Queues are cool it seems. Whether it\u2019s snaking around the corner from the latest pop-up bakery or filing towards some artisanal pizza place, Gen Z loves a line. But would you queue for a new bank? That\u2019s exactly what thousands of people in Ireland are doing. <\/p>\n
British challenger bank Monzo<\/a> hit Irish shores last year and is now offering current accounts. But you\u2019ll have to get in line. There were about 8,000 in the queue, but the fintech says numbers are whittling down. <\/p>\n Monzo is giving a \u20ac25 bonus to those on the waiting list who receive an invitation and then activate their card. Refer a friend and they will be bumped up the line. So who is Monzo, and is their current account worth the hype?<\/p>\n Monzo is the latest \u201cneobank\u201d to offer a current account in Ireland. It follows the likes of Revolut<\/a>, Bunq<\/a> and N26<\/a> \u2013 all fintechs with no bank branches and so no facility for direct cash lodgements. Like them, Monzo is a fintech \u2013 so it\u2019s a banking institution all right, but with an outsize tech department. <\/p>\n These neobanks are digital natives, born online, unencumbered by a bricks-and-mortar heritage. With these being sired by techies, there\u2019s been no getting bogged down in re-engineering legacy processes and culture. The pillar banks in Ireland talk about having an app: neobanks are their apps. <\/p>\n The neobanks have specialised in fast, digital-first banking from day one. Monzo has had a few run-ins with the regulators, however. It was fined \u00a321 million last year by the UK\u2019s Financial Conduct Authority for failures in its anti-financial crime processes between 2018 and 2022. <\/p>\n In its rapid growth spurt, Monzo had allowed thousands of risky customers, some citing implausible \u201cBuckingham Palace\u201d and \u201c10 Downing Street\u201d addresses, to open accounts. Revolut was also fined \u20ac3.5 million last year over money laundering failures.<\/p>\n That\u2019s in the past, says Monzo, which has grown to 14 million customers in the UK, including more than 800,000 businesses. One in five UK adults now banks with Monzo and one in seven businesses, it says. <\/p>\n Do Monzo\u2019s customers like its current account? <\/p>\n It was voted number one for quality of service in the UK in a British Competition and Markets Authority survey published last year. Northern Ireland customers ranked it number one for personal current accounts, with Bank of Ireland and AIB coming 11th and 12th out of 12 banks in the poll. <\/p>\n Revolut, Bunq and N26 are licensed by the Lithuanian, Dutch and German central banks, respectively. Monzo is the first digital bank to secure a full European banking licence through the Central Bank of Ireland. It has opened its European headquarters here. <\/p>\n Monzo customers, like those with Revolut, will have an Irish Iban. Deposits, as with all the neobanks here, are protected up to \u20ac100,000. <\/p>\n Monzo has most of the neobank basics \u2013 including free current account banking, advanced budgeting and savings tools, instant payments and split-bill features. <\/p>\n It offers instant access savings too, at a rate of 1.6 per cent, which compares with 2.01 per cent at Bunq or 0.25 per cent with AIB. You\u2019ll get better savings rates through the likes of Raisin and MoCo. <\/p>\n Free current account<\/p>\n Are you paying fees for a personal current account? You don\u2019t have to. Monzo, like Revolut, Bunq and N26, doesn\u2019t charge daily banking fees. Monzo doesn\u2019t charge for ATM withdrawals in Ireland either, though some other neobanks do over a certain limit. <\/p>\n So for those used to paying monthly or quarterly fees to the pillar banks here, there are savings.<\/p>\n AIB personal current account customers pay an \u20ac18-a-year maintenance fee, plus a hefty 20 cent charge for every online transaction, direct debit, chip-and-pin transaction, standing order and self-service lodgement. They pay 35 cent for every ATM withdrawal. <\/p>\n Bank of Ireland charges a flat fee of \u20ac6 a month, or \u20ac72 a year in maintenance fees. <\/p>\n PTSB customers pay a hefty \u20ac8 account maintenance fee every month or \u20ac96 a year, though you can earn five cent every time you use your debit card to pay for something in store or online up to a maximum of \u20ac5 a month, which could go a way towards offsetting that fee. <\/p>\n Some Irish banks say fees go towards keeping branches open and investing in their apps, but younger customers will have no history with branch banking and are used to neobanks\u2019 vastly superior apps. <\/p>\n Why pay \u20ac70 or more a year for a personal current account, and double that if there are two current accounts in the household? <\/p>\n Monzo\u2019s basic business account offers free banking too, which will appeal to sole traders and small limited companies. <\/p>\n Like N26 and Revolut, it doesn\u2019t charge for using your debit card for purchases in a foreign currency, which is useful for those travelling abroad. <\/p>\n The pillar banks will charge you a 1.75 to 2 per cent foreign exchange transaction fee for purchases made with your debit card outside the euro zone, such as in the UK, which can really add up. Some will also charge a minimum fee on every transaction.<\/p>\n Despite all this, most of us are still clinging to the pillar banks. <\/p>\n Instant payments <\/p>\n Instant payments were the gateway drug to neobanking for most Irish people. Revolut has amassed a whopping three million customers here on the back of this feature, including a third of all children in Ireland. From nights out, sports club collections, end-of-year teacher presents to kids\u2019 pocket money, \u201cRevolut me\u201d has become a routine instruction.<\/p>\n Monzo offers instant transfers too, though the usefulness of this feature will be limited by how many Monzo customers there are in your network.<\/p>\n It will be hard to shake Revolut\u2019s dominance of instant payments here. And now there\u2019s Zippay too. That\u2019s the instant payments system launched last week by the pillar banks \u2013 AIB, Bank of Ireland and PTSB. \u201cGood morning Irish banks, welcome to 2017,\u201d as one Reddit poster quipped. <\/p>\n The one big advantage for Zippay is that it\u2019s in the app of these three banks, so it has potential to reach more than five million customers. And using it will spare them having to keep toggling to Revolut. Monzo will struggle to compete with Revolut and Zippay on instant payments. <\/p>\n