Banking Archives - COOLCURATION

September 29, 2026 — No Comments

Is Monzo Max Worth It? I Priced the Three Policies

Last updated: 21 September 2026. I checked every Monzo figure and every comparison price on this page that day.

By Stiv · Design, technology and personal finance

Affiliate disclosure: This article contains affiliate or referral links. If you click through and sign up I may earn a commission or referral bonus at no extra cost to you. It does not affect my editorial view.

This is not financial advice, and CoolCuration is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the UK's financial regulator. I pay for Perks and have never held Max. So the verdict below is arithmetic from Monzo's own plan pages, its three policy booklets and published prices, rather than a year of living with the plan.

Opening a Monzo account first?

Every Monzo plan sits on top of a Monzo current account. My referral page has the live offer and the steps to claim it.

See the Monzo referral offer

Monzo plans2026 edit

Worth it if you would buy two of the three policies anyway

Is Monzo Max worth it? Only if you would otherwise pay for at least two of the three insurance policies it bundles. Max costs £10 a month more than Perks, which comes to £120 a year. For that, it adds worldwide travel insurance, worldwide phone insurance and UK and Europe breakdown cover. I priced standalone versions of all three and they came to £290.66 a year. A household that needs all three therefore comes out well ahead. By contrast, someone who needs only one of them does not.

Still weighing up the Monzo range? My Monzo guides hub collects the lot, including the price rise, the Perks verdict and the Perks vs Max comparison.

Published by Stiv in Banking, Money, Personal finance

Tags: Bank accounts, Banking apps, Breakdown cover, Current accounts, monzo, Monzo Max, Monzo Perks, personal finance, Phone insurance, Travel insurance

September 15, 2026 — Comments are off for this post.

Monzo Perks vs Max: Which Plan Should You Pay For?

The gap between Monzo Perks and Max is £10 a month, and it buys three insurance policies. Priced honestly against buying them separately.

Published by Stiv in Banking, Money, Personal finance

Tags: Bank accounts, Banking apps, Breakdown cover, Current accounts, monzo, Monzo Max, Monzo Perks, personal finance, Phone insurance, Travel insurance

September 2, 2026 — Comments are off for this post.

Is Monzo Perks Worth It? A Year of Paying for It

A year of paying £9 a month for Monzo Perks, with the honest maths on what I actually claim and what earns nothing.

Published by Stiv in Banking, Money, Personal finance

Tags: Bank accounts, current account, Greggs, money saving, monzo, Monzo Max, Monzo Perks, personal finance, railcard, savings, Uber One, YouTube Premium

August 22, 2026 — Comments are off for this post.

Monzo Perks and Max Price Increase 2026: Every New Price

Monzo Perks goes from £7 to £9 a month and Max from £17 to £19. Here are all the new plan prices, the dates that matter, and the honest maths.

Published by Stiv in Banking, Money, Personal finance

Tags: current account, digital banking, monzo, Monzo Bank, Monzo Max, Monzo Perks, Monzo railcard, personal finance, personal finance uk

July 23, 2026 — Comments are off for this post.

Best Current Account UK 2026: Ranked and Compared

Current accounts2026 Edit

The best current account is the one you actually enjoy opening

Picking the best current account in 2026 is no longer just about interest. It is about the app you tap ten times a day, the perks that quietly pay you back, and the switch bonus that lands in a week. So I have ranked the accounts I actually use, judged on design, everyday feel and real numbers, then grouped the rest by the job they do best.

Last updated: 22 August 2026

By Stiv · Design, technology and personal finance

This article contains affiliate or referral links. If you click through and sign up I may earn a commission or referral bonus at no extra cost to you. It does not affect my editorial view.

This is not financial advice, and CoolCuration is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. Rates, fees and bonuses change often, so always check the provider and consider your own circumstances first.

Want the Monzo refer-a-friend bonus?

Monzo runs a refer-a-friend scheme where you and a friend can both get a bonus. The amount is set at random by Monzo, runs from £5 up to £50 (sometimes up to £100) and is shown in-app, so I keep the current offer and the steps to claim it updated on our referral page.

Get the Monzo referral bonus

Published by Stiv in Banking, Comparisons, Money, Personal finance

Tags: best current account, chase uk, club lloyds, current account, current account switch, monzo, nationwide, revolut, Zopa Biscuit

July 1, 2026 — Comments are off for this post.

Monzo Review UK: An Honest Opinion After Four Years

Last updated: 22 August 2026

By Stiv · Design, technology and personal finance

This Monzo review is based on my own experience using Monzo as my main current account for over four years, on the £9 a month Perks plan. I run everyday spending, Pots and my Sprive mortgage overpayments through it, so this is real use rather than a weekend trial.

This is an opinion piece. Views expressed are the author's own and do not constitute professional advice.

This article contains affiliate or referral links. If you click through and sign up I may earn a commission or referral bonus at no extra cost to you. It does not affect my editorial view. This page is general information, not financial advice.

Cool Factor: 4/5

Banking / Opinion

Welcome to my honest Monzo review, written from the inside rather than the marketing deck. I have banked with Monzo since well before it became a household name, so this is four years of daily use talking. Monzo is now the UK's largest digital bank, with more than 15 million customers. However, the interesting question is not how big it has become. Instead, it is whether the everyday account and app still feel special, or whether the spark is quietly fading.

