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A new smartphone-based digital account called Bu00f3 has launched, which comes complete with a bright yellow card and backing from UK banking giant NatWest.
It's the latest development as big high street banks try to keep up with popular fintech (financial technology) start-ups, offering popular features, such as real-time categorised spending updates and budgeting help.
But is it any good?
Here, we explain what Bu00f3 (pronounced like 'go') has to offer, and how it fares against its biggest challenger bank rivals: Monzo and Starling.
While it has a separate chief executive, Bu00f3 uses NatWest's banking licence to cover the money stored in your Bu00f3 account.
Rather than a full current account, Bu00f3 has been designed as a 'second' account to track your spending money each month - and although you get a debit card it operates more like a prepaid card.
Its website says you should 'leave your bills and direct debits where they are'. That's because it's not possible to pay bills or direct debits through Bu00f3, nor can you have your salary paid into the account. This is much like the initial incarnation of Monzo.
Cash held with Bu00f3 is protected up to £85,000 under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).
However, the compensation covers each banking institution, rather than each bank. So, in order for your cash to be fully covered you should make sure you have no more than £85,000 collectively saved in Bu00f3, NatWest and RBS accounts.
Royal Bank of Scotland group reportedly once looked into putting in an offer to buy Monzo, before deciding to develop its own app-based bank.
According to the latest current account switching data from Bacs covering 1 April to 30 June 2019, NatWest, Monzo and Starling were among the few banking brands who made positive net gains.
Contactless debit card | Overdraft | Paying in | Fees | Earning interest | |
Monzo | Yes | Yes | Bank transfer, salary payments, cash deposits via PayPoint | 3% charge on ATM withdrawals abroad after the first £200, each month | Several savings pots that pay up to 1.4% AER |
Starling | Yes | Yes | Bank transfer, salary payments, cash deposits via Post Office | No | Current account interest of up to 0.5% AER on balances up to £2,000; 0.25% AER on £2,001-£85,000 |
Bu00f3 | Yes | No | UK Faster Payments scheme bank transfer | After two free card replacements: £5 each. | None |
Monzo and Starling also offer the card freezing options, real-time transaction updates and spending categorisations.
More recently, Monzo has branched out into offering personal loans, while Starling has introduced a euro bank account where you can hold, send and receive euros for free.
Monzo is also delivering on customer satisfaction, topping our best bank tables for 2019.
In terms of the features it offers, there doesn't seem to be anything Bu00f3 offers that its competitors don't already do.
Some people may also feel restricted by the fact that it currently only accepts bank transfers.
Plus, while there are features in place to help you save, you don't get any interest on the money you've set aside. And you can currently only make one 'piggy bank' account; whereas apps like Monzo allow you to make multiple accounts to save for different things at the same time.
However, if you want to use things like real-time payment updates and budgeting features, but don't want to chance your arm with a banking brand you may not have heard of before, the fact that Bu00f3 is backed by NatWest could make it more enticing.
Editor's note: This article has been updated to reflect forthcoming changes in Bu00f3's terms and conditions, which have removed the cash withdrawal charges that had been in place while the product was tested.