How Do Monzo and Starling Compare in 2024?

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.

Features

Virtual cards

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.

Subscription accounts

Starling only has a free account. Monzo has three subscription levels:

• Extra
• Perks
• Max

Monzo gives you a free one-week trial of Extra when you set up your account. Some of the features that Starling has but Monzo doesn't have in the free plans are available in Monzo's paid plans. I'll give more information about Monzo's paid plans in Is it Worth Upgrading your Monzo Plan in 2024?

Foreign currency accounts

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.

Overdrafts

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.

Cashback

Monzo
Earn cashback by activating offers in the Monzo app.

Starling
Earn cashback by connecting to the Verve app from the Starling app.

Insurance

Monzo
Only available with a Max subscription.

Starling
Access to home and life insurance providers via Starling's in-app Marketplace.

Investments

• Managed by BlackRock.
• 0.59% annual fee, paid monthly.
• 30% less carbon intensive than similar funds.
• Three risk levels:

• Managed by Wealthify via Starling's in-app Marketplace.
• Invest from £1, and £50 for pensions.
• Original Plan (0.76% annual fee).
• Ethical Plan (1.3% annual fee).
• Five risk levels: Cautious, Tentative, Confident, Ambitious and Adventurous. No information on the percentage of shares vs bonds has been published.

Referrals

Both Monzo and Starling provide referral links: - If you sign up for Monzo using this link and make a card payment within 30 days, we'll both get £5. - If you sign up for Starling using this link, we'll both get a free individual day pass to one National Trust property. Valid for six months.

Fees

* Free if Monzo is your main account or if you have a subscription account.
** Wise Fee calculator
*** Starling More information

Interest rates

Monzo
Provided by Monzo:

• Instant Access Cash ISA (4.10% AER)
• Instant Access (4.10% AER)

Provided by partners:

• Fixed Term (4.56% - 4.83% AER)
• Easy Access (4.42% AER)

Starling

• Current account and Spaces (3.25%)
• 1-Year Fixed Saver (4.48% AER)

Environment

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 - Barclays (1), HSBC (2), First Direct (3), Chase (4) and Santander (5) - is equivalent to 11 return flights from London to Rome, Driving 10 732 miles or the carbon absorbed by 108 trees. The greenest banks are Nationwide (14), Co-op (15) and Triodos (16).

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.

Customer Surveys

These results are from an independent survey carried out between January 2023 and December 2023 by IPSOS as part of a regulatory requirement.

Great Britain

Overall service quality
1 Monzo (80%)
2 Starling Bank (79%)

Online and mobile banking services
1= Monzo (84%)
1= Starling Bank (84%)

Overdraft services 1 Starling Bank (77%)
2 Monzo (74%)

Northern Ireland

Overall service quality
1= Monzo (81%)
1= Starling Bank (81%)

Online and mobile banking services
1 Starling Bank (84%)
2 Monzo (83%)

Overdraft services
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.*

Trustpilot

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”.