The Best UK Bank Account for Travelling Abroad With No Fees

Picking the best bank account for travelling UK-based, and doing it without handing a slice of every purchase to your bank, comes down to two numbers most people never check: the foreign transaction fee on card payments, and the fee on cash withdrawn from an overseas ATM. A traditional high-street current account can charge around 2.75% on both, which quietly adds £27.50 to every £1,000 you spend. Several fee-free accounts wipe that out entirely, and you can open most of them from your phone in an afternoon. The catch is that “fee-free” means slightly different things at each one, so the right pick depends on how you actually travel.

The quick answer

For most people, Starling and Chase are the two accounts to reach for. Starling charges no fee on card spending or cash withdrawals anywhere in the world, with no monthly cap and no conditions, which makes it the simplest card to carry. Chase matches the fee-free spending, adds fee-free ATM withdrawals up to a monthly cap, and layers cashback on top for new customers. If you would rather keep your existing bank, a Wise or Currensea card sits alongside it and handles the foreign spending cheaply. Carrying two cards from different networks is the genuinely smart move, so a single blocked card never strands you.

Starling: the no-strings traveller’s card

Starling is the account to beat for travel. There is no foreign transaction fee on card purchases, no fee on ATM withdrawals abroad, no monthly cap on either, and no weekend surcharge. You get the Mastercard exchange rate with no markup, seven days a week, wherever you are. It is a full UK current account with its own banking licence, so it can be your main account rather than a top-up card.

The only thing Starling does not do is pay cashback or a headline savings rate to rival Chase. If your priority is a card you can use anywhere without reading the small print first, Starling is the cleanest answer.

Chase: fee-free spending plus cashback

Chase offers fee-free debit card spending abroad using the Mastercard exchange rate, and fee-free ATM withdrawals up to £1,500 per month. New customers earn 1% cashback on everyday spending, at home and abroad, for the first 12 months, and there is no monthly account fee.

The withdrawal cap is generous enough that most holidaymakers will never reach it, but heavy cash users on a long trip should keep it in mind. Chase UK is a trading name of J.P. Morgan Europe Limited and is FSCS protected, so your money carries the same protection as any high-street bank. For a fuller head-to-head, see our Chase vs Monzo comparison.

Monzo: great for spending, watch the cash cap

Monzo charges no foreign transaction fee on card payments and passes through the Mastercard rate with no markup. Cash withdrawals are where you need to read the detail. On the free plan you can withdraw up to £250 every 30 days abroad fee-free, after which a 3% fee applies. Within the UK and EEA the fee-free allowance is higher.

That makes Monzo excellent for card-heavy trips and less ideal if you rely on cash in non-EEA countries. If you already bank with Monzo, our Monzo review covers the wider account, and Monzo vs Starling pits the two app banks directly against each other.

First Direct: a fee-free option from an established name

First Direct scrapped its foreign transaction fee in June 2023, having previously charged 2.75%, so its debit card now works abroad at the same rates as at home. It is a good fit if you want a fee-free travel card from a longer-established bank with a strong reputation for customer service, rather than an app-only challenger. It also runs a well-regarded switching offer from time to time, so it can be worth checking before you open anything.

Revolut: fee-free with weekday and weekend rules

Revolut’s Standard (free) plan lets you spend up to £1,000 a month abroad on weekdays with no fee, after which a 0.5% charge applies, and it adds a small markup on exchanges at weekends. Fee-free ATM withdrawals are capped at £200 a month before a 2% fee kicks in. It is a capable travel card, especially on paid plans, but the weekend markup and lower cash cap make it less of a set-and-forget choice than Starling for most casual travellers.

Wise and Currensea: keep your bank, lose the fees

If you do not want to switch banks, two non-bank cards let you spend abroad cheaply on top of your existing account.

Wise gives you a multi-currency account and card with no foreign transaction fee, the real mid-market exchange rate, and fee-free ATM withdrawals up to £250 a month before a percentage fee applies. It is particularly strong if you hold or move money in several currencies.

Currensea links to your existing current account through Open Banking and charges the spending straight to it by Direct Debit, bypassing your bank’s foreign fees. It adds a flat 0.5% on top of the Mastercard rate on its free plan, so it is not quite as cheap as Starling, but it means you keep your familiar account and simply stop paying the old 2.75%.

How to choose

Match the account to how you travel. If you want one card that just works everywhere with no conditions, open Starling. If you spend enough to value cashback and rarely need large cash withdrawals, Chase is excellent. If you want to keep your current bank, add a Wise or Currensea card rather than switching. Whichever you pick, carry a backup card on a different network (a Mastercard and a Visa, ideally) and tell your bank you are travelling if the app has a travel setting, so a fraud block does not catch you out mid-trip.

You can compare the wider field in our guide to the best digital banks and banking apps in the UK. For a sense of how these providers hold up on service, Which? publishes an annual best and worst banks survey worth a look before you commit.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best bank account for travelling abroad from the UK with no fees? Starling is the strongest all-round choice: no foreign transaction fee on card spending or ATM withdrawals, no monthly cap and no weekend surcharge, seven days a week. Chase is the best alternative if you also want cashback, and Wise or Currensea suit anyone who prefers to keep their existing bank.

Do Starling and Chase charge fees for using cash machines abroad? Starling charges no fee on overseas ATM withdrawals, with no monthly cap. Chase offers fee-free withdrawals up to £1,500 per month. Both use the Mastercard exchange rate with no added markup on card spending.

Can I use Monzo abroad for free? Yes for card payments, which have no foreign transaction fee. Cash is limited: the free plan allows up to £250 of fee-free ATM withdrawals every 30 days outside the EEA, after which a 3% fee applies, so Monzo suits card-heavy trips better than cash-heavy ones.

Is it better to use a debit card or take cash abroad? A fee-free debit card usually beats airport bureau de change rates and carrying large amounts of cash. Take a small amount of local currency for arrivals and small vendors, then spend on a fee-free card and withdraw cash only when you need it.

Should I carry more than one card when travelling? Yes. Carry two cards from different networks, ideally one Visa and one Mastercard, kept in separate places. If one is lost, blocked for fraud or not accepted by a machine, the other keeps you covered.

Do these accounts protect my money? UK bank accounts including Starling, Chase, Monzo and First Direct are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, protecting eligible deposits up to £85,000 per person, per banking licence. Wise and Currensea are not banks, so money held with them is safeguarded rather than FSCS protected; check how each holds your funds before keeping large balances there.