Alternatives to Venmo in the UK

Revolut

Revolut lets you carry out all of your day-to-day banking in an app and monitor your spending with ease. There are 4 different paid-for plans, plus one free one.

No matter which plan you choose, you can quickly and conveniently send money to other Revolut users in-app with no transfer fees. All you need is their phone number, email, Revtag or QR code and their money will be transferred within 20 seconds.

If your friends don’t use Revolut, you can create a payment link in the app instead – you can use this for both sending and receiving money. Simply tap on ‘Payments’, tap ‘New’, then ‘Create a payment’ link and select whether you want to send or request money and how much.

If you’re sending money, the recipient has 7 days to accept your payment. If you’re requesting money, the sender has 10 days to do so before the link expires.

There are no limits for sending money and you can receive up to £250 per week. You can even send money to friends overseas in 36 currencies – just be aware that fees may apply.

Revolut often has sign-up bonuses for new customers which are worth reviewing before signing up.

Monzo

You can open an account for free with Monzo, or opt for a paid-for account. You can manage your account via the app, track spending and easily split bills and send payment reminders to friends.

If your friend also banks with Monzo, sending money to them is super easy. If they are nearby and you both have Bluetooth switched on, you can simply tap ‘Payments’ in the app, followed by ‘Pay someone’. You’ll then both need to tap ‘Pay someone nearby’, before selecting your friend’s name when you spot it.

If your friend isn’t nearby, you can still pay them through the ‘Pay with friends’ option on the app. You’ll need to search for your friend’s name before you can send the money.

It’s also possible to use the Nearby Friends feature or Monzo contacts in-app to split bills. If the recipient doesn’t have a Monzo account, you can still split the bill by tapping ‘Add someone not on Monzo’ and then ‘Share a request’ to choose how you want to send your payment link.

Another option is to pay anyone with a UK bank account by email, text or social media without their bank details – or you can send a regular bank transfer. Monzo has also teamed up with Wise to allow international bank transfers, but fees apply.

Starling

Starling Bank has a free personal current account which can be managed via the app. You can set up goals and different savings pots to help you better manage your money.

If you want to transfer money to friends, you can do so with the Nearby Payments feature, provided the other person also banks with Starling. To do this, simply locate the person in the app over Bluetooth or wifi.

Additionally, you can request payments from others and split bills, through the Settle Up feature. Simply tap in the app to send a payment link to friends or family members to tell them how much they owe you. They don’t need to bank with Starling or need your account details to make a payment. You can send and receive up to £250 a day with Settle Up.

If you want to send money abroad, you can only do this through a traditional international bank transfer and fees apply.

NatWest

NatWest offers several different current accounts depending on what you’re looking for. Once you’re set up, you can use the NatWest app to send money to friends with just their mobile number – even if they don’t bank with NatWest.

To do this, you can log into your app, tap ‘Payments’ and then select ‘Pay Your Contacts’. Enter their mobile number, the amount you want to send and add a reference.

If your friend is registered for Pay Your Contacts (with NatWest), they will receive a text to let them know a payment has been sent to them. If they’re not registered or if they bank elsewhere, you can send a secure payment link via text, WhatsApp or email. They simply need to tap on this to get their money.

Pay Your Contacts lets you send up to £250 per day and is only for UK payments. If you want to send money abroad, you’ll need to send it via a bank transfer using the recipient’s account details. Fees may apply.