Fancy trying Monzo with our referral link?

New customers can get a random reward from £5, up to £50 (sometimes up to £100). The current offer, and the exact steps to claim it, are always kept up to date on our referral page.

Get the Monzo referral bonus

Want the rest of my Monzo coverage? Every guide I have written about Monzo sits on my Monzo guides hub, from the paid plans to the savings pots and the head-to-heads.

Published by Stiv in Banking, Personal finance, Reviews

Tags: banking app UK, challenger bank, current account, digital bank, fintech, monzo, Monzo Perks, Monzo railcard, Monzo review

April 19, 2026 — Comments are off for this post.

Monzo Savings Pots Explained: Rates, FSCS Protection and How to Start (2026)

Last updated: 9 September 2026. I re-checked every Monzo savings pots rate against Monzo's own pages on 9 September 2026.

By Stiv · Design, technology and personal finance

Monzo savings pots are one of the most useful things in UK banking. Yet plenty of people with a Monzo account still leave spare cash in the main balance, earning nothing. A pot takes about thirty seconds to set up. Better still, it starts earning the same day. No paperwork, no second app, no waiting.

I keep six or seven pots running at any one time. Bills, holiday, an emergency fund, two savings pots earning interest. Plus one labelled "don't touch" that I absolutely do touch. Below is what each type pays, what the higher rates cost, and where the money actually sits.

This article is for general information only and does not constitute financial advice. Savings rates are variable and change often. Always check the current rate in the Monzo app or at monzo.com first. CoolCuration is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. This article contains affiliate or referral links. If you click through and sign up I may earn a commission or referral bonus at no extra cost to you. It does not affect my editorial view.

Not on Monzo yet?

Sign up through my referral link. A random reward from £5, up to £50 (sometimes up to £100), arrives once you make your first card payment.

Join Monzo with a bonus

Want the wider Monzo picture? My Monzo guides hub has the account review, the paid plans and the investing side, all in one place.

Published by Stiv in Banking, Personal finance, Saving

Tags: cash ISA, FSCS, Instant Access, interest rates, monzo, Monzo Perks, personal finance, savings accounts, Savings pots, Select Access

April 5, 2026 — Comments are off for this post.

Best Banking App UK 2026: Which One Should You Use?

Last updated: 22 August 2026

By Stiv · Design, technology and personal finance

This article is for information only and does not constitute financial advice. CoolCuration is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. Always check the latest details directly with each provider before opening an account or making any financial decision. If you are unsure, consider speaking to an independent financial adviser.

This article contains affiliate or referral links. If you click through and sign up I may earn a commission or referral bonus at no extra cost to you. It does not affect my editorial view.

Finding the best banking app UK in 2026 is genuinely difficult. Every challenger bank promises slick budgeting tools, market-leading rates and cashback on everything. Meanwhile, the traditional banks have finally woken up and started building apps that actually work. So which ones are worth your time, and which are all sizzle and no steak?

We use all five of the banks in this guide as part of a multi-account setup that has evolved over several years of hands-on testing. This is not a surface-level comparison based on press releases. It is a practical breakdown of what each app actually does well, where it falls short and how to combine them for maximum benefit.

Published by Stiv in Banking, Comparison, Comparisons, Personal finance, Services

Tags: banking app UK, best banking app, challenger bank, chase, digital banking, FSCS, Lloyds, mobile banking, monzo, personal finance, UK current account, Zopa Biscuit

March 21, 2026 — Comments are off for this post.

Monzo vs Chase UK: Which Bank Account Is Better? (2026)

Last updated: 22 August 2026

By Stiv · Design, technology and personal finance

Affiliate disclosure: This article contains affiliate or referral links. If you click through and sign up I may earn a commission or referral bonus at no extra cost to you. It does not affect my editorial view.

After the bigger sign-up bonus?

Chase's refer-a-friend offer pays £50 when you join and deposit £1,000 within 30 days; our referral page walks you through it.

Claim the Chase £50 offer

If you're weighing up Monzo vs Chase in 2026, you're in good company. Both are app-only banks, both are free to open, and both promise to make managing your money less painful. However, once you dig past the slick onboarding screens, the two take noticeably different approaches to savings, cashback and everyday features.

Chase (a trading name of J.P. Morgan Europe Limited) lures new customers with a boosted saver rate and 2% cashback on everyday spending. Monzo, the UK's original fintech darling, counters with powerful budgeting tools, paid plan perks like a free Railcard, and one of the most feature-rich banking apps on the market.

Below, we break down every meaningful difference so you can pick the one that actually fits your life. We also link to both referral offers if you want a bonus for signing up.

Comparing Monzo with more than Chase? I have also put it against Starling and Zopa's Biscuit, and my Monzo guides hub collects every Monzo guide in one place.

Published by Stiv in Apps, Banking, Comparisons, Finance, Investing, Personal finance, Reviews, Saving, Services

Tags: app review, bank comparison, cashback, chase, chase uk, digital bank, fintech, monzo, monzo vs chase, personal finance, savings, uk banking