Moneybox is a beginner-friendly UK saving and investing app, and our tests rate it 4.6 out of 5.
Its standout feature is round-ups, which invest your spare change automatically. Moneybox offers Cash ISAs, Stocks and Shares ISAs, Lifetime ISAs and pensions in one app. It is FCA regulated and FSCS protected, with over 1 million UK customers. The main drawback is a monthly subscription fee, which matters more on smaller balances.
I personally ran tests on Moneybox over a 6 month period to write this Moneybox review and I have to say I was very impressed.
I’m now a proud owner of a Moneybox Cash ISA and I can see why they’ve now got over 1 million UK customers because the app is very well designed.
In this honest Moneybox review, I’ll go through Moneybox’s main features, account types, the pros and cons, plus unpack some of the customer reviews.
But first, here’s Moneybox unpacked.
Table of Contents
The award-winning personal finance app Moneybox is a one-stop shop for your personal finances with over 1 million users in the UK.
They also offer a range of products including Stocks and Shares ISA, personal pensions, Lifetime ISAs and Cash ISAs.
- Easy to use, slick mobile app
- Roundup feature through open banking
- Start with just £1
- Excellent customer ratings (Trustpilot 4.4/5)
- FCA regulated + FSCS Protected
- Small monthly subscription fee
Is Moneybox the best investing app?
I think if you’re a beginner investor, looking for a reliable ISA, savings account or personal pension then for me Moneybox is hard to beat.
I recently interviewed Brian Byrnes, Head of Personal Finance at Moneybox on The Money Gains Podcast and he spoke at length about the Moneybox pension product and how they have a team which can combine your old pensions together. Handy!
I was really impressed by their approach. Brian spoke about how Moneybox put a lot of emphasis on user experience and create useful tools for their users like their savings, mortgage and pension calculators.
Moneybox is NOT for those who want to trade a lot, do tons of research or pick a wide range of individual stocks. It’s for those who want a simple, straightforward life.
You can also get slightly higher savings rates elsewhere, but if you’re looking for a trusted provider and interested in building wealth and growing your savings then that’s where Moneybox can help.
The round-up feature is also a brilliant tool, connecting to your cards through Open Banking allowing you to save and invest your loose change.
If you’ve heard enough, you can head over to Moneybox or keep reading to learn more about Moneybox’s features.
(Capital at risk before you invest)
Moneybox Rating
- Suitable For Beginners
- Useful Features
- User Experience
- Customer Feedback
- Customer Service
- Price / Fees
Using my six-pillar system which I use to rate financial apps I have rated Moneybox 4.6 out of 5.
Moneybox scores best on its suitability for beginners and useful features.
Moneybox key features
- Easy-to-use mobile app
- Range of award-winning ISA products, savings and investing accounts available
- Personal pensions alongside a team which helps combine your old pensions
- Mortgage advice and broker product
- Round up features available to save or invest your spare change
- Open accounts from as little as £1
- A range of calculators and useful tools
- A learning hub for beginners to understand personal finance
- Moneybox is regulated by the FCA
- Moneybox has FSCS (Financial Services Compensation Scheme) protection – up to £120,000
Choose from a range of award-winning ISA products to save, invest and grow your wealth.
Invest and save from as little as £1.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Fantastic for beginners
- User friendly mobile app
- Regulated by the FCA
- High level security
- Interest on uninvested cash
- Combine your pensions
- Excellent customer reviews
- Quick and easy to set up
Cons
- Lack of investment options
- Small subscription fee
- Lack of account transfer
- Can be expensive
Is Moneybox good for beginners?
Yes, Moneybox is good for beginners. It’s specifically designed for that reason and they have features which can help you go from a terrible saver to a good one.
The ability to open an account with just £1 means that there’s a very low barrier to entry.
You can download the app via the Apple IOS or Google Play store in minutes and be investing or saving inside an ISA in just a few minutes.
What Is Moneybox?
Moneybox is an award winning, savings and investment app available on both Apple and Android devices.
It is literally what it says on the tin. A money box. It’s a similar concept to when you used to keep spare change in a jar or piggy bank but modernised.
Moneybox’s goal is to make saving and investing part of everyday life.
You can save up automatically, by setting up a regular deposit, such as a weekly or monthly one, depending on how often you get paid, and as mentioned briefly before you can start saving and investing from as little as £1.
