Alternatives to Zelle in the UK

Revolut

If you open an account with Revolut, you can choose from 5 different account plans – one of which has no monthly fee.

All of these plans let you easily send money to other Revolut users in-app free of charge. To do so, you’ll need the recipient’s phone number, email, Revtag or QR code and their money will be transferred within 20 seconds.

If you want to send a payment to someone who doesn’t use Revolut, it’s easy to create a payment link in the app. You can use this for requesting payments too. Simply tap on ‘Payments’, tap ‘New’, then ‘Create a payment’ link and select whether you want to send or request money and how much.

Once sent, 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.

A further bonus is that payments are not limited to the UK. If you have friends living overseas, Revolut lets you transfer money in 36 currencies through the app. However, fees may apply.

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

Monzo

Like Revolut, Monzo offers a free account and paid-for accounts. If you want to send money to someone who also banks with Monzo, you can use the Nearby Friends feature in the app if they are close to you. Here’s how:

1. Both switch on Bluetooth
2. Tap ‘Payments’ in your app
3. Tap ‘Pay someone’
4. Both tap ‘Pay someone nearby’ and tap your friend’s name
5. Make the payment

If your friend isn’t nearby, you can use the ‘Pay with friends’ feature instead – simply search for your friend’s name to make your payment.

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

Alternatively, you can make payments to anyone with a UK bank account by email, text or social media without their bank details. Monzo has also teamed up with Wise to allow international bank transfers, but fees apply.

Starling

Applicants can open a free app-based personal current account with Starling Bank.

The account includes a range of features to help you manage your money and you can easily send money to friends via the Nearby Payments feature, so long as the other person also banks with Starling. To do this, you need to locate the other person in the app over Bluetooth or wifi.

Starling’s Settle Up feature also lets users request payments from others and split bills by sending payment links through the app. This allows you to send and receive up to £250 a day. The recipient won’t need to have an account with Starling and they won’t need to use your bank details either.

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

NatWest

If you open one of NatWest’s current accounts, you can use the NatWest app to send money to friends with just their mobile number. Your friends won’t need a NatWest account to allow you to do this.

In the app, you need to tap ‘Payments’ and then select ‘Pay Your Contacts’. Enter the recipient’s mobile number, the amount you want to send and add a reference.

If your friend is registered for Pay Your Contacts with NatWest, they’ll get a text to let them know a payment has been sent to them. Otherwise you can send a secure payment link via text, WhatsApp or email and the recipient can tap on this to get their money.

You can send up to £250 per day with Pay Your Contacts and this is only for UK payments.
Payments abroad can only be made via a bank transfer using the recipient’s account details. Fees may apply.