Monzo vs Chase UK 2026: cashback or better budgeting?

Affiliate disclosure: this post contains a Monzo referral link. If you use it, we both get a mystery reward of £20, £50, or £100. It doesn't change anything about your account.

Short answer: keep Monzo as your main account and add Chase as a cashback card. Monzo wins on budgeting, joint accounts, overdraft and Flex; Chase wins on cashback (2% on everyday spending, up to £20 a month, if you clear its monthly criteria) and a 4.5% boosted saver for year one.

Monzo and Chase UK are both free, app-only bank accounts with no monthly fees, and they're both genuinely good. But they're built around different ideas of what a bank account should do.

Chase leads with cashback and savings rates. Monzo leads with budgeting tools and flexibility. This comparison breaks down where each one actually wins when you look past the headline features and into the numbers.

Both are FSCS-protected up to £120,000, FCA-regulated, and free to open. The choice comes down to how you use your bank account day-to-day.

Quick comparison

The cashback maths

Chase doubled its cashback to 2% in mid-2026, which makes it more valuable than it used to be, but also more conditional. It's worth doing the actual maths.

The rate: from July 2026, Chase pays 2% cashback (up from 1%) on UK spending in groceries, everyday transport, fuel, and now restaurants, cafes and takeaways too. It works on both the Chase debit card and the new Chase credit card. There's no cashback on overseas spending.

The cap: capped at £20/month (i.e. 2% on the first £1,000 of qualifying spending). Over a full year, the maximum is £240 (up from £180).

The catch (new for 2026): you only earn in a calendar month if you make 15 or more card payments or Direct Debits and keep at least £1,000 across your Chase savings account(s) all month. This replaces the old £1,500/month pay-in that used to apply after year one. Miss either condition and you earn nothing that month.

What it's worth: if you put £800/month through Chase in the qualifying categories, that's £16/month, or £192/year. Spend £1,000/month or more on it and you hit the £20/month cap: £240/year. You only fall short of that ceiling if your qualifying spend is under £1,000/month or you miss the monthly criteria.

For a realistic household that clears the criteria, Chase cashback is now worth roughly £150–£240/year, up from £80–£120 on the old 1% deal. That's genuine free money, though the new conditions make it less effortless than before.

Monzo's free account has no cashback. On the paid tiers, Billsback offers a monthly lottery on household bills (see our Monzo Billsback review for the expected-value maths). For most people, Chase's guaranteed cashback beats Billsback's odds.

Verdict: Chase wins on cashback, and by more than it used to. The real value is £150–£240/year if you clear the 15-payment and £1,000-savings hurdles each month: meaningful, though less effortless than the old 1%.

Savings rates

This is where Chase has a strong but time-limited advantage.

Chase: new customers who open a Chase Saver within 31 days of joining get 4.5% AER for 12 months (a 2.25% fixed bonus on top of the 2.25% variable base rate). After the bonus expires, the rate drops to 2.25% AER. Chase also pays 5% AER on the round-up account: a clever feature that earns surprisingly good interest on spare change.

Monzo: Instant Access Savings Pots pay 2.75% AER on the free account (3.25% on Perks or Max). No introductory bonus, but no expiry either. Monzo doesn't pay interest on round-ups.

The comparison over time:

On a £5,000 savings balance:

• Chase year 1: ~£225 interest
• Monzo year 1: ~£137 interest
• Chase year 2: ~£112 interest
• Monzo year 2: ~£137 interest

Chase wins convincingly in year one. From year two, Monzo's ongoing rate is slightly higher. If you're willing to move money between accounts when rates change, the optimal strategy is to use Chase's introductory rate then reassess, but most people won't bother.

Verdict: Chase wins for the first year. Monzo wins on simplicity and ongoing rate. Both are competitive for free accounts.

Everyday banking and app experience

Both apps are well-designed, but they serve different philosophies.

Monzo is built around the idea that your bank account should actively help you manage money. Pots let you ring-fence cash for bills, savings, holidays and spending money. Salary Sort automatically distributes your pay the moment it arrives. Spending targets warn you when you're overspending in a category. Bill splitting with friends is built in. The app feels like a budgeting tool that happens to be a bank.

Chase is built around simplicity. The app is clean, fast and focused on the basics: balance, transactions, cashback earned, savings. It does what it does well, but it doesn't try to shape your financial behaviour. There's no pot system, no salary sorting, no spending targets. If you want to organise your money, you're on your own.

Round-ups are available in both, but Chase's earn 5% AER, significantly better than Monzo's non-interest-bearing round-up pot.

For people who want their bank to be a passive background service (deposit money, spend money, earn cashback) Chase is perfectly adequate and arguably less cluttered. For people who actively budget and want their bank to enforce structure, Monzo is in a different league.

Verdict: Monzo wins for active budgeters. Chase wins for people who want simplicity and don't budget through their bank.

Travel and spending abroad

Both Monzo and Chase offer no foreign transaction fees on card payments abroad, using the Mastercard exchange rate. This puts them ahead of almost every traditional UK bank.

The difference is in ATM withdrawals:

• Monzo: EEA: unlimited free. Non-EEA: £200/month free, then 3% fee applies
• Chase: free ATM withdrawals abroad up to £1,500 per calendar month (£500/day)

For card-only travellers (most people in 2026), there's no practical difference. For anyone who regularly withdraws cash abroad, Chase is the better choice: a £1,500/month fee-free allowance against Monzo's £200.

Verdict: Chase has a slight edge on ATM withdrawals. Card spending is identical. Both are excellent travel accounts.

Overdrafts and borrowing

This is where the two banks diverge sharply.

