Monzo Business review: a few years on the Team plan as a limited company

Verdict, up front

Monzo Business is a good account for sole traders and small private limited companies who want to run their banking from a phone, and it is the account we chose to stay with. The free Lite plan is a real account rather than a trial. Pro adds the tools most businesses grow into. Team, which we pay for, adds the controls a company with staff needs.

Two disclosures. First, if you open an account through this site’s link and qualify, Monzo pays you and us £50 each; the referral section at the end explains how it works. Second, everything below that is not marked as first-hand comes from Monzo’s own plans page, fee information and terms, with sources and checked dates at the bottom of the page. Where Monzo’s pages contradict each other, we say so rather than picking the more flattering figure.

What it is like day to day

It is an app first and a bank second, in a good way. Almost everything happens on the phone: payments, pots, invoices, card controls, statements, adding team members. There is also a web app for payments, pots, invoices, statements and team members, which helps when you are reconciling at a desk, but the design starts from the phone and it shows.

The rhythm of a working week looks like this. A payment comes in and a notification arrives within seconds. If you are on Pro or Team and have a Tax Pot set up, a percentage of that payment has already moved into it before you open the app. Card payments notify instantly too, with the merchant name and logo, so you notice an unexpected subscription the moment it hits rather than at month end. Paying a supplier is a few taps, and UK transfers are free.

Pots are the organising idea. A pot is a separate balance inside the account, and you can have pots for VAT, for Corporation Tax, for a planned equipment purchase or simply to keep a cash buffer away from the main balance. Savings pots earn interest; ordinary pots keep money visible but out of the way. Direct Debits can be paid from a Tax Pot, so a quarterly VAT Direct Debit can come straight out of the money set aside for it.

If you want a deeper tour, our Monzo Business features guide goes through each one by plan.

Opening an account

You apply in the app, and Monzo says most accounts open the same day. Monzo accepts sole traders and private limited companies (limited by shares). You need to be 16 or over and UK based and UK tax resident only, and for a company the person applying must be a director. The company must be active (not dormant) at Companies House, with an active director.

• No personal account needed. There is no Monzo personal account needed. If you already have one, you can add a business account from the same app, but you will not qualify for the referral reward.
• People with significant control are checked. Monzo says people with significant control are verified at sign-up, so if your company has other shareholders with 25% or more, have their details ready.
• Trading businesses only. The business must be earning mainly from trading, not investments. Landlords and holding companies should check with Monzo before assuming they qualify.
• More than one business. You can run up to 3 businesses per person, each with its own account and plan.

If you are moving from another bank, Monzo supports 7 working days via the Current Account Switch Service. That moves your balance, Direct Debits and standing orders, and redirects payments sent to your old account, so clients do not need new details straight away. For a company, it is usually worth running both accounts side by side for a few weeks first, then switching once Tax Pots and any accounting feed are set up. The Monzo Business eligibility page covers the edge cases.

Plans and what they cost

There are three plans: Lite is free, Pro is £9 a month and Team is from £25 a month. New Pro customers get the first month free. There is no minimum term; downgrades refunded pro rata, so moving between plans is low-risk.

On every plan you get the core account, payments, card acceptance, savings pots and 24/7 support. Pro and Team add Tax Pots, invoicing, accounting integrations, virtual cards, connected accounts and custom categories. Team alone adds expense cards, payment approvals, bulk payments and a bigger team. Monzo says plan benefits are confirmed in the app at sign-up, so treat the app as the final word.

Our full side-by-side is on the Lite vs Pro vs Team page. In short: Lite is enough if you mainly need somewhere to get paid and pay bills. Pro earns its fee once you send invoices or want Tax Pots and an accounting feed. Team is for companies with people who spend on the business’s behalf, or, as in our case, where the savings boost and the controls are worth the difference.

Fees

Day-to-day banking is free on every plan; the costs are in cash, foreign currency and card acceptance. UK transfers are free, there is no fee on card spending abroad, and cash withdrawals are free in the UK and EEA. Outside the EEA, withdrawals are free up to £200 every 30 days outside the EEA, then 3%.

International transfers are changing. Today Monzo charges a fixed fee of up to £9 plus 0% to 1.8% (until 31 October 2026). After that, the fee is under £0.80 for most currencies, up to £11 in some cases, with a margin in the exchange rate (from 1 November 2026). That is neither clearly better nor worse: the fixed fee falls for most currencies, but the cost moves partly into the exchange rate, so compare the total you pay rather than the headline fee. Our full fee breakdown lists every charge, including both international tariffs.

