Find the Best Bank Account for Travelling: Top Options Compared for 2024

Starling Bank is renowned for its affordable and competitive rates, making it an ideal choice for domestic and international transactions (it even made it onto our list of the best online banks in the UK). Notably, customers who make foreign transactions or ATM withdrawals abroad are not charged any fees. This contrasts sharply against many competitors, such as Revolut, which charges a 2% fee on card transactions above a set limit.

Starling is a digital-only bank based in the UK that caters to residents aged 16 years or older. In addition to personal accounts, the bank now also offers business and joint bank accounts that can be managed through its modern and user-friendly app.

Its UK banking licence ensures that deposits of up to £85,000 are protected under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. What's more, Starling pays interest of 3.25% AER on balances of up to £5,000. Alternatively, if you want to save up for a big holiday, you can put anything from £2,000 to £1 million in a 1-year fixed saver for a return of 5.36%.

Monzo is a highly sought-after option for those in search of a travel card that offers reasonable ATM fees and capped overdraft charges. With Monzo, you have the convenience of being able to spend your money anywhere and in any currency, at Mastercard’s exchange rates.

One of the most significant features of Monzo is its categorised spending system, where you can track your expenses by type of transaction. With this system, you can analyse your spending patterns, identify areas where you spend the most, and adjust your budget accordingly.

Monzo also provides the option of smart savings, where it rounds up the amounts you spend and stores the difference as savings. You can choose to keep these savings separately for better management and overview, and even earn interest on them as you save up for that special holiday.

With your Monzo card, outside the EEA, you can withdraw £200 free of charge every 30 days, after which you’ll be charged 3% per ATM withdrawal. If you have a Monzo Plus subscription, this limit rises to £400 and up to £600 with Monzo Premium. Within the EEA, you can make unlimited fee-free withdrawals as long as Monzo is your main bank account.

The Shared Tab feature makes it easy to settle up when you want to split holiday costs with others. What's more, Monzo Premium comes with added benefits for travellers, such as travel insurance, phone insurance, and discounted access to airport lounges.

Wise is revolutionising the way we send money internationally and by creating its own payment network, the bank has eliminated inefficiencies and high costs usually associated with sending global payments. There are no hidden fees, bundled services, or exchange rate markups, as the charges are shown upfront.

Wise offers its services to over 70 countries, and their fees remain consistently low and transparent, regardless of where you're sending money. When sending large sums of money, Wise offers discounted rates, with fees being lower if you send over £100,000 (or the equivalent in US dollars) in one transaction or multiple transactions in a month.

Additionally, the Wise Asset program provides a unique opportunity for investment enthusiasts. You can invest money directly from your Wise account in the iShares World Equity Index Fund, whose holdings include stocks in top-performing companies such as Apple, Microsoft, and Tesla.

If you reside in the UK or an EEA country and are looking for a convenient way to access a current account in multiple currencies while also enjoying savings on travel spending, Monese is a convenient option.

Established in 2015, Monese provides a hassle-free method of establishing a UK account without the need for utility bills, proof of address, or credit history. This makes it good for travellers who need a quick and easy banking solution.

The Monese travel money card is a prepaid multi-currency card that's ideal for holidays. You can load it with cash before you go, keep it separate from your main account, and make ATM withdrawals at the wholesale currency exchange rate.

When it comes to security, it's worth noting that Monese is not a bank, but rather an e-money firm regulated by the FCA, making it eligible for FSCS protection. Unlike traditional banks, Monese does not reinvest customer funds. Instead, it keeps them safe in a segregated account where they can’t be spent. As a result, 100% of customer funds are protected and secure, even in the unlikely event of Monese going out of business.

For more options in spending/holding euros, visit our collection of the best euro accounts in the UK.

Revolut provides convenient international financial services with no minimum deposit for opening an account and zero monthly service fees for its Standard plan. When exchanging currencies, Revolut offers competitive rates with a tight spread between the buy and sell prices, based on market rates sourced from third-party providers on weekdays.

For the first £1,000 of currencies exchanged per month, there are no fees. However, any amount above this limit incurs a charge of 0.5% on the Plus plan and 1% on the Standard plan. On weekends, fixed exchange rates are applied with a markup, regardless of the account plan.

Revolut customers have access to cashback on accommodation, and those on the more expensive plans receive additional travel benefits such as airport lounge access and insurance for car hire, medical care, trip cancellation, delayed flights, lost luggage, and winter sports.

Revolut delivers similar or even superior banking features to those of traditional banks. You can easily track your spending categorised by transaction types, such as shopping or restaurants, and set monthly budgets and spending goals for different categories. Revolut cards also support direct debits in GBP and can be set up with Apple or Google Pay in selected countries.

Payoneer is an internationally recognised online payment processor that caters to a range of clients, including freelancers, service providers, e-commerce sellers, and digital marketers.

Payoneer's local receiving accounts conveniently offer seven major currencies, namely, USD, GBP, EUR, CAD, AUD, JPY, and CNY. Its comprehensive dashboard tracks sales from multiple marketplaces and creates custom invoices, while also providing tools to pay vendors, contractors, VAT, and other taxes.

Clients can also download sales reports in PDF and Excel formats to manage their accounting needs. This makes it ideal for freelancers, agency owners and digital nomads who transact globally and need the flexibility to move funds effectively.

While currency transfers between Payoneer accounts are free and instant, you will be charged for making withdrawals and payments in foreign currencies.