Hi there, I’m currently living in the UK but I’ll be moving to mainland Europe later this year. As Monzo currently only holds GBP, how can I keep using my monzo card? If I top up using a € account, will the amount be converted to pounds using the Mastercard rate or my bank’s exchange rate?
What other solutions are available otherwise (maybe involving TransferWise)? I thought of taking a Revolut card, transfer € there, convert those into pounds, and then top up my Monzo using the Revolut card, but that’s just complicated and would probably end up by me using the Revolut instead of the Monzo, which I’d like to avoid as I love my Monzo card!
Would you not be better off using a local account in ? Otherwise you’ll convert twice. €>£ to deposit, then £>€ to spend. Whilst Monzo gives a great rate, you still loose out with each conversion.
If you do want to deposit in your Monzo account, TransferWise is probably your best bet. Unless you can find a great local bank, they will probably have high charges or poor rates (or both) for converting into and then doing an international transfer into your Monzo account. Or if you can find a local account that offers a debit card with fee-free overseas purchases at the MasterCard/Visa rate, you could deposit into that account and then use the debit card to top up your Monzo card. But then, why not just spend directly from your local account since you’re living there?
You could try Monese who had an award winning GBP account and are now starting up EUR accounts. They currently have customer support staff speaking 10 languages and are expanding to 19 more countries. You can join their shortlist at:
Bunq is good but whereas Monese has a full Mastercard Debit card and can be used online Bunq only have a Maestro card and unlike Maestro cards from Estonia, France and Germany etc as a Dutch card it can NOT be used online on the internet but only in shops at a POS
Thank you very much for all your responses. Sorry I haven’t been clear enough: I won’t use my monzo card locally since I already have a € account, but I’d like to use it when abroad.
I will look at the other solutions that have been proposed. If there’s anything I’m missing I’d love to know!
? Otherwise you’ll convert twice. €>£ to deposit, then £>€ to spend. Whilst Monzo gives a great rate, you still loose out with each conversion.
and then doing an international transfer into your Monzo account. Or if you can find a local account that offers a debit card with fee-free overseas purchases at the MasterCard/Visa rate, you could deposit into that account and then use the debit card to top up your Monzo card. But then, why not just spend directly from your local account since you’re living there?