Best UK Digital Banks 2026: Monzo, Starling, Revolut or Chase?

Assume one UK adult holds £10,000 unchanged in an easy-access saver for 12 months, spends £600 each month on purchases eligible for Chase cashback, makes no ATM withdrawals, deposits no cash, pays no overdraft interest, and has no tax on savings interest in this illustration. They qualify as a new customer for the relevant introductory offers and meet Chase's cashback conditions throughout. We compare free current accounts and savings; no paid insurance, exchange or other benefits are assigned an invented cash value. Rates are variable unless described as a fixed bonus. The savings illustration assumes rates do not change.

At the Chase advertised boosted saver rate of 4.50% AER for 12 months, that is about £450 gross interest. Starling's new-customer Easy Saver advertises 5.00% AER including a six-month fixed bonus, then a 2.50% AER standard variable rate: roughly £374 over a year, modelling two half-years as £10,000 × (1.05 × 1.025)^0.5 − £10,000. Monzo's free-plan instant-access rate of 2.75% AER yields roughly £275. The chart is not a ranking of every UK savings account: it only covers these verified offers, one opening balance and a deliberately constant-rate assumption. Revolut is not assigned a made-up savings return.

At 2% on £600 eligible spend a month, Chase's current-account offer would add £144 annual cashback, below its £20 monthly cap, taking this household's illustrative Chase total to £594 before any tax. Chase requires its current and saver accounts for cashback and applies exceptions and qualification criteria; £600 of general spending is not automatically £600 of qualifying spending. If none qualifies, remove £144. Compare the banks hub for the broader landscape.

Chase's 4.50% is a 2.25 percentage-point fixed boost for 12 months on top of its 2.25% AER variable standard rate. The saver offer is available to eligible new customers within their first 31 days of joining and may be withdrawn; the underlying rate may move. Do not project £450 into year two. At the currently advertised standard rate, £10,000 held for another full year would earn about £225 instead, assuming the rate stays put. A missed application window erases the first-year advantage.

Starling's 5.00% Easy Saver offer applies to balances up to £25,000 for new customers opening an eligible personal current account from 1 October 2026 and applying for the saver within 30 days. Its 2.50% AER bonus lasts only six months. After that, the standard 2.50% AER variable rate applies. A saver already using Starling cannot assume they qualify; nor does a household with £30,000 get 5% on every pound. Chase's cashback and Starling's bonus are different kinds of incentive — spending-dependent versus balance- and time-dependent. Review their conditions before switching.

Neither institution pays its headline rate on the current account balance simply because you hold its card. Keep bill money available and move surplus to a saver if appropriate. For alternatives beyond these four brands, see the savings hub.

Monzo's plan comparison lists Free, Extra £3/month, Perks £9/month and Max from £19/month (three-month minimum for Max). Free includes the current account and, on the displayed terms, 2.75% AER variable on instant-access savings; Perks advertises 3.25% AER variable on the same product, plus a 3.65% AER Select Access option with a £500 minimum and a withdrawal restriction. Max lists 3.50% AER variable for instant access. Do not compare a restricted-access pot against a fully accessible emergency fund without noting the difference.

On the matched £10,000 instant-access balance, Perks' 0.50 percentage-point uplift over Free adds about £50 gross per year if rates stay constant. The plan costs £108 a year. Interest alone therefore leaves this household roughly £58 worse off: you need to actually use at least £58 worth of its other benefits to break even. The approximate interest-only crossover is £21,600 at a constant half-percentage-point uplift and £108 fee, before tax, eligibility or rate changes. That is an arithmetic threshold, not a recommended balance or a promise of future yield.

Monzo is attractive if its Pots, joint-account workflow, budgeting and used partner perks replace spending you would otherwise incur. Don't count a Railcard or insurance at list price if you would never buy it. Max's travel and phone insurance need an eligibility and exclusions check, not a blanket claim that they pay for themselves. Monzo's current-account page also lists a £1 fee for each PayPoint or Post Office cash deposit — a practical difference for a cash-heavy household.

The Starling travel terms state that card spending and cash withdrawals abroad carry no fee from Starling, with Mastercard conversion for foreign currency. That is a more useful comparison than declaring any premium travel subscription universally best: cash-machine operators can charge their own fees, and paying in local currency rather than accepting a terminal's GBP conversion matters. For an occasional holiday with straightforward card spending, start with the free card you already hold.

Overdraft users should compare their offered borrowing rate, not the headline example. Starling's overdraft page shows 15%, 25% and 35% EAR variable according to circumstances, with a representative 15% APR variable example. Borrowing costs can wipe out a year's saver-rate advantage quickly. A free account does not mean free borrowing. If you rely on an overdraft, eligibility and the actual quotation outrank an advertised saver bonus.

Revolut can be useful to someone receiving or spending in several currencies. But a currency wallet, a UK current account, a savings product and an investment account are not interchangeable legal claims. A UK banking licence granted to a group entity does not, on its own, establish that every balance held in the app is a deposit at that bank. Check the exact provider named on your account statement and product terms, its current fee schedule and exchange limits, including weekend rules, before paying for a tier. The provider's pricing pages were not verifiable for this comparison, so this guide does not assign Revolut an unsupported subscription price, free FX allowance, savings rate or FSCS status for all its products.

For a travel-only use case, weigh an actual exchange quote after fees against Starling's published Mastercard/no-bank-fee approach or Chase's no-markup card terms. For a large balance, establish whether it is a bank deposit or e-money first. The FCA Financial Services Register lets you check which legal entity is authorised for which activity. E-money safeguarding is not the same scheme as FSCS bank-deposit compensation. That distinction matters more than the colour of the card.

The FSCS deposit rules cover eligible money at a UK-authorised bank, building society or credit union up to £120,000 per eligible person, per institution for firm failures after 30 November 2025. Shared banking licences can mean separate brands draw on the same allowance; check the bank behind a savings product rather than counting logos. Monzo's current-account and Starling's savings pages explicitly state deposit cover. Check product-specific Chase documentation and the actual deposit-taking entity before moving a large balance. FSCS protection covers failure of an eligible deposit-taker, not an assurance that interest will stay the same, or that invested capital cannot fall. Read our deposit-protection explainer.

For the illustrated household, a free everyday account and a separate eligible saver may work better than a paid all-in-one account. Chase could serve both roles while its offers apply, but a second account provides a fallback if an app or card fails and lets you change saver when a boost expires without uprooting Direct Debits. If you want to move your salary and bills, use the Current Account Switch Service guide rather than closing the old account prematurely. Keep enough immediately accessible for bills; never chase a temporary bonus at the cost of a missed payment.