The concept of throwing money into a piggy bank lives on as Moneybox connects your bank accounts and allows you to round up purchases to save or invest them automatically.
They do this through Open Banking and you can pause or stop this at any time if you need to.
How to open a Moneybox account?
I downloaded the app via Apple’s App Store but you can also go through the Google Play Store.
You are then taken to a page that showcases the different features available before being invited to sign up.
Signing up was easy, entering a few personal details, National Insurance number and verifying my email. I was then given five options to choose from to open an account, all of which we listed below.
Choose from a range of award-winning ISA products to save, invest and grow your wealth.
Invest and save from as little as £1.
Accounts And Features Available On Moneybox
Here follows a list of savings and investment accounts available on Moneybox:
- Stocks & Shares ISA
- Personal Pension
- Lifetime ISA (Stocks & Shares or Cash)
- Cash ISA
- Savings Accounts (Simple Saver and Notice Accounts)
- General Investment Account (GIA)
- Junior ISA
- Business Saver
Moneybox Stocks And Shares ISA Review
The Moneybox Stocks and Shares ISA allows you to invest up to £20,000 which is your full yearly ISA allowance.
There are 3 investment options available inside the ISA which are cautious, balanced and adventurous.
Each of the investment funds provides access to Fidelity funds alongside bonds too. These are essentially tracker funds.
They also provide further access to a small range of US stocks which you can purchase individually too.
You will have the opportunity to invest in big name brands, such as the likes of Disney, Facebook, Netflix, and many more.
I also liked the fact they have a range of top ETFs (exchange traded funds) and funds from brands like Fidelity, iShares and Legal & General.
You also earn 2.75% AER (variable)(correct at time of writing) on any uninvested money held in your Moneybox Stocks & Shares ISA which beats a lot of bank accounts – although better savings rates are available elsewhere if earning interest on your savings is your main goal.
There is no financial advice offered as part of the service so be sure to read into the offerings a bit more before you pick.
One thing we really liked is the investment opportunities also include a socially responsible option or ESG option which is certainly a hot topic right now, and rightly so…
Money from these funds only goes to companies and organisations that are classified as meeting high environmental, social and governance standards.
This makes it the perfect option for those of you who are environmentally conscious and don’t want their money going towards fossil fuel, or anything else that’s detrimental to the environment or climate change.
Moneybox recently won Best Investments Provider at the British Bank Awards 2023, 2024 and 2025 so this puts you in good hands!
Read more about Stocks and Shares ISAs here.
MONEYBOX PORTFOLIO PERFORMANCE
| Portfolio Option | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cautious | 3.3% | 4.2% | -5.2% | 5.3% | 5.9% |
| Balanced | 7.3% | 17.8% | -8.6% | 12.6% | 15% |
| Adventurous | 7.4% | 22.6% | -9.3% | 14.4% | 17.1% |
Moneybox Pension Review
The Moneybox Pension has undergone a significant upgrade in recent times.
If you wish to have all your accounts run through the same app, you may want to consider having your Personal Pension with Moneybox to help you live more comfortably in later life.
The Moneybox SIPP (self-invested personal pension) allows you to invest your full pension allowance of £60,000 each tax year.
The offerings for the SIPP are less extensive than the Stocks and Shares ISA. You can pick from:
- Fidelity Index World Fund
- Blackrock LifePath Funds
- Global Shares ESG
- HSBC Islamic Global Shares
The fees for the SIPP also differ to the Stocks and Shares ISA. There is no monthly subscription fee with this account and while the platform fees do start at the same 0.45%, they reduce to 0.15% on portfolios above £100,000. The fund fees also vary depending on your chosen investments.
If you’re keen to transfer pensions to Moneybox, they have dedicated pension detectives who will help you to track down all of your old workplace pensions from previous stints of employment and combine them into one single pot.
Moneybox Lifetime ISA Review
Lifetime ISAs are one of Moneybox’s most popular accounts, and they are predominantly used by first-time buyers who wish to save up for a home but they can also be used to save towards retirement too.
You can open a Lifetime ISA with Moneybox between the ages of 18-39 and pay into it until you’re 50.
Moneybox has won multiple awards for this product and rightly so as for me, it’s one of the best lifetime ISAs on the market right now.
But better yet, with a Moneybox Cash Lifetime ISA, you can save up to £4,000 every year, AND get a whopping 25% bonus from the government.
This effectively means you can get £1,000 a year towards your new home or retirement if you max it out. NOT BAD!
