Monzo/Starling Banking/Revolut
- Thread starter Junglist
- Start date
Caporegime
£10k is the limit, you’ll need to speak to them.
https://monzo.com/help/payments-getting-started/bank-transfer-how-to
Question:
I have a friend from USA who is coming to the UK as an international student this year. Their loan is going to be paid in USD to the bank account at home, which will be in the region of $45k over the course of the year and will need to be exchanged into GBP.
So far I'm thinking of suggestion Revolut as she can open this account while still in the USA (Starling requires UK residency), which I believe will charge her 0.5% on the exchange (if avoiding weekends ofc).
Is there anything better out there I may be missing?
Cheers
I have a friend from USA who is coming to the UK as an international student this year. Their loan is going to be paid in USD to the bank account at home, which will be in the region of $45k over the course of the year and will need to be exchanged into GBP.
So far I'm thinking of suggestion Revolut as she can open this account while still in the USA (Starling requires UK residency), which I believe will charge her 0.5% on the exchange (if avoiding weekends ofc).
Is there anything better out there I may be missing?
Cheers
Soldato
Revolut USA and Revolut UK/Europe are two very different things. The charges on the USA account may need looking into.
Probably best for them to just use a no exchange fee American credit card for day to day expenses.
What about for the larger amounts?
Soldato
Which ones best best between Monzo / Starling for joint accounts?
Caporegime
They are both pretty good, I prefer Starling personally.
I previously had a Starling but rarely used it whereas my partner used her Monzo for everything so I just swapped to Monzo when we wanted a joint account. Does the job, pay money in and all the direct debits for bills are setup from the joint account. No issues.
We have just switched from Lloyds to Starling for our business banking. It's a breath of fresh air.
Everything was done through the app, it was straightforward and they check your application incredibly quickly. Setting up additional account access/cardholders is so easy too. It appears that by initiating a switch I can avoid changing business name and address with Lloyds.
I love the Starling app too. Being able to categorise payments is great. Even setting up your card pin on the app when you order it is a nice touch. Really impressed so far. Traditional banks need to strip down their systems and give them a good refresh or they'll all risk losing out.
Everything was done through the app, it was straightforward and they check your application incredibly quickly. Setting up additional account access/cardholders is so easy too. It appears that by initiating a switch I can avoid changing business name and address with Lloyds.
I love the Starling app too. Being able to categorise payments is great. Even setting up your card pin on the app when you order it is a nice touch. Really impressed so far. Traditional banks need to strip down their systems and give them a good refresh or they'll all risk losing out.
I can't compare, as I don't use both. But Starling's joint account is very easy to setup and we've had no problems with it whatsoever.
I just wish they'd offer a credit card...I've got an MBNA card still for the rare times I want to use a CC, and it's just an awful experience after using Starling for years.
We use Monzo for our joint account and no complaints here from either of us.
I think a lot of it can also come down to friends. Most of my group use Monzo so for us it works great
Soldato
Tandem was the only digital business I remember offering a CC and they stopped. It was one of the best for spending abroad. right up there with Halifax Clarity.
On that subject I had the misfortune of calling Barclaycard today. It's a shambles. Call the number, get asked to input your card details, it then tell you your balance and statement information. Then you have to select what you want from an audio menu. When you get through to someone they ask for your card details (why this was already typed in prior), then the person has to load up security questions. Often daft ones, I kid you not, one of them was "which star sign are you?", another what is the bank account number you make your DD from? (because people memorise all their account numbers).
Then the person on the other end didn't even have permission/clearance to check my online account, so had to call another team, which of course were unavailable.
You can only laugh. The sooner these outdated organisations are gone the better.
Soldato
Starling is better for foreign currency
Unlimited free ATM withdrawals anywhere in the world for any time period.
Monzo on the other hand went back on their promise, and started to charge people for foreign ATM withdrawals. In fact it lured people in starting as a specialised pre-paid travel card.
For someone that maybe goes to Spain for a week or something then it's probably fine. Better to combine it with something like Revolut for another £200 allowance, and Halifax Clarity for anything over £100. As ever always have a backup.
Starling is better for foreign currency
Unlimited free ATM withdrawals anywhere in the world for any time period.
Monzo on the other hand went back on their promise, and started to charge people for foreign ATM withdrawals. In fact it lured people in starting as a specialised pre-paid travel card.
For someone that maybe goes to Spain for a week or something then it's probably fine. Better to combine it with something like Revolut for another £200 allowance, and Halifax Clarity for anything over £100. As ever always have a backup.
Most places take card so I just use card and then you pay the bank fx rate.
Starling is better for foreign currency
Unlimited free ATM withdrawals anywhere in the world for any time period.
Is this the same for Starling business accounts? I am using Halifax Clarity, I have had it a while and use it for holidays only (which was convenient when my card was cloned, but that's another story). For cash I normally just find the best deal on MSE or something. If I can withdraw cash at any ATM in the world fee-free then I will do that, providing my accountant lets me
Starling has a £300/day limit for cash withdrawals @englishpremier