Can I Buy Bitcoin with Monese?
Yes. Crypto ownership is legal in the UK, and Monese lets you send pounds to a regulated exchange the same way you would pay any other new payee. You open an account with an FCA-registered platform, transfer GBP by Faster Payments from the Monese app, and buy on the exchange side.
The name "Monese Bank" appears everywhere and is wrong. Monese Ltd is an electronic money institution, a firm the FCA authorises to issue e-money and move payments under reference number 900960 on the Financial Services Register, so it holds your money as safeguarded funds rather than as a bank deposit. That distinction shapes the protection section below more than any fee does.
On crypto specifically, Monese sits in an unusual position among UK app accounts. Its current terms and conditions publish no crypto payment cap, no rolling allowance, and no named list of blocked exchanges, unlike other UK banks such as Monzo, which enforces a fixed £5,000 over 30 days, and NatWest, which holds customers to £1,000 a day.
Every payment still passes Monese's fraud screening, and the firm reserves the right to decline anything it reads as high risk, so a first exchange transfer may draw questions. Ours cleared without a hold once the payee details matched.
How to Buy Crypto with Monese
Buying crypto as a Monese customer means sending pounds from the app to an FCA-registered exchange and purchasing there. We use Coinbase because free Faster Payments deposits and cheap self-custody withdrawals pair well with an account where each outgoing transfer can carry its own charge.
Steps to buy crypto with Monese:
- Create and verify a Coinbase account: Sign up on Coinbase and pass identity checks (KYC) with a passport or driving licence. First-time crypto investors clear a 24-hour cooling-off period under the FCA's financial promotion rules, so open the account a day before you plan to buy.
- Check your Monese plan before funding anything: On the Pay As You Go plan, every outgoing domestic transfer costs £1.29. The Everyday plan includes 2 free transfers a month, Cashback includes 10, and Premium includes 200. One larger transfer therefore beats several small ones on the free plan.
- Copy the GBP deposit details: In Coinbase, choose Deposit, select GBP, and pick Faster Payments. Note the sort code, account number, and reference. The receiving account belongs to CB Payments Ltd, Coinbase's UK entity, and you will need that exact name in the next step.
- Send the Faster Payment from the Monese app: Add the exchange as a new payee, enter the name precisely as Coinbase shows it, and attach the reference. The minimum Monese will send is £2, and the transfer usually settles within minutes.
- Buy your asset: Once the pounds land, open Coinbase Advanced, search BTC-GBP or your pair, and place a limit order. Advanced trades on the live order book, while the simple buy screen builds a wider spread into its quote.
If a payment stalls, check the payee name and reference first, then the Monese app for a fraud prompt, since a mismatched name is the usual reason a deposit sits unmatched.
Fees, Tax and Transfer Limits for Monese Customers
Unlike most UK banks, Monese charges for the bank transfer itself on some plans, so cost planning starts inside the app.
Monese costs and limits
- Outgoing bank transfers: £1.29 per transfer on Pay As You Go under the fee schedule effective 4 May 2026. Everyday (£2.95 a month) includes 2 free transfers monthly, Cashback (£7.95) includes 10, and Premium (£14.95) includes 200, with £1 per transfer beyond each allowance.
- Minimum transfer: £2 is the smallest payment Monese will send to an external account, so a test deposit starts there.
- Account limits: Monese publishes no crypto-specific cap. General account limits vary by customer, appear in the app, and Monese can lower them to manage financial crime risk, so check yours before a large purchase.
- Debit card funding: The Monese Mastercard works on exchange card gateways, but card purchases of crypto are often processed as quasi-cash, a category Monese's terms prohibit, and Coinbase adds a card fee of up to 3.99% anyway. Faster Payments is the dependable method.
- Credit cards: Monese does not issue them, so the high-street credit card question never arises.
- Selling out: Money returning from an exchange to Monese is an ordinary incoming bank transfer, which is free on every live plan.
- Safeguarding, not FSCS: A Monese balance is e-money safeguarded under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011, not a deposit covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. If Monese failed, safeguarded funds should come back, but slower than an FSCS payout and less any insolvency costs. Crypto held on any exchange sits outside both regimes.
