[LinusU]

I've been using Monese since I moved here ~2.5 years ago. It was great as I was able to open the account in the weeks _before_ moving over, and thus already had a ready to go payment card & UK Bank Account when I arrived!

[wikibob]

Monese is not a bank. They are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (Equivalent to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation FDIC in the USA).

They are an "Authorised Electronic Money Institution" like PayPal. If they go bankrupt, you will lose all your money.

https://register.fca.org.uk/ShPo_FirmDetailsPage?id=0010X000...

I'd strongly recommend you open a real banking account.

[weddpros]

"If they go bankrupt, you will lose all your money " is not entirely true, according to Monese's FAQ:

https://support.monese.com/hc/en-gb/articles/115002002229-Is...

"Unlike banks we do not re-invest customer funds and have to keep all customer money separate to our own company finances. We are required by Regulation to Safeguard all funds received from Monese customers. This guarantees that even in the unlikely event that Monese is no longer in business, all of our customers would receive 100% of their balance back"

[LinusU]

Hmm, good to know!

According to their site 100% of my funds should be covered since they are required to hold any client funds in a separate account which they cannot use for anything at all.

https://support.monese.com/hc/en-gb/articles/115002002229-Is...

Not sure what the implications are with that vs being a "real bank"