Monzo Business cash deposits: where, how much and what it costs

The short version

These figures come from Monzo’s business account fee information (Version 1.16, 18 August 2026) and its help pages on account limits, read on 9 October 2026. Limits can change, and individual accounts can have different ones, so the app is the final word.

Where you can pay cash into Monzo Business

Monzo is an app-only bank with no branches. Cash goes in through two networks Monzo pays to handle it for you: PayPoint, which operates in thousands of convenience stores, newsagents and petrol stations, and the Post Office counter network.

Monzo’s fee sheet covers both with one line: £1 per deposit to pay in cash at any PayPoint or Post Office. You take the cash and your Monzo Business card, and the app’s help section explains the steps at each counter, including any limit on a single deposit. Look up the steps before your first visit, because a corner-shop PayPoint and a Post Office counter work slightly differently.

Coins are a practical question for some businesses. Bags of change are easier to handle at a bank branch or a Post Office counter than at a shop till, and a business that takes a lot of coin should check with the counter before relying on it.

What Monzo charges for cash deposits

Every cash deposit costs £1 per deposit, whatever the amount and whichever plan you are on. There is no free allowance on Pro or Team; the fee sheet lists one price for everyone.

A flat fee rewards larger, less frequent deposits. Paying in £1,000 once costs the same £1 as paying in £20, so the fee is 0.1% of the first and 5% of the second. For most businesses that take some cash, a weekly trip keeps the cost to a few pounds a month.

Branchless banks generally charge for cash because the counter networks charge them. High-street business accounts price cash handling in different ways, often as a free monthly allowance followed by a charge on the amount paid in. The high-street comparison sets out how the big five price cash, and the full Monzo Business fees page puts cash in context with everything else.

Monthly cash deposit limits

The limit, not the fee, is what rules Monzo out for some businesses. Monzo’s help pages give £10,000 a month (limited companies) and £3,000 a month (sole traders).

Put another way, a sole trader can pay in roughly £692 of cash a week, and a limited company roughly £2,308. Monzo is open to sole traders and private limited companies (limited by shares); partnerships cannot open an account at all, so the limits above are the only two that apply.

What happens at the limit

Once you reach the monthly limit, Monzo will not accept more cash until the limit resets, and you are left holding it. Plan for that before it happens: either keep a second account that takes cash, or time large cash receipts so they fall either side of the reset.

The gap between the two limits is large. A sole trader’s limit is £3,000 a month against £10,000 for a company, a much higher ceiling. That is not a reason to incorporate on its own, since the tax, accounting and filing consequences matter far more, but if you are already weighing up a limited company it is one practical difference to note. The limited company accounts guide covers what changes at the bank when you incorporate.

Worked cost examples

Four illustrative businesses, with the cost calculated from Monzo’s £1 per deposit fee and the monthly limits above. A month is taken as 4.3 weeks and deposit counts are rounded.

Three lessons come out of the table. First, for a business that pays in weekly the fee is small: £48 a year is less than many banks charge for a single month of cash handling. Second, frequency is what drives the cost; the same £1,200 paid in after every job costs £144 a year instead of £48. Third, the limit is a hard stop: the daily-cash company in the last row takes £4,000 more each month than Monzo will accept, whatever it is willing to pay.

For a full annual cost that includes plan fees, transfers and card payments, use the business bank account cost calculator.

Cash, card or transfer: which costs less to accept?

For many small businesses, cash is actually the cheapest way to be paid into Monzo, as long as you bank it in batches. Card payments carry a percentage fee on every sale; cash carries one flat fee per trip to the counter.

Take an illustrative week of 30 sales averaging £25. Paid in cash and banked in one deposit, the Monzo fee is £1. Taken by card with Monzo’s Tap to Pay, Stripe charges £0.20 + 1.4% for UK and European cards, which comes to £16.50 for the week. Paid by bank transfer through a Monzo pay-by-bank link or QR code, the cost is free.

The numbers are not the whole story. Cash takes time to count and bank, has to be stored safely until you do, and must be recorded properly for HMRC, which expects complete records of all takings. Card and bank payments land with a record attached, which makes bookkeeping and accounting sync easier. Monzo’s Tax Pots move a percentage of incoming payments into a pot automatically; if you rely on them, check in the app how cash deposits are treated, and move tax money across by hand if needed.

A sensible mix for a small, cash-taking business on Monzo is to offer all three, bank cash once a week, and nudge regular customers towards pay-by-bank links. The sole trader accounts guide covers the record-keeping side.

Paying in cheques

Monzo Business accepts cheques on every plan. Its plans page lists “deposit cash and cheques” among the features included with Lite, Pro and Team, and the fee sheet lists no charge for paying a cheque in.

Without a branch, cheques are handled remotely, and the app’s help section explains the current method and any limit on the amount. Expect a cheque to take longer to clear than a bank transfer, so it is worth asking regular customers who still pay by cheque to switch to a transfer or a pay-by-bank link. Monzo’s pay-by-bank links and QR codes are free for you and the customer.

Who Monzo cash deposits suit, and who they do not

For a cash-light business, Monzo’s cash deposits are a convenience: the fee is low and there is usually a counter nearby. For a cash-heavy one, they are a bottleneck. The guide for tradespeople covers the cash, cheque and card-reader needs of builders, plumbers and electricians, and the guide for taxi and Uber drivers deals with cash fares.

Options for cash-heavy businesses

If your cash takings are above Monzo’s limits or you need to bank every day, there are three sensible set-ups.

1. A high-street account as your main account. Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest and Santander all take cash at branches and through the Post Office, often with a monthly allowance. They charge monthly fees after an introductory period. Compare them in our Monzo Business vs high-street banks page.
2. Another app-based account with Post Office deposits. Starling and some other app accounts also take cash at the Post Office, with their own fees and limits. The Monzo Business vs Starling comparison sets out the differences.
3. Two accounts. Keep a high-street account for cash, and use Monzo Business for card payments, transfers, tax pots and day-to-day spending. Moving money between them is free and instant on Monzo’s side.

If cash is a small part of your business, Monzo’s approach is simple and cheap, and the rest of the account is where it earns its place. If it is a large part, the honest answer is to look at the Monzo Business alternatives first.

If Monzo fits, opening through our link means we both get £50. That applies only if you have never had a Monzo account of any kind and you download the app, apply, add money and make a first card payment within 30 days. Paying cash into the account does not count as the qualifying card payment.