Instant account opening

An instant account is an account you can add, receive, send and withdraw money from instantly, whenever you need to.

You can access your money instantly with Monese through our smartphone app. You’ll also get a contactless debit card that’s connected to your instant account. With a Spending Overview and instant mobile notifications, it’s easy to see what’s going in and out while you’re on the go.

Bear in mind there are times when you may not have instant access to your account. On rare occasions, we may need to block your account if it doesn’t meet certain requirements. You can read more about situations like this in our terms and conditions.

You can use a Monese instant account for many of the same reasons you might use a regular instant-access bank account, commonly known as a current account in the UK. As a result, you may see accounts like ours referred to as current account alternatives or instant bank account alternatives.

There are a few key differences between our instant accounts and regular bank accounts though:

• Monese isn’t a bank, it’s an electronic money institution (EMI)
• We don’t have physical branches — but we do have a multilingual Support team, and offer lots of ways to add and withdraw money
• You won’t have an overdraft available
• Your money is protected in lots of different ways including the EU Electronic Money Directive 2009/110/EC and UK Electronic Money Regulations 2011, but not by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)
• You don’t need documents to prove your address, credit history or income to open an instant account with us

That final point makes us an ideal current account alternative for foreign nationals and other people who struggle to access traditional banking services. You can still use a Monese instant account to get paid by your employer, set up direct debits, send money abroad and more.

A multi-currency account allows you to move and manage money in multiple currencies. They’re ideal for living, working and travelling abroad, without losing out to expensive exchange rates or slow transfer times. You’ll get account details in multiple currencies to make receiving money easy wherever you are.

With a Monese multi-currency account, you’ll effectively have separate instant accounts in different currencies within one app. You can then transfer money between your accounts instantly without paying any fees. We use the real exchange rate for international money transfers too, so our multi-currency account usually works out cheaper than using traditional banks.

It takes minutes to open a Monese instant-access account in GBP, EUR or RON. As soon as you’ve opened one, it’s just as easy to open another!

This means you could get GBP, EUR and RON account details to share with employers, family and friends.

Opening an instant-access account with a bank can be tricky, especially if you’re a foreign national. You could need a combination of a strong local credit history, the right utility bills and a fixed income. But our founder Norris Koppel set out to remove these common barriers and make quality financial services available to as many people as possible.

You can open a current account alternative with Monese if you’re aged 18 or over and live in one of the 30 countries in the European Economic Area (EEA) or the UK. Once you have a personal account with us, you can also open:

• An instant-access joint account with another Monese user
• An instant account for your UK-registered business
• Additional multi-currency accounts

Here are just some of the reasons to join our growing community:

• We’re inclusive — Open an account with no credit checks, proof of address or a fixed income
• We’re easy — Manage your money instantly from your phone in multiple currencies
• We’re great value — Get a free multi-currency account and send money abroad at the real exchange rate
• We’re safe — Protect your identity with a video selfie in the Monese app and log in securely

Read more about Monese.