Monzo Business Account Review – The Good And The Bad

Table Of Contents

Monzo Business – In Brief

Monzo Business Pros & Cons

What is Monzo?

The Monzo business account is a smartphone app focused bank account, that offers various features that aim to make your business banking simpler, and the costs more transparent. Whilst the Monzo personal account is almost entirely app focused, with the business account, you can also do your banking via their website on a computer, which will suit users who want to bank at their desks.

The product is really aimed more at the sole traders or small to medium businesses. Many larger businesses will already have processes in place that mean they would likely not need features such as Tax Pots or Invoicing.

The Monzo business account has some fairly strict rules on what sort of company can open an account. Several business areas are not allowed, as well as certain types of incorporated businesses. You can see who can sign up with Monzo here.

Monzo Business Features

• Tax Pots – set a percentage of revenue aside for tax
• Integrated Accounting Software – includes Xero, Quickbooks, Freeagent and more
• Multi-User Access – multi-user access for their staff (Limited companies only)
• Invoices – generate directly from your Monzo account
• Mobile & Web Access
• Currency Transfers – via Wise at low rates

The Monzo business account is available in 2 tiers – Lite and Pro. Both these account tiers have the following elements.

• UK bank account
• Debit card
• Instant Notifications
• Savings Pots
• Free UK transfers
• Budgeting and spending categorising
• Mobile & web access
• Business Debit card
• Fee free spending abroad

Then the below features are only available on the Pro (paid) account:

• Tax Pots
• Integrated Accounting
• Multi-user AccessInvoicing

Who is Monzo Business for?

A huge amount of businesses nowadays operate almost exclusively online. Marketing and selling their goods, communicating with customers, suppliers and staff, and nearly every other function, operates in the online space. And in addition, the majority of this interaction is performed via a mobile device.

Therefore, it makes sense that banking can also be done in this way. All banks, including the traditional high street banks like Lloyds, Barclays etc, have moved into the space (some more successfully than others!). However, these old banks who have built up their businesses over decades, if not centuries, have massive internal procedures and systems that they need to build any technology on top of, to allow their customers to access banking functions.

Monzo, like their competitor fintech banks such as Starling Bank, Revolut and Tide, don’t have these issues. They have built their platforms in the last few years, and thus they have taken advantage of all of the new technology, without having any legacy systems that can tarnish the user experience of their apps.

Therefore – it is not surprising that the new app focused banks do often have a far smoother user experience than many traditional high street banks.

Monzo, like the other app focused banks, do seem to be more focused on smaller businesses, as many larger businesses will have bookkeeping or accounting staff that will already do many of the processes that the app banks make easier.

Monzo is a branchless bank, and as such, cash can only be paid in via Paypoint locations. There is a charge for each deposit, and there are quite low limits to the amount you can pay in, so Monzo may not be the best choice for a business that deals with cash.

Monzo Business Costs & Fees

There are 2 account tiers for Monzo business:

• Lite – Free
• Pro – £5 per month

In addition to the above, there are various costs for functions within the account:

Paying in cash: Customers can pay in cash to their Monzo account at any Paypoint location. Monzo charge £1 for each cash payment. Each business can only pay in a maximum of £1000 every 6 months.

ATM withdrawals: Up to £200 in cash per calendar month can be withdrawn. Above that amount, Monzo charge 3% of the amount withdrawn.

Is Monzo Business Safe?

For each business with an account with Monzo, their deposits are covered up to £85,000 under the UK’s Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).

Monzo Business Comparisons

Which is better – Monzo Business or Starling Bank Business?

Read our full Monzo Business vs Starling Bank Business comparison

Which is better – Monzo Business or Revolut Business?

Read our full Monzo Business vs Revolut Business comparison

Which is better – Monzo Business or Tide Bank?

Read our full Monzo Business vs Tide Bank comparison

Monzo Business FAQ

Monzo Verdict

The Monzo business account offers a modern, efficient solution for businesses to manage their banking, that could significantly save time, especially for sole traders and small businesses.