Currently you need a photo I.D to sign up to monzo, but a couple of my friends don’t have any and don’t want to pay out £40+ just to sign up to a bank.
Any way they could do it with say a birth certificate/ something else, or forgo the photo I.D all together
If they are UK citizens, they need a passport or driving licence to sign up for a Monzo account.
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list of acceptable ID
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No.
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It would be worth getting some form of government identification as it will come in handy in lots of scenarios.
What scenarios out of interest? In the last 10 years, I’ve used my passport for only 2 things. Travelling abroad, and opening accounts with fintechs.
The only reason I got photo ID was to open a Monzo account, I’ve not needed anything for the past 20 years that would have required it.
If you’re not going abroad or planning to drive then there’s literally only a few examples in life where you’ll need photo ID, in my case Monzo was the one.
Can you open a high street bank with no driving license/passport?
Surely you don’t need me to list them all?
I’m almost double the age restriction for buying alcohol but I sometimes get asked for ID. That’s one example / brag 
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You can indeed, usually just need stuff like full birth certificates, recent utility bills, rent agreements or variations of
PVG checks (or English/Welsh equivalent) is another example. Security checks if you get a job that requires it (such as air side at an airport) to give another.
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Yes. I’ve opened an account online with two high street banks without having to provide ID or proof address, I got my account details instantly. I presume they verified things electronically (Electoral Roll and other credit accounts open)
I am really worried by this. How did they get proof that you are you rather than someone using your details?
Unless they’ve recently altered the guidance for PVG checks then they do accept birth certs along with other evidence. I’ll admit I’m been lazy and not bothering to go to check for updated guidance 🤦 
I applied for an account at an address I have lived at for 14 years, where I’m registered on the electoral roll and have had other accounts open for a very long time. The debit card and paperwork is coming to the same address so its very unlikely i’m not who I say I am. You don’t usually need physical ID to open a credit card account as they do similar checks I presume. It makes things faster and easier and I’m sure they would have asked for ID if something didn’t match up.
Didn’t even consider age restricted items. Not things I personally ever need to purchase. Are stores and club venues not more accommodating to other forms of ID besides drivers licenses and passports though?
At least one has to be photographic, I’m not alowed a drivers license (I can’t see well enough). So I maintain a passport for this, the reasons listed by everyone above and in case I need to prove I’m for some other reason.
Not in my experience they aren’t but I’m not 100% sure. It’s not just products though, you could get asked at the cinema or any other service that requires you to be over 18.
A lot of companies like to use photo ID for insurance purposes too for example if you hire a venue or do any extreme sport activities.
Then there’s all the finance stuff, like mortgages, rental agreements, loans, withdrawing large sums of cash from a branch, product finance and so on…
I also think it’s important to have a photo ID with your name and address on in your wallet too. So if you get stopped by the police for whatever reason, or god forbid you get hit by a bus or have a heart attack - someone can identify you.
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In this day and age, how can people not have a valid photo Id…
Absolutely shocking
I see a lot of posts on universal credit forum, where people don’t even have bank accounts… How shocking
Because you don’t need valid photo ID for most things in life, if I didn’t want the Monzo account I’d still have no photo ID right now, managed 20 years without needing it up until that point