Monzo offers an arranged overdraft at 39.9% EAR and Monzo Flex: a buy-now-pay-later product with 3-month interest-free instalments, Section 75 protection, and the option of longer plans at 29% APR. (For a deeper look, see our Monzo Flex review.)

Chase does not offer any overdraft or credit product. If you don't have enough money in your account, your payment is declined. There's no buffer, no arranged overdraft, no BNPL option.

For some people, this is a feature: you literally can't overspend. For others, it's a limitation. If you ever need short-term borrowing flexibility, even occasionally, Chase can't help.

Verdict: Monzo wins by default; Chase doesn't offer borrowing at all. Whether that matters depends on whether you ever need it.

Joint accounts

Monzo offers joint accounts with shared pots, bill splitting and all the budgeting tools available on personal accounts. Both partners get full visibility and control through their own app.

Chase does not offer joint accounts.

If you're managing shared finances with a partner, this is a straightforward Monzo win. There's no workaround on Chase for shared budgeting.

Verdict: Monzo wins. Chase doesn't offer this.

Customer support

Both banks offer in-app chat only: no phone line, no branches, no email.

Monzo's support is generally responsive for simple queries (card replacements, transaction disputes) but can be slow for complex issues. Chase's support is backed by J.P. Morgan's infrastructure and has a reputation for slightly faster resolution times, though experiences vary.

Neither offers the branch-based support you'd get from a traditional bank like Nationwide or Barclays. If in-person support matters to you, neither Monzo nor Chase is the right primary account.

Verdict: Roughly equal. Neither is outstanding; neither is bad.

The verdict: Monzo as primary, Chase as a cashback card

Chase wins individual rounds: better cashback, better year-one savings rate, free non-EEA ATMs. But none of those make it a primary account. There's no overdraft, no joint account, no budgeting depth, no salary-sorting, no Flex. A bank that declines payments when you tap empty isn't a primary; it's a spending card with extras.

Monzo is the better current account. Chase is the better secondary card to put alongside it.

After nine years on Monzo, the setup I'd recommend is: salary into Monzo, all bills and Direct Debits in Monzo, budgeting and pots in Monzo. Route your everyday spending through Chase instead, groceries, fuel and eating out, so you clear its 15-payments-a-month criterion, and keep £1,000 in the Chase Saver to unlock both the cashback and the year-one savings bonus. You capture the cashback (~£192/year for typical household spending now the rate is 2%), the savings bonus on whatever cash you keep in the Chase Saver, and Monzo's budgeting tools that keep the setup tidy. (For the full pair-and-where guide, see Best second UK bank account to pair with Monzo.)

Monzo vs Chase FAQs

Is Chase or Monzo better for cashback?

Chase is better. It offers 2% cashback on groceries, transport, fuel, restaurants, cafes and takeaways (capped at £20/month) at no monthly cost, as long as you make 15+ payments and keep £1,000 in a Chase saver each month. Monzo's free account has no cashback; the paid tiers offer Billsback, which is a lottery rather than guaranteed cashback.

Does Chase have an overdraft?

No. Chase does not offer overdrafts or any credit product. Payments are declined if your balance is insufficient. Monzo offers an arranged overdraft at 39.9% EAR.

Which has better savings rates?

Chase wins for the first 12 months (4.5% AER on the boosted saver). After that, Monzo's ongoing 2.75% AER beats Chase's 2.25%. Chase's 5% round-up account is a unique feature that earns well on small amounts.

Do both work fee-free abroad?

Yes. Both use the Mastercard exchange rate with no foreign transaction fees on card payments. Chase also offers fee-free ATM withdrawals abroad up to £1,500 per calendar month; Monzo offers unlimited free ATM withdrawals in the EEA, and £200/month free outside the EEA (then 3%).

Does Chase have joint accounts?

No. Chase currently only offers individual accounts. Monzo offers joint accounts with full budgeting features.

Which bank has the better app?

Both apps are well-rated. Chase is simpler and more focused; Monzo is more feature-rich with deeper budgeting tools. Which is "better" depends on whether you want your bank to actively manage your money (Monzo) or stay out of the way (Chase).

Can I switch from Chase to Monzo or vice versa?

You can open either account in minutes without switching. Neither requires you to close your existing bank. Both support the Current Account Switch Service (CASS) if you want to move Direct Debits, but it's not required.

Is there a Chase referral bonus?

Chase does not currently operate a public referral programme. Monzo offers a mystery reward of £20, £50 or £100 when you join via a referral link and make a card payment within 30 days, the biggest of any UK bank scheme (see the best UK bank referral bonuses roundup).

The bottom line

Monzo is the primary; Chase is the cashback card.

Chase is excellent at exactly two things: 2% cashback on everyday spending (groceries, transport, fuel and eating out), and a 4.5% year-one savings rate. Neither is a reason to make it your main current account. Both are reasons to open it alongside Monzo if you have the patience to swap which card you tap at the supermarket.

If you don't want a second account at all, stay on Monzo. The cashback on offer here is real, up to £240 a year now, but only if you route your everyday spending through Chase and clear its monthly criteria. Don't let the headline number talk you into a setup you won't actually run.

You might also like

• Best second UK bank account to pair with Monzo
• Monzo vs Revolut: which is better for travel, investing and daily banking?
• Best UK bank account for travelling abroad

Useful links (official resources)

• FCA Financial Services Register: https://register.fca.org.uk/s/ (opens in new tab)
• FSCS deposit protection: https://www.fscs.org.uk/ (opens in new tab)

If you're opening a Monzo account, using a Monzo referral code gets you a mystery reward of £20, £50 or £100 when you make your first card payment.