Best Online Banks in the UK: Ranked for 2026

Our pick for the best overall online bank in the UK in 2023 is Starling. A ‘Best British Bank’ winner for four consecutive years, they were founded in 2014 by Anna Boden and have gone from strength to strength ever since.

Starling launched the UK’s first ever mobile-only current account in 2017, and they offer a range of features and benefits that makes them the best all-round online bank account. As a challenger bank, Starling does not have a physical branch.

We’ve chosen Starling as our best all-rounder online bank account as they offer the most complete online banking experience. With a variety of account types available, including personal, joint, business, kids, and teens to name a few, they provide a well-rounded banking service across the board.

There are no monthly fees, or fees for withdrawals and transactions abroad, they’re compatible with most major mobile wallets, and you’ll be able to manage all your finances from their app.

The Starling app is currently rated 4.6 on the Google Play store (90k+ reviews) and 4.9 on the App Store (360k+ reviews), and they have a rating of 4.4 (Excellent) on Trustpilot. This shows that Starling are clearly popular with their customers, and their app functions well and is easy for people to use.

Starling is renowned for being one of the best digital banks in the UK, offering a range of services and earning excellent customer ratings and reviews. What sets them apart from the competition is that they offer full current account functionality with multiple extra features, including interest paid on your balance, an overdraft, and spaces to save and budget money.

They also offer third-party deals for insurance, credit scores, mortgages, pensions, savings, investments and more. This makes them the most well-rounded and functional online bank account and our number one choice for everyday banking.

While Wise technically aren’t a bank, they’re still our pick by a distance for the best online multi-currency account. They’re globally renowned for providing affordable international money transfers, and their borderless account means you can spend abroad without any hidden fees.

Launched in 2011, their primary focus has been the remittance game, and after rebranding in 2021 they’ve evolved into a multi-faceted global finance service offering ‘the world’s most international account’.

We recommend Wise’s multi-currency account as they offer a lot of flexibility and multiple ways to handle money in different currencies. With the ability to be paid like a local in 10 currencies, including GBP, USD, EUR, NZD, AUD, CAD and more, Wise’s current account is truly international

You’ll also be able to hold and convert money in over 50 currencies, more than competitors like CurrencyFair, and this service is available to individuals as well as businesses, unlike many other multi-currency account providers. Additionally, with a Wise multi-currency account you will be able to send money to over 80 countries from your account.

Wise is our pick for multi-currency accounts as they offer a range of currencies to be paid in and hold money in - and their already available network of international transfers means you’ll be able to make payments abroad to multiple destinations.

Additionally, Wise have some of the lowest fees for international transfers on the market, and are fully transparent with everything they charge for using their services. There are no monthly fees or set up charges at all - making their multi-currency account incredibly handy and easy to use.

Our pick for the best online bank account for budgeters and savers is Monzo. One of the most popular digital or challenger banks in the UK, they offer the biggest and most comprehensive network of savings accounts and features.

Founded in 2015 by former Starling Bank employees, they offer a range of modern banking features, while they also allow international money transfers - and they charge very few fees. Their base account is free to use, but Monzo also offers two premium accounts with exclusive features.

We’ve chosen Monzo as our best online bank for savers and budgeters as they offer the best features that let you manage your spending and earn on what you put aside. They give you a lot of flexibility with how you want to save and what goals you want to set.

The Monzo Savings Marketplace means you can choose partnered savings accounts with different UK banks to offer fantastic interest rates on savings - often over 1%, better than most other challenger banks. However this is only available with

However these may come with withdrawal limits and minimum deposits so be sure to check before opening an account. Additionally, Monzo also offers a savings pots feature, similar to Starling’s spaces, but with Monzo these pots can be linked to your savings accounts.

If you’re a keen saver and budgeter, Monzo is likely the best pick for you as they offer the best range of savings features and accounts. With Monzo you’ll get interest rates on your savings as you’ll be able to choose from partnered accounts with a range of UK banks.

Additionally, Monzo’s savings pots and round up features make it easy to manage your budget and put money aside effortlessly. They’re a hugely popular bank with thousands of customers rating them extremely highly, and we recommend them if you want to put your focus into maximizing your savings.