It’s important to remember that there are penalities for early withdrawal from a LISA if not using it towards your first home or retirement.
The withdrawal penalty is 25% so this recovers the government bonus but as it is calculated on the total amount withdrawn can actually leave you with less than you originally deposited, or significantly reduce the amount of growth you’ve benefitted from.
The Moneybox Cash Lifetime ISA has a market leading firstyear rate of 4.00% AER variable (includes 1.20% bonus), then 2.80% (correct at time of writing).
The Moneybox Stocks and Shares Lifetime ISA has 3 funds available to choose from – cautious, balanced and adventurous – and the same £1 subscription fee and 0.45% platform fee as the standard Stocks and Shares ISA.
(Capital is at risk if you invest your Lifetime ISA)
Moneybox Cash ISA Review
Moneybox recently launched a Cash ISA in 2023 to add to their range of ISA products.
You need to deposit a minimum of £500 to open a Moneybox Cash ISA and you currently receive 4.32% AER variable (includes 0.87% bonus for first 12 months)(correct at the time of writing).
This interest rate includes a bonus rate for the first 12 months and you can withdraw up to 3 times every 12 months without impacting your rate.
The Cash ISA falls into the £20,000 ISA allowance you get each tax year across various ISA types.
You can transfer any ISAs you hold with other providers into a Moneybox Cash ISA from within the app making it really easy to put your money in the right places for you.
Moneybox Savings Account Review
Moneybox offers a range of savings accounts in contrast to the Cash ISA which can be useful for different short term savings goals and indeed any who struggle to save money.
Alongside their Simple Saver account which is just a regular savings account they offer fixed notice savings accounts too.
This means you can lock up your money with their notice accounts for a period of time earning interest by doing so.
The fix notice periods include:
- 32 days
- 90 days
- 95 days
The longer fix notice periods can get you a better interest rate but it is important to check this beforehand and make sure you won’t need the money within those timescales.
Notice accounts are a great option for savers as they discourage you from withdrawing.
Moneybox Investing Account Review (GIA)
For those who open one of these accounts it’s important to note that these accounts are subject to capital gains tax.
Moneybox Junior ISA Review
The fees for investing in a Junior Stocks and Shares ISA are quite similar to the standard Stocks and Shares ISA. There is a monthly subscription fee of £1 and a platform fee of 0.45% plus fund fees depending on your chosen investments.
Choose from a range of award-winning ISA products to save, invest and grow your wealth.
Invest and save from as little as £1.
Moneybox Mortgages
Moneybox is partnered with First Mortgage, one of the UK’s longest-established, fee-free mortgage brokers, so that you can check how much you can borrow and secure a mortgage in principle directly through the app.
They have in the past won Best First-time Buyer App at the What Mortgage Awards 2022 and 2023.
Through Moneybox’s partnership with First Mortgage, you’ll get:
- Fee-free, impartial advice, saving hundreds in broker fees
- An award-winning, long-established service with thousands of five-star Trustpilot review
- Access to over 12,000 mortgage deals across 90+ lenders, including exclusive offers
- Personalised support with a dedicated broker who finds the right deal for you, plus a case manager who helps with paperwork and chasing your solicitor and lender
- Online and phone support 6 days a week
Moneybox Round-up Review
Moneybox’s round ups deserved it’s own section as I think it’s a big deal.
As mentioned earlier, Moneybox’s aim is to make saving and investing part of the consumer’s everyday life.
And one of the ways they aim to do this is allowing you to do this through rounding up your everyday purchases.
For example, whenever you make a purchase on your card, you can tell it to round up the amount to the nearest pound and invest the spare change.
They do this through Open Banking which connects to your bank account and allows them to view your purchases. The money is then taken via Direct Debit.
Take your morning coffee, for example. If you spend £2.60, you can round it up to £3 and invest the 40p change.
I’ve been testing this out recently and in my first month I invested £38.90 and in my second month £64.30 (I was spending more as I was on holiday).
The main thing here was that I barely noticed it. One of the things I loved as a kid was building up a change pot, so getting back to some sense of this was a pretty cool experience for me.
This is a brilliant way to get started with contributing to your saving and investment accounts as it takes money that you will barely notice has gone and start building a pot of money which can work for you.
Over long periods of time these small amounts really do add up and if you’re investing then they can grow into substantial amounts in the long run.
