Can the new kid on the block Chase rival the poster child of digital banking Monzo? Our guide compares their free account features side by side to help you decide which one might be your best option.
Vital statistics
Finder score
8.2Great
9.8Excellent
Customer satisfaction survey
4.3
★★★★★
4.4
★★★★★
Free spending abroad
Arranged overdraft
No overdrafts
19%, 29% or 39% EAR
Representative example
N/A
If you use an arranged overdraft of £1,200, you'll be charged interest at 39% EAR variable. Account fee of £0
With the free Monzo current account, you get its well-known coral-coloured card, while Chase’s only (and free) current account comes with a blue numberless card.
Neither bank has branches, with the accounts being fully managed via a mobile app. Chase offers a linked saver account, where current holders can deposit savings on an easy-access basis and earn 4.5% interest AER for the first 12 months. Monzo has a range of savings options, with varying rates depending on whether you pay for an account.
Both Chase and Monzo have a UK banking licence, which means individual customer funds up to the value of £120,000 are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) should a bank go under.
You can apply for an overdraft with Monzo – the interest rate you’re offered will depend on your personal circumstances and credit score – but Chase doesn’t offer any overdrafts yet.
They both have different cashback offerings. Chase has 2% cashback on eligible debit and credit card spend (up to £20 per month). By contrast, Monzo provides different cashback rates for different retailers and it’s a bit of a lottery as to whether you’ll get something you’ll actually use.
Round 1: App features
Visual breakdown of spending
Spending categories
Customisable
17
Set spending budgets
Set up direct debits in the app
Top up via bank transfer
Have salary paid in
Separate savings accounts
Round-ups
Customer service via the app
Customer service via a telephone line
Cheque scanning
Freeze/unfreeze card in app
Send money abroad
Fee for sending money abroad
International payments unavailable
When sending through Monzo, a fixed fee of between 50p and £2.68, plus a variable amount between 0% and 1.30%. For currencies Monzo can't support, Wise sets the fee.
With both the app-managed Chase and Monzo accounts, you can set up direct debits, receive your salary and make bank transfers (although with Chase, noticeably not international payments). You can also freeze and unfreeze your debit card and reach the customer service teams through an in-app chat.
Both offer “round-ups”, where you can round up your card transactions to the nearest pound and put that money to one side. Chase keeps this round-up balance separate from your main current account balance and will pay 5% AER on it. After 12 months, your money will be transferred to your current account and you can start rounding up again. With Monzo, this spare change will go into a “savings pot” with no interest earned on it.
Unlike Monzo, Chase has no spending categories, specific budgeting tools or saving pots available.
Monzo also lets you scan in and deposit cheques of up to £500 through the app, while those of greater value can be sent in by post. You can also pay in cash at PayPoints or a Post Office branch for a fee of £1. Chase doesn’t accept cash or cheques into its current accounts.
Winner: Monzo. While Chase has launched its account with a decent range of app features, Monzo’s more established app shines through, particularly when it comes to spending insights and budgeting.
Spending on your Chase or Monzo card is free in the UK, and both cards currently have the standard contactless limit of £100.
You can also add your Chase card or Monzo card to Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Google Pay.
As mentioned, Chase customers can earn 2% cashback on eligible debit and credit card spending (up to £20 a month), provided you make at least 15 payments using your Chase debit or credit card or by direct debit and have a combined balance of £1,000 or more across your Chase savers.
Chase offers unlimited free ATM withdrawals in the UK, while Monzo lets you withdraw up to £400 for free every 30 days in either the UK or EEA (it’s a combined limit), then there’s a 3% charge. However, if you use Monzo as your main bank account, you can make unlimited fee-free withdrawals in the UK and EEA.
Winner: Chase. The bank edges it with its free UK ATM withdrawals, plus its cashback offer is simpler.
Round 3: Using the card abroad
Free foreign transactions
Unlimited
Unlimited
Free foreign ATM withdrawals
Up to £1,500 per month
Up to £400 in EEA and £200 elsewhere every 30 days
Chase and Monzo are the same when it comes to using their respective cards to make purchases abroad – neither charges a fee. Plus they both use the competitive Mastercard exchange rate for foreign transactions.
When travelling with your Monzo card, there’s a £200 limit on free cash withdrawals overseas every 30 days – after which there’s a 3% charge. And if you’re in Europe, then the combined UK and EEA monthly free limit of £400 applies, before the 3% fee kicks in – unless you use Monzo as your main bank account, in which case there’s no limit.
Chase doesn’t have fees for making ATM withdrawals anywhere overseas, but it does have a monthly withdrawal limit of £1,500 (and that’s a total cut-off point, rather than a fee applying to amounts over that). The daily withdrawal limit within that £1,500 monthly limit is an industry-generous £500 per day.
Winner: Chase. For its fee-free card purchases and ATM withdrawals overseas (although the £1,500 per month cut-off limit may prove troublesome for some account holders on longer trips abroad).
Both Chase and Monzo offer free current accounts (which are the subjects of this guide), but that’s where it ends for new entrant Chase (apart from the linked saver account mentioned above).
Monzo also has joint accounts, business accounts and teen accounts (for 16- and 17-year-olds) on its roster. It also launched a kids’ account in 2025.
You can apply for either a Chase or Monzo account through their respective mobile apps in a matter of minutes, with no hard credit checks.
The banks’ cards are free to receive, and they should arrive within 7 working days.
Winner: A tie. The sign-up process is similarly easy for both.
Round 6: Customer reviews
On reviews site Trustpilot, Chase has a score of 3.6 out of 5 from over 15,200 reviews. Monzo has a score of 4.6 out of 5 from more than 68,600 reviews. These were checked in June 2026.
Customers said Chase was easy to use and straightforward interface, but some reported issues with delayed payments and issues accessing their funds.
In our 2026 Finder Customer Satisfaction Awards, Chase was recommended by 97% of it customers, compared to 93% who would recommend Monzo.
Winner: Tie. There’s not much to separate the pair here.
Overall winner: Is Chase better than Monzo?
Chase has some tempting financial offers with its current account, namely the linked 4.5% AER saver account, 2% cashback on card spend and interest on round-up balances. Although, the interest on the Chase Saver is a boosted rate for 12 months and there are some hoops to jump through for the cashback. In comparison, Monzo has a better well-designed and engaging app which can help you manage your money effectively, and it keeps adding more and more features, designed to make your life easier.
We show offers we can track - that's not every product on the market...yet. Unless we've said otherwise, products are in no particular order. The terms "best", "top", "cheap" (and variations of these) aren't ratings, though we always explain what's great about a product when we highlight it. This is subject to our terms of use. When you make major financial decisions, consider getting independent financial advice. Always consider your own circumstances when you compare products so you get what's right for you. Most of the data in Finder's comparison tables is provided by Defaqto. In other cases, Finder has sourced data directly from providers.
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To make sure you get accurate and helpful information, this guide has been edited by
Kate Steere
as part of our
fact-checking process.
Michelle Stevens is a deputy editor at Finder, specialising in banking, credit, loans and mortgages. She has a journalism degree from the University of Sheffield and has been a journalist for 15 years, writing on topics including fintech, payment systems and retail. In her spare time, Michelle likes to travel, explore new foodie experiences and attempt to improve her own culinary skills.
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