App-only banks are challenging high-street banks with their popularity and in-app features. Monzo and Starling Bank are the two leading digital banks.
Starling doesn't have different subscription levels. So, I will be comparing Starling with Monzo's basic subscription.
Starling provides up to five active virtual cards - each connected to a separate space. Monzo provides the same number of virtual for customers who have upgraded to Monzo Extra.
Starling only has a free account. Monzo has three subscription levels:
Monzo doesn't have foreign currency accounts. Setting up a Euro account in Starling's personal account and multiple currency accounts in their business account have been temporarily paused.
You need to apply for an overdraft with Starling. Depending on your credit score, and other factors. Monzo gives you an overdraft when you set up your account. A slider allows you to set the amount. If the minimum isn't zero, go to Manage Overdraft in the app if you want to reduce it to zero.
Earn cashback by activating offers in the Monzo app.
Earn cashback by connecting to the Verve app from the Starling app.
Only available with a Max subscription.
Access to home and life insurance providers via Starling's in-app Marketplace.
Starling
Both Monzo and Starling provide referral links:
* Free if Monzo is your main account or if you have a subscription account.
** Wise Fee calculator
*** Starling More information
Monzo
Provided by Monzo:
Provided by partners:
Starling
MotherTree ranks the major banks based on how many tonnes of CO2 £10,000 in a current account contributes to carbon emissions.
Investing £10,000 in the worst five is equivalent to 11 return flights from London to Rome, Driving 10 732 miles or the carbon absorbed by 108 trees.
| Bank |
|---|
| 1. Barclays |
| 2. HSBC |
| 3. First Direct |
| 4. Chase |
| 5. Santander |
The greenest banks are:
| Bank |
|---|
| 14. Nationwide |
| 15. Co-op |
| 16. Tridos |
| Rank | Tonnes of Carbon dioxide per £10k in an account | |
|---|---|---|
| Monzo | 8 | 1.088 |
| Starling | 12 | 0.610 |
Starling is one of the founding members of TechZero. TechZero is an industry-wide initiative where companies commit to becoming net zero by 2050.
Starling hopes to be carbon neutral significantly ahead of this target and will soon publish a report on their carbon emissions, together with a carbon reduction and offsetting plan.
These results are from an independent survey carried out between January 2023 and December 2023 by IPSOS as part of a regulatory requirement.
1 Monzo (80%)
2 Starling Bank (79%)
1= Monzo (84%)
1= Starling Bank (84%)
1 Starling Bank (77%)
2 Monzo (74%)
1= Monzo (81%)
1= Starling Bank (81%)
1 Starling Bank (84%)
2 Monzo (83%)
Too few customers provided an eligible score.
Northern Ireland is shown separately from Great Britain because they are both separate members of the United Kingdom. See the Venn diagram at the end of this article for a more detailed explanation.*
| Rating | Reviews | |
|---|---|---|
| Monzo | 4.1 / 5 ⭐️ | 34 430 |
| Starling Bank | 4.3 / 5 ⭐️ | 40 829 |
I hope you have found this article useful. I couldn't believe how long it took me to discover this information. I am already finding helpful to have all the information in one place.
*Great Britain includes England, Wales and Scotland, but not Northern Ireland. Hence, the term “The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”.
Originally published by LearningPages.org