Moneybox say that their average customer saves £12.37 a week in roundups which is a great start for most people to build a habit.
You can also choose whether to round up all transactions or choose which spending you want to round up if you prefer which I think is a really neat feature, although I’d say rounding everything up is best to get the long term benefits.
Moneybox Customer Reviews
The majority of the reviews of this app are on Apple’s App Store where they’ve had over 69,000 reviews, and impressively still managed to earn an average customer rating of 4.8 stars out of 5.
On Google Play there have been over 21,300 customer reviews, and the average customer rating comes out at 4.7 stars out of 5, which is only slightly less than the rating on Apple’s App Store.
On TrustPilot, there are 3,605 reviews so far, and an average customer rating of 4.4 stars out of 5.
Looking at the reviews the common theme is praise of the user interface and how easy it is to track your money. They also praise how helpful it is when making investment decisions with clarity being a big deal for users.
When customers do complain it is usually because they have lost money when investing, which can happen, and because the money can take a couple of days to come through when you want to withdraw it.
Famous money saving expert, Martin Lewis, has praised Moneybox’s market-leading Lifetime ISAs, but has advised viewers not to use them as pension pots, and to use them primarily for saving to buy a home.
Although Moneybox does have the tag line “Turn your money into something greater”, it does concede that investing money has an element of risk, and they clearly state in their blurb that:
“All investing should be regarded as longer term. The value of your investments can go up and down, and you may get back less than you invest.”
Moneybox Fees and Charges
Moneybox’s fees are pretty straightforward.
They have a subscription fee for the majority of account types which is just £1 a month – this is free for the first 3 months.
You also get charged a yearly platform fee when you invest which is 0.45% – the fee is charged monthly but split up.
Also if you invest in funds which you kind of have to on Moneybox there’s fund fees depending on what you choose which are between 0.12 – 0.58%. You’d be charged fund fees for investing in these funds on any platform though – these aren’t Moneybox specific fees.
There are also currency conversion fees to take into account if you’re buying or selling US stocks from the UK which is 0.45%.
There is a monthly subscription fee of £1 which is free for the first 3 months or free if you have over £5,000 in a Cash ISA or Simple Saver.
There is also the same ongoing platform fee as the Stocks and Shares ISA which is 0.45% and charged monthly.
Lastly if you have a pension the Moneybox fees are slightly different. There’s no subscription fee but the 0.45% platform fee is still in place and so is the fund fees too depending on where you invest.
This does however reduce to 0.15% if your pension is above £100,000.
Alternatives to Moneybox
Moneybox vs Trading212
Moneybox and Trading212 do have some similar offerings but they are largely different apps for different purposes.
Trading212 is mostly focused on trading and investing and while they do have an excellent Stocks and Shares ISA and Cash ISA, they do not offer Lifetime ISAs or Pensions.
However, Trading212 offers a much wider selection of funds and individual stocks compared to Moneybox so if that is your preference, Trading212 might be the app for you.
You can read our full Trading212 review here.
Moneybox vs InvestEngine
Moneybox and InvestEngine also serve slightly different purposes. InvestEngine is investing only and while they do have both a Stocks and Shares ISA and SIPP, there are no savings account offerings and investing is limited to a selection of ETFs.
Moneyfarm is investing focused only and is what’s called a robo-advisor where they take care of everything for you.
You can read our full InvestEngine review here.
Moneybox vs Plum
I would say Plum and Moneybox are very similar. Plum is excellent for those who want insights into their spending.
It uses AI to analyse your savings and will deposit money into your savings pots based on what you can actually afford.
Plum offers a Cash ISA, Lifetime ISA, Stocks & Shares ISA and SIPP as well as savings accounts, so they really do compete with Moneybox on their offerings.
You can read our Plum review here.
Moneybox vs Nutmeg
Moneybox is similar in some ways with their cautious, balanced and adventurous approach but you can still DIY some investments alongside this which you can’t do on Nutmeg.
You can read our Nutmeg review here.
Moneybox vs Chip
Chip is also very similar to Moneybox in a lot of ways.
They offer a range of ISA products and have high interest rates on their easy access savings accounts.
Like Plum they also use AI to analyse your income and spending to predict how much you can afford to save and invest.
You can read our full Chip review here.
Moneybox vs Moneyfarm
Moneybox is a very different product overall to Moneyfarm so they’re difficult to compare and for very different investors.
