Monzo
Monzo is a digital bank / neobank issued on Mastercard, rated 8.4/10 in our latest review. Below: what it costs and what it demands, the tiers the issuer publishes, and how the card cleared our live checkouts.
Monzo is the strongest fit for all-rounder and ad spend, and asks for ID + proof at signup — we carry it at low risk. Treat the fee rows as the deciding factor: a card that clears reliably but charges on every top-up costs more than its rating suggests.
Profile
| Issuer / category | Monzo · Digital Bank / Neobank |
| Official site | https://monzo.com |
| Best for | All-rounder · Ad spend |
| Network | Mastercard |
| Rating | 8.4/10 (4.0★, 407 data points) |
| Data quality | verified |
Costs and fees
| Card creation fee | Free (virtual cards included at no cost) |
| Monthly / annual fee | Free (standard); paid plans £3-£17+/mo |
| Top-up (deposit) fee | N/A (debit, spends from balance) |
| FX / conversion fee | 0% (Mastercard rate, no Monzo fee) |
Verification and risk
| KYC required | Yes (standard ID verification) |
| Risk level | Low |
| AVS check | Yes |
| 3-D Secure | Yes |
Funding and limits
| Crypto top-up | No |
| Bank transfer | Yes (UK bank transfer) |
| Alipay / WeChat Pay | No |
| Cards per account | Up to 5 virtual cards per account holder |
Billing
| Billing address | Personal / Business |
| Billing country | United Kingdom (US expansion underway) |
Platform compatibility
| ChatGPT | Yes |
| Claude | Yes |
| Midjourney | Yes |
| Netflix / Spotify | Yes |
| App Store / Google Play | Yes |
| Meta / Google Ads | Yes |
| AI tools noted | Yes |
What the issuer states on its own site
- Grow your money in Monzo with up to 3.65% AER interest (variable), paid monthly.
- Earn up to 3.65% AER interest (variable), paid monthly. £500 minimum deposit.
- Pick your offers, shop in person or online, and earn 2-10% cashback every time.
- A credit card with Monzo magic, Section 75 protection and a representative 29% APR (variable).
- Earn from 2.75% to 3.25% AER interest (variable) paid monthly, depending on your subscription plan.
Source: https://monzo.com.
How it performed in our tests
| BIN range | Network | Issuing country | Type | Charges | Cleared | Clear rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 256304 | Mastercard | United Kingdom | Debit | 127 | 89 | 70.1% |
We logged 89 cleared charges out of 127 attempts on 1 documented range for this brand. Counts include renewals, not just first charges.
Where to go next
Checkout guides built around this card
Category guides
Issuing country
Other Mastercard virtual cards
Head-to-head comparisons
1 comparison pages use this brand as one side.
Frequently asked
What does Monzo cost to run?
The cost lines stack like this: issuing the card is free; there is no monthly fee on the entry tier; top-ups cost N/A (debit, spends from balance); conversion is priced at 0% (Mastercard rate, no Monzo fee). Cash-out costs are what compound here, so weigh the recurring lines above the one-off fee.
Do I need to verify my identity for Monzo?
Monzo asks for ID + proof at signup. The check runs once when the account opens, not on each charge, and the issuer's own wording is: Yes (standard ID verification)
How can I fund Monzo?
You can fund it with bank transfer (UK bank transfer). Pick the one you can top up cheaply and repeatedly, because the load fee is charged every time.
Which billing address does Monzo need?
Setting it up: the billing address type is Personal / Business; cards are issued against United Kingdom (US expansion underway); an AVS check is applied. Copy the address the issuer generates rather than retyping it. A transposed digit is the most common reason a working range starts failing.
Does Monzo work for subscriptions and AI tools?
We recorded successful charges for ChatGPT, Claude, Midjourney, Netflix and Spotify, the App Store and Google Play, Meta and Google Ads. Where a card passes on one merchant and fails on another, the difference is usually the processor and the 3-D Secure setting rather than the card itself.
Will Monzo trigger 3-D Secure?
Yes. Monzo supports 3-D Secure, so expect a step-up prompt on larger or first-time charges. An OTP you can complete is fine; a challenge that never arrives is what kills the order, so keep the issuer app open at checkout.
How many cards can I open with Monzo?
The issuer allows Up to 5 virtual cards per account holder. Multiple numbers under one account is the practical pattern here: one per merchant, so a single block does not take the rest of your billing down with it.
How VCCFinder tests
VCCFinder buys cards at retail and charges them on live checkouts, then publishes the clear rate and decline reasons next to each range. Where a card declined, the reason sits on its BIN page rather than in a footnote here.