As Starling offers the best overall online bank account, it’s no surprise that we’ve also picked them as our recommendation for the best overall business account for sole traders and freelancers. They were the first mobile-only bank to launch a business account back in 2018.

We’ve chosen Starling’s business account as our favorite as it offers the most well-rounded approach to business banking with a huge range of features available at no cost. Its extra service packages, including the Business Toolkit, give you access to extra features including handling Euros or Dollars, invoices, receipts and tax reports.

Starling is our pick for freelancers as their business bank accounts are designed specifically for freelancers and sole traders. The free account offers the most features out of all their competitors, while the paid accounts add a range of extras to help you manage your business’s finances.

Our pick for international students, whether you’re from overseas studying in the UK or a UK local planning to study abroad, is Monese. They’ve been providing basic banking facilities since 2015, offering a streamlined and modern approach to personal finance.

They don’t offer all the benefits of a traditional bank but they do come with some advantages that can be particularly beneficial for overseas students. All managed through an app on your smartphone, a Monese account is good for bank transfers, international transfers, direct debits, standing orders and more.

Monese is our pick for overseas students because opening an account is quick, easy and doesn’t require documents that you might not immediately have to hand. You’ll just need an ID, no proof of address or a credit history.

You’ll also be able to deposit money directly into your account at the Post Office or a PayPoint, and students get access to a free Classic account for 12 months. However after this you will have to pay a monthly fee to keep enjoying these features, as there are some limitations on a standard Starter account.

They offer many of the same features as other mainstream online banks, including savings pots, budgeting features, and an easy-to-use app with everything in one place. Monese accounts are also good for spending money abroad, and they’re available to everyone within the European Economic Area.

If you’re an overseas student it can be hard to qualify for bank accounts in the UK, and the process can often take a while. With Monese it takes minutes, and you’ll get access to a range of useful banking features.

Being available to all individuals in the EEA, it’s an excellent choice for recent arrivals in the UK - and equally useful for UK students studying in the EEA.

GoHenry isn’t quite the same as opening a high street bank account for your kids, and those differences are what make GoHenry stand out. The app launched in 2012, and offers a free one-month trial for UK users.

Offering a way to view and manage your child’s spending and teach them positive financial habits from as early as six years old, GoHenry is our pick for online bank accounts for children and teenagers.

We recommend GoHenry as the best online banking app for kids and teenagers as it offers an educational banking experience for kids aged 6 to 18. They offer a range of useful features for parents to view and manage their child’s spending, allowing them to build positive financial habits.

Parents are notified every time the child uses their card, they can add spending limits and set up rewards and tasks for children to earn pocket money. It’s a great way to give children financial independence so they can learn about budgeting from an early age.

The app is easy to use and intuitive - it’s rated 4.6 out of 5 starts on the App Store and 3.6 on the Play Store.

GoHenry is an innovative way to teach your child about money, and give them a degree of responsibility and independence. The banking app comes with a lot of useful features designed to help you monitor and manage your child’s finances.

It can be more expensive than some other alternatives, but what sets them apart is their sheer range of features that teach financial literacy to kids - something not offered by high-street banks.

Our choice for the best joint bank account in the UK might come as no surprise - they offer the best overall bank account and the best business account for freelancers, and Starling also gets our pick for the best joint bank account.

You’ll get to enjoy most of the benefits of Starling in a joint account, and you’ll be able to set up an account in minutes - though keep in mind that for a joint account you’ll both need to open an individual account first.

We’ve picked Starling as our best online joint bank account as you’ll get most of the benefits of using a Starling account for both account holders. This means you’ll get access to a wide array of smart banking features all on a single app, like spend notifications and spaces for saving.

You’ll also get the main benefits of a joint account, in that you’ll both be able to manage household finances and pay bills from one account.

Already one of the most popular online banks in the UK, Starling’s joint account offering gives customers access to most of the same benefits. With excellent customer reviews and ratings, a huge range of features, and extra financial products like loans and credit scores from third parties, they’re the best choice for online joint bank accounts.