A practical tip if you pay overseas suppliers or contractors: from November, get a quote in the app for a typical amount and compare the pounds that leave your account with what a specialist provider quotes for the same transfer. Quotes are held for 30 minutes, which is enough to compare. If you only make the odd overseas payment, the difference will be small either way; if you pay a monthly retainer abroad, it is worth ten minutes.

Card acceptance fees are Stripe’s, not Monzo’s. Monzo says it adds nothing on top, though it does receive a commission from Stripe.

Features worth knowing

The features that matter most are the ones that save admin: Tax Pots, invoicing, accounting sync and card acceptance without hardware. Here is the short version.

• Getting paid. Tap to Pay on iPhone and Android, no card reader, plus reusable payment links and QR codes. Pro and Team add invoices and quotes in the app or on the web, with automatic matching and a pay-by-card link.
• Organising money. Pots, scheduled payments, Insights and, on Pro and Team, custom categories and connected accounts, so you can see other bank and card accounts in the Monzo app via Open Banking.
• Cards. Pro and Team include virtual cards: 5 active virtual cards at once (9 a month, 100 a year). Team adds expense cards for staff.
• Security. instant notifications, card freeze, biometric login and a 'Monzo calling?' check.
• Switching. 7 working days via the Current Account Switch Service, so incoming and outgoing payments move across.

Monzo says it has over one million business customers, or 1 in 6 UK businesses, which suggests the feature set works for a lot of ordinary small firms.

Savings

Monzo Business pays interest on Instant Access Savings Pots, and the rate depends on your plan. The savings page advertises up to 3.25% AER (variable), with interest paid monthly and no minimum deposit. The general features page shows 1.30% AER (variable). Monzo does not publish the rate for each plan, so the honest summary is: up to the higher figure, depending on your plan; check the rate in the app before you move money.

Rates are variable and can change. If savings interest is your main reason to choose a plan, check the current rate in the app first, and compare against a dedicated business savings account.

Tax Pots

Tax Pots move a percentage of every incoming payment, moved automatically. They are on Pro and Team only, and you can have up to 3 Tax Pots per account. Monzo says customers have set aside nearly £7 billion in them.

For a sole trader, one pot at a sensible percentage covers Income Tax and National Insurance. For a limited company it is more useful still, because a company typically owes more than one tax: a VAT pot for the quarterly return, a Corporation Tax pot for the bill due nine months and one day after the year end (see HMRC’s guidance on paying Corporation Tax), and perhaps a third for PAYE or a big annual cost. You name the pots yourself; Monzo just moves the percentage you choose.

One limit to be clear about: a Tax Pot is a ring-fenced balance, not tax software. It does not calculate what you owe. Our Tax Pots guide explains how to pick percentages.

Team features

Team is built for companies where more than one person spends or approves. It includes first 6 team members included, then £5 a month per extra team member, with limited companies allowed up to 15 people and 3 admins. Sole traders can have a team of 3 (you plus 2).

• Expense cards: 5 expense cardholders as standard. Each card can carry its own limits.
• Payment approvals: spend and transfer limits per person, with admin approval above them.
• Bulk payments: up to 200 payments at once from a CSV, useful for paying freelancers or suppliers in one go.
• Access levels: give an accountant or a colleague a view of the account without full control.

The Team plan page works through the cost per person and when Pro is enough.

Accounting

Pro and Team sync with Xero, FreeAgent, Sage and QuickBooks. Monzo says the feed runs “every few hours, every single day”. Receipts and categories sync with Xero only; the other packages get transactions. Auto-exports can also send statements to Google Sheets, Google Drive or OneDrive.

There is a partner offer: 6 months' free Xero with Pro, 8 months with Team (new Xero customers, until 31 May 2027). If you are about to start with Xero anyway, that has real value; if you are already on another package, it is not a reason to switch.

Monzo also offers free Making Tax Digital for Income Tax software, built on Sage. This is aimed at sole traders and landlords. Monzo’s own page is blunt: “Have a limited company? This one's not for you.” It does not file VAT or Corporation Tax, so a limited company still needs separate accounting software for its VAT returns and annual accounts.

Lending

Monzo lends to sole traders; for limited companies the picture is unclear, and Monzo’s pages conflict. Sole traders can apply for overdrafts up to £3,000 at a representative 39.0% EAR (variable) and loans of £200 to £25,000, 19.9% APR representative over £10,000 or 29.9% up to £10,000.

For limited companies, Monzo’s overdraft page quotes £500 to £5,000 at a representative 35.9% EAR (variable), with an annual fee and a personal guarantee, but the same page also says Monzo does not offer overdrafts to limited companies, and Monzo’s help says it cannot lend to companies itself yet. Loans for companies are offered through partner iwoca: £500 to £35,000 at a representative 33.1% APR, and Monzo earns a commission from iwoca. All lending is lending is subject to status and eligibility.

