What is Monzo Premium?
Monzo's new offering, Monzo Premium was launched on 20th October.
Notable perks are:
- a white metal Monzo Premium card (it’s heavy, shiny, engraved and classy!)
- insurance to cover your phone and worldwide family travel
- a 1.5% variable interest rate on the first £2,000 in your account.
- £600 fee-free withdrawals each month when abroad
- various discounts (including those available to Monzo Plus users)
- high-level view of all your transactions, including non-Monzo accounts
Monzo Premium costs you £15 per month, for a minimum term of 6 months.
How is Monzo Premium different from Monzo Plus?
Wait a minute, you might be thinking, isn’t this the same as Monzo Plus?
Sort of. There is a lot of overlap, but Monzo Plus perks are dialled down compared to Monzo Premium.
With Monzo Plus you get a blue holographic Monzo card, the variable interest rate on the first £2,000 in your account is a bit lower (1%), and fee-free withdrawals abroad drops to £400. Monzo Plus also costs less: £5 per month for a minimum of 3 months.
You still get discounts (although Premium has the additional benefit of airport lounge access discounts) and a high-level overview of your spending and savings across Monzo and non-Monzo accounts.
The main differences are that only Monzo Premium has the shiny new card and the insurance. For many people, travel insurance is what makes Premium an attractive offer.
Should I update my Monzo Plus subscription to Monzo Premium?
A £15/month Premium account fee adds up to £180 per year. If you have a balance of at least £2,000, you can also expect to earn an interest of £30, bringing your costs down to £150 per year. Is it worth it?
If you travel outside the UK, you should have travel insurance. This is why Premium’s built in worldwide, multi-trip annual family coverage appeals. But if you use a travel insurance comparison site, you could find there are better deals out there for less — especially if you don’t need worldwide cover, or family cover or multi-trip cover.
Assuming travel insurance cancels out the cost, or nearly cancels out the cost, it’s up to you to decide if the prestige of a fancy metal card, phone insurance, various discounts and the benefits of fee-free withdrawals are worth it for you.
At Money Dashboard we would argue that the high-level financial visibility tools Monzo promotes is not a deal breaker as free and more high-tech alternatives (like Money Dashboard’s app) are readily available.
If you’re curious if Monzo Plus is worth it, see our review of the Monzo Plus account here.