Moneyfarm is investing focused only and is what’s called a robo-advisor where they take care of everything for you.
You also need a £500 deposit to open an account.
You can read our Moneybox vs Moneyfarm review here and our Moneyfarm investing review here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Moneybox Safe?
Keeping your savings and investments with Moneybox is completely safe and secure. It is also regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
What’s more, your savings and investments are also covered by the UK government’s Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) up to the value of £120,000. This is there if a fund or savings account provider goes bust.
Moneybox also uses bank level 256-bit TLS encryption for all your personal information. So when asking if Moneybox is safe we can safely answer yes.
Are Moneybox fees high?
The investment fees are relatively painless, albeit slightly on the high side when looking at their competitors, coming to just £1 a month app subscription, plus 0.45% of the value of your investments each year.
There are also fund provider costs, and these can range between 0.12% and 0.58%.
These aren’t rates that Moneybox controls and varies between the funds you select.
The good news is that you don’t have to pay any subscription fee for the first 3 months, and there are no account fees whatsoever for the Cash Lifetime ISA.
Who owns Moneybox?
Moneybox is owned by Ben Stanway and Charlie Mortimer who founded the company back in 2015.
The business raised funds for expansion recently, raising approximately 70 million pounds.
What does Martin Lewis say about Moneybox?
Martin Lewis likes Moneybox, recently stating that their Lifetime ISA is a great product for first-time buyers.
Martin frequently tells people to open a Lifetime ISA, often using Moneybox as an example, with just £1 as the account needs to be open for a year before claiming the bonus.
His blog Money Saving Expert is also very complimentary of Moneybox and often features Moneybox in the list of top paying Cash ISAs thanks to their competitive rates.
How much can you pay into Moneybox?
You can pay up to £20,000 per tax year into Moneybox’s ISAs.
There is a limit of £85,000 on the savings accounts which is also the maximum you can pay in at once.
Is Moneybox the only LISA provider?
Moneybox is not the only LISA provider. The LISA is a government-backed scheme rather than a Moneybox or any other platform specific scheme.
Can you invest in individual stocks with Moneybox?
Moneybox does have a limited selection of individual stocks available to invest in. These are typically large US stocks which are popular investments and can be invested in either automatically every week or as one-off lump investments. They also offer fractional shares so you can invest from as little as £5.
Is Moneybox a bank?
No, Moneybox is not a bank.
Moneybox keeps it’s own money away from customers money and all Moneybox savings products use third-party banks on customers’ behalf.
These banks all benefit from FSCS protection up to the value of £120,000 per bank in the event of any failure.
You can read Moneybox’s full FSCS disclaimer here.
How do I withdraw from Moneybox?
This depends on which product you want to withdraw from.
Moneybox Stocks and Shares ISA or General Investment Account (GIA)
You can withdraw from these accounts at any time without penalty, provided any investments are sold with the funds fully settled and available.
For starter funds, you can simply go to Settings > Withdraw.
For individual investments, you will need to select the ones you want to sell and wait for the transactions to complete.
Moneybox Pension
Moneybox SIPP customers can only access their funds when they reach the age of 55 (57 from 2028)
Moneybox explain the process for accessing pension funds here.
Moneybox Lifetime ISA
Lifetime ISA funds can only be withdrawn to purchase your first home or for retirement. Any other withdrawals will be subject to a 25% charge.
You can read more about the Lifetime ISA withdrawal process here.
Moneybox Junior ISA
Junior ISA funds can only be withdrawn by the child once they reach the age of 18.
Moneybox Review - Final Thoughts
So, in summary, the Moneybox app has a lot going for it, especially when it comes to convenience.
I have used the platform for several years and have enjoyed the experience so far.
I think it’s doing a great job of attracting beginners and showing them the possibilities. Any company that is doing its bit to teach others about investing earns a big tick in our books.
It’s also good how the investment options put the level of risk in your own hands, so you can be as cautious or daring as you like.
It’s important to note that investing does come with it’s own risks, so be sure to be comfortable with that before making any investment.
Moneybox does have some fees, but the excellent customer ratings and app experience really do speak for themselves and perhaps justify the fee.
I hope you enjoyed my Moneybox review, and be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Similar brands for you to check out before you decide.
Or you can check out our best investing apps page or best money saving apps page for a wider selection.
Share with your friends
Disclaimer: Content on this page is for informational purposes and does not constitute financial advice. Always do your own research before making a financially related decision.