Support

Support is 24/7 in-app chat, phone and email, on every plan. There is no branch and no named relationship manager, which is the trade for an app-first bank. For most small businesses the in-app chat covers routine questions; for complex issues such as a frozen payment or a compliance review, the lack of a person you know can be frustrating, and that is a common theme in public reviews of app-based banks.

For context only, Monzo as a whole is rated 4.6 out of 5 on Trustpilot (all of Monzo, not business only) and 4.9 on the App Store (one app for personal and business). Neither is a business-only score.

Safety and regulation

Monzo Business is a bank account, not an e-money account. It is provided by Monzo Bank Limited (FRN 730427), authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the FCA and the PRA. Eligible deposits are covered by the FSCS up to £120,000 per eligible depositor, and that includes money in pots.

On the account itself you get instant notifications, card freeze, biometric login and a 'Monzo calling?' check. The “Monzo calling?” check lets you confirm in the app whether someone on the phone really is from Monzo, which is a sensible defence against the most common impersonation scams. The is Monzo Business safe? page goes further, including what FSCS cover does and does not mean for a business.

The honest downsides

Every account has trade-offs. These are the ones we would want to know before opening.

• No branches. Everything is app, web or phone. If you like to sit down with someone at a bank, Monzo is not that.
• Cash costs money and is capped. Cash deposits are £1 per deposit at PayPoint or the Post Office, with limits of £10,000 a month (limited companies) and £3,000 a month (sole traders). A shop or trade that banks takings weekly will notice. Our fee breakdown covers where you can pay in.
• Limited company lending is limited and inconsistently described. Do not choose Monzo expecting an overdraft for your company.
• The MTD tool is not for companies. It covers Income Tax for sole traders and landlords. It does not do VAT or Corporation Tax.
• Some business types cannot open at all. Monzo does not accept partnerships, LLPs, PLCs, charities, CICs, companies limited by guarantee, trusts and funds.
• The savings rate depends on your plan, and Monzo does not publish the rate for each one. Check the app.
• The referral bonus is only for people new to Monzo. If you have ever had a Monzo account, including a personal one, the £50 is not available.
• International transfer pricing changes on 1 November 2026. Lower fixed fees for most currencies, a margin in the rate. Whether that is better depends on your currencies and amounts.

If you open one: a first-week checklist

The account is most useful once a few things are switched on. This is the order we would suggest to a new limited company; sole traders can skip the VAT and team steps.

1. Choose a plan deliberately. Start on Lite if you are unsure; Pro’s first month free gives you a month to test Tax Pots and the accounting feed.
2. Set up Tax Pots (Pro and Team): one for VAT if you are registered, one for Corporation Tax, at percentages your accountant is comfortable with.
3. Open a savings pot for any buffer you want to earn interest on, and check the rate the app shows for your plan.
4. Connect your accounting software (Pro and Team) and, if you use Xero, set up categories that match your chart of accounts.
5. Invite your accountant with their own access level rather than sharing a login.
6. Move regular payments across, or use the switching service to move them for you.
7. Turn on Tap to Pay or create a payment link if customers pay you by card.

Pros and cons

Who should pick something else

Monzo Business is not the right account for everyone, and we would rather you chose well.

• Partnerships and LLPs cannot open an account, so the Monzo Business alternatives page is the place to start.
• Cash-heavy businesses such as market traders, pubs or trades paid in notes are better served by a bank with branches or cheaper deposits.
• Companies that want to borrow from their bank should look at a lender that offers limited company overdrafts directly.
• Businesses that trade mainly in foreign currencies may prefer a multi-currency account, which can hold and pay out in several currencies.
• Anyone who has had a Monzo account before and is choosing mainly for a bonus should know the £50 is not available to them.

If you are weighing Monzo against its closest rival, our Monzo Business vs Starling comparison sets the two side by side.

Getting the bonus

If you are new to Monzo, opening through a referral link pays £50 to you and £50 to the person who referred you. It works on any Monzo Business plan, including free Lite. It is a link, not a code: there is nothing to type, but you need to open the link on the phone you will sign up on, before you start.

It only pays if you have never opened a Monzo account before, including a personal or joint account, and if you download the app, apply, add money and make a first card payment within 30 days. The first card payment can be a card payment of any amount, online or in person (Apple Pay and Google Pay count); ATM withdrawals, bank transfers and virtual-card payments do not count. The referral page has the full rules, and the checker in the box below tells you in five questions whether you qualify.