BUT ARE THEY SAFE?

ATOM, Starling, Tandem and Monzo are all fully licensed banks so they are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. This protects up to £85,000 of savers’ cash if the firm goes under. Revolut is not covered because it does not have a licence, but rather something called an ‘emoney licence’ for online payment companies. It means that there is not quite as much protection for customers. Laura Rettie, of comparison site Money.co.uk, says: ‘Some people are still nervous about using app-only accounts but, as long as they are licensed, they have to follow the same rules as all the big banks. There is no evidence that the challenger or app-only rivals are more vulnerable to fraud than major High Street names. It may be best to have accounts with both types bank so you can still use a branch.’