Coinbase fees
- GBP deposit: Free by Faster Payments and Open Banking. Debit cards cost up to 3.99%.
- Trading: Coinbase Advanced charges from 0.40% maker and 0.60% taker, falling with 30-day volume. The simple buy screen adds a spread of roughly 0.5% plus a variable fee, so use Advanced from the first trade.
- GBP withdrawal: £1 flat by Faster Payments, usually back in your Monese account within minutes.
- Crypto withdrawal: Network fee only, which keeps moving coins to your own wallet cheap on low-cost chains.
UK tax on crypto
- Capital Gains Tax: Disposals are taxed at 18% for basic-rate and 24% for higher-rate payers, on gains above the £3,000 annual exempt amount.
- Income Tax: Staking rewards, mining income, and qualifying airdrops count as income on their value when received.
- CARF reporting: Since 1 January, UK platforms have collected identity and transaction data under the Cryptoasset Reporting Framework, with the first reports reaching HMRC next year. Declare disposals through Self Assessment.
A £500 purchase from the free plan costs £1.29 at the Monese end and about £3 on Coinbase Advanced, under one percent all in. The bigger money decision is protection, since neither the e-money balance nor the exchange balance carries FSCS cover.
Best Exchanges for Monese Customers
Monese pays exchanges directly, so the tests that matter are FCA registration and free GBP funding by Faster Payments. All four platforms below meet both, and the same per-transfer plan fees apply whichever you pick.
Monese Cryptocurrency Policy
Monese runs no crypto product of any kind. There is no in-app trading, no wallet, no custody, and no stated plan to add them, so its entire crypto policy concerns which outbound payments it allows.
That policy is unusually quiet. Monese publishes no crypto allowance, no payment cap, and no blocklist of exchanges, and its restrictions sit in general terms instead. The card rules prohibit quasi-cash transactions, and Monese keeps a standing right to suspend payments or lower limits where it sees financial crime risk. A Faster Payment to an FCA-registered platform is treated as an ordinary transfer, while a card purchase on an exchange gateway can be declined by category. Nothing in the Pockit acquisition of October 2024 changed that stance.
The regulatory ground around it is moving quickly. Parliament passed the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations in February, handing the FCA full oversight of exchanges, custodians, and staking providers. Firms can apply for authorisation from 30 September, and any platform without full FSMA permission by 25 October 2027 must stop serving UK customers. Our best crypto exchanges in the UK guide tracks which platforms clear that bar.
About Monese
Monese Ltd launched in 2015 as the UK's first app-only money account, built by Estonian founder Norris Koppel after a high-street bank turned him away for lacking UK credit history. It still serves that audience, opening accounts on a photo ID and a video selfie.
The company is registered in England and Wales under number 8720992, authorised by the FCA as an electronic money institution under reference 900960, and has operated as part of the Pockit group since October 2024. Accounts come in GBP, EUR, and RON with a Mastercard debit card, cash top-ups at Post Office and PayPoint counters, and a Cash Advance product lending up to £200. The live plans run from the free Pay As You Go tier through Everyday and Cashback to Premium at £14.95 a month.
Among UK app accounts, Monese sits closest to Revolut and Wise in structure, since all three began as e-money issuers rather than banks, while Monzo holds a full banking licence. Our crypto-friendly UK banks guide maps how each treats exchange payments.
Bottom Line
Monese places fewer stated obstacles between you and a regulated exchange than almost any UK high-street bank, with no crypto cap, no allowance, and no published blocklist. The trade-offs sit elsewhere, in the £1.29 the free plan charges per outgoing transfer and in a balance that is safeguarded e-money rather than an FSCS-protected deposit.
Coinbase is our pick for Monese customers, pairing FCA registration through CB Payments Ltd with free GBP deposits, staking, and withdrawals to your own wallet. Fund it with one consolidated Faster Payment rather than drip transfers, trade on the Advanced interface to keep costs near half a percent, and move long-term holdings to self-custody. Every disposal then belongs in your Self Assessment, since HMRC now receives exchange data automatically.
