choice drivers be here? Let's dive into the differences.
Monese Simple
Monese
Monese offers excellent currency exchange rates, an easy way to transfer money abroad in over 30 countries along with a great mobile app. Aimed at "digital nomads" from all over the EU, neobank offers customer support in 14 languages.
2'000'000+
London, UK
General Information
- Deposit ProtectionUp to £85'000
- Customer Support15 languages
- CurrenciesGBP, EUR, RON
Bank Accounts
- Individuals Free plan available
- Businesses Starting at €9.95
- Joint
- Convenience & User-friendliness
- Customer Support
- Features Available
- Value for Money
- Overall Rating
Revolut Standard
Revolut
Europe's biggest neobank, Revolut is a pioneer of mobile-first banking. Offering a wide range of financial services and banking products, including (but not limited to!) trading stocks and crypto, Revolut is a safe option regardless of customer's country of residence.
28'000'000+
London, UK
General Information
- Deposit ProtectionUp to £85'000
- Customer SupportChat, email
- Currencies30+ currencies
Bank Accounts
- Individuals Free plan available
- Businesses Free plan available
- Joint
- Convenience & User-friendliness
- Customer Support
- Features Available
- Value for Money
- Overall Rating
- Revolut Premium vs Tomorrow Change
- Revolut Grow vs bunq Easy Bank Pro Business
- bunq Easy Bank Pro XL vs Revolut Metal
- Revolut Premium vs bunq Easy Bank Pro
Bank Accounts for Individuals
Read our detailed reviews of personal bank accounts available at some of the world's most popular online banks, compare the plans they offer, explore their pricing and discover all the hidden fees.
Comparison table
It is important to keep your specific use cases in mind and identify the key characteristics you care about. In order to assist you in this assessment, we provide a side-by-side breakdown of features and fees between Monese Simple and Revolut Standard in a comparison table below.
Simple |  Standard | |
|---|---|---|
| Price, per month | £ 0.00 | € 0.00 |
| Commitment | Cancel monthly | |
| Sign-up bonus | - | -20% paying annually |
| Official website | monese.com | revolut.com |
| Accounts | ||
| IBANs | BE, GB | LT, UK |
| Sub-accounts included | 1 | 1 |
| Shared accounts | ❌ | ❌ |
| Child accounts | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Mobile Payments | ||
| Apple Pay | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Google Pay | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Samsung Pay | ❌ | ❌ |
| Others | - | Garmin Pay, Fitbit Pay |
| Cards | ||
| Cards available | Mastercard | Mastercard |
| Cards included | 1 | 1 |
| Maestro/VPay | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Debit cards | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Credit cards | ❌ | ❌ |
| Virtual cards | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Extra card fee | - | - |
| Replacement fee | £ 4.95 | € 10.00 |
| Free replacements | - | 1 per year |
| Metal card | ❌ | ❌ |
| Wooden cards | ❌ | ❌ |
| Payment Methods | ||
| iDeal | ❌ | ✔️ |
| SOFORT | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Bancontact | ❌ | ❌ |
| Various Fees | ||
| SWIFT (receive) | N/A | € 2.00 |
| Foreign exchange fee | 2.00% | 1.00% |
| Currency fee-free limit | - | up to € 1000 per month |
| ATM Withdrawals | ||
| Daily limit | £ 500 | € 3000 |
| Free withdrawals, per month | - | 5 times |
| After that, per withdrawal | £ 1.50 + 2.0% | 2.0% |
| Withdrawal fee abroad | 2.0% | 2.0% |
| Interest Rate | ||
| Current accounts | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Savings accounts | ❌ | 0.0% |
| Transaction & Deposit Limits | ||
| Deposit limit | £ 50,000 | - |
| Deposit Protection | Up to £85'000 | Up to £85'000 |
| Monthly spend limit | - | - |
| Other financial products | ||
| Overdraft | ❌ | ❌ |
| Investments in-app | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Crypto trading | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Cheques | ❌ | ❌ |
| Cashback | ❌ | 10% cashback on hotels |
| Insurance | Accident, medical | ❌ |
| Lounge access | ❌ | ❌ |
| Transaction categorization | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Purchase protection | UK only | ❌ |
| Round-up savings | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Budgeting features | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Deals & Discounts | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Other benefits | Credit builder | Powerful analytics |
| Learn more | monese.com | revolut.com |
Revolut & Monese: Pros & Cons
The detailed breakdown of dozens of terms and complex fee structures can get overwhelming - to avoid that, here are some of the key benefits and disadvantages of both Monese and Revolut's propositions.
Monese Simple
A reasonable pack of mobile banking features at no monthly cost, including multi-currency accounts in GBP, EUR and RON.- Gives you access to interest-bearing savings account enabled by its integration with Raisin.
- A wide selection of budgeting features that help you manage your money, including spending insights, and Pots allowing you to categorise your funds.
Fees on cash deposits, withdrawal and foreign currency payments are relatively high.- Not properly localised for EEA countries just yet. For example, you cannot make iDeal payments which is essential for residents in Netherlands.
- Monese is not technically a bank. While security measures are in place, it comes with some limitations in terms of financial products they can offer in the future.
Revolut Standard
- Strong suit of mobile banking features including budgeting insights, saving & group vaults and round-up for saving or charity.
- Disposable virtual cards make it easy to be secure while online shopping.
- Gives access to 10% cashback on hotel bookings made through the in-app Stay feature.
- Card delivery is not free and only 1 free physical card is included in the plan.
- Fees for crypto or commodities trading are higher than the more advanced plans.
- Does not include some travel features such as travel insurance, airport launch access.
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Our Verdict: Monese Simple or Revolut Standard?
Ultimately, when deliberating between Revolut and Monese, you shouldn't be looking for the "right" answer. What is definite, though, is that you can open both accounts in less than 10 minutes from the comfort of your home. Even better is the fact that there is absolutely zero investment required for you to open these two bank accounts, or even try the higher-tier ones. How? Well, you get a free "no-strings-attached" trial of a higher-tier plan of both banks if you register using any of the links on this page! After all, there is no better way of knowing for sure than trying them out yourself.
Choose Monese Simple if...
You value simplicity and quality of features over quantity
You live in the UK and almost exclusively pay in GBP, EUR or RON
You want to build up a credit history without taking out loans
Monese website
Pick Revolut Standard if...
You travel outside of the EU frequently and/or pay in currency online
You're just exploring and want to go all-in with a premium account afterwards
You're looking to get a joint bank account with your partner
You have a lot of friends using Revolut already
If you found any of these plans to be a good fit for your specific banking needs, you will find links to their official websites or apps below. By signing up via links on our website, you support us in our mission of making finance easy and accessible to everyone.
⚠️ We advise you to keep in mind that the information on pricing, specific billing details, contract terms and availability of products in various markets is subject to change and can appear different from the one provided in this article. Our goal is to keep the information in this comparison as fresh and factually correct as possible, but we do not claim that it is 100% accurate at all times. As such, we advise you to treat the information provided on this website as indicative and urge you to always check the banks' official websites for actual conditions prior to signing up. ⚠️
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