All the benefits of upgrading your account, in handy table form 
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If you previously held a pre paid card for reasons other than unlimited ATM withdrawals abroad then I can think of no reason not to āupgradeā to a current account.
If your reason (like mine) was to access cheap money for overseas spending then you are better off looking at alternatives. Having said that I am now finding the Monzo account useful as a āfirewallā between my online spending and my main bank account.
For whatever reason you are using your Monzo card you will need to apply for the current account version soon as the pre paid card will be closed soon.
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It is worth noting that it is not necessary to āapplyā for the current account in any sense of the word, either.
Everyone who has a prepaid card can open a current account easily from within the app 
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Been an absolute pleasure to use the current account, the transparency, app functionality and speed of everything monzo blows away my other current accounts (Barclays santander first direct) looking forward to further developments such as Apple Pay 
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Do the new current accounts include the same international withdrawal and payment terms?
Thank you
In essence, yes (I think there are some minor implementation improvements for the current account compared to the prepaid card):
See here for details, but the summary is:
- Overseas āPoint of Saleā (i.e. āat the tillā) and online transactions are always free.
- Overseas cash withdrawals are free up to Ā£200 every 30 days.
- Only overseas cash withdrawals above Ā£200 in any 30 day period attract a 3% surcharge.
It should be noted that it is my understanding that non-GBP cash withdrawals in the UK (there are a few free USD/EUR cash machines in the London area) donāt count as overseas, so would be free without eating into your Ā£200 limit.
Only on one of the programmes. I donāt remember which one. But even then, I donāt know if those machines will let you actually charge USD/EUR to your cardā¦ I think they only allow DCC withdrawals and at a massive markup (the non-DCC option required is the local currency, GBP).
Iāve never actually tested thoughā¦ Just reports from others.
I think its the current account, but donāt take my word for it.
As for non-DCC: I did withdraw USD from cash machines in London without DCC last year. That was āRaphaels Bankā (they have a few machines at London Underground stations). TravelEx ATMs (and whatever else you find at airports etc.) do usually force DCC.
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Fantastic! Thatād be good for the US travel threadā¦ A free USD ATM, buy before you fly. Get $20 or so. Honestly you can do a cash free trip to the US, but it might cover some odd cash needed situations (like public transport in Nashville).
Just to be clear though: Most Raphaels Bank ATMs are EUR. To my knowledge only 2 or 3 of these ATMs dispense USD (at least that was the case last year): Waterloo, Embankment and Picadilly. I canāt find this info anymore, though.
Others have apparantly used MoneyCorp at Gatwick for USD without DCC.
Whether going there is worth the trouble for a $20 withdrawal (especially as all this info is a bit out of date) is a different question tough 
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I think Kings Cross has a USD machine.
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They do. One is 
only, the other & 
.
Also, withdrawing either before travelling would be more worth it if you want to travel with a larger amount of cash (e.g. ā¬500 or $500) and avoid both Monzoās international ATM fee and fees charged by foreign ATM operators.
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Depends on the rate, though.
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What I understood from nanos above is that the Raphaels Bank ATMs charger your card in the currency being withdrawn (e.g. ), so you would get the excellent 
rate. Sounds ideal for those that need cash. Though you might have to make a few trips on different days depending on how much cash you want.
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I hadnāt noticed that. It seems slightly precarious on their side. They presumably have to buy the currency in advance and take a punt on the exchange rate.