Monese scraps premium account fees for dual UK/EU citizens

There has been a significant increase in demand for dual UK/EU citizenship since the Brexit referendum.

Banking service provider Monese is dropping its fees for its premium current account for individuals holding dual UK/EU citizenship.

Usually costing £14.95 per month, the new premium users will have access to the service free of charge, for life, in the company’s bid to make banking more accessible for people that have moved abroad and find it difficult to open a local account.

Monese says the plan supports those who have been through the long and expensive process of obtaining their citizenship which can be in excess of £1,000 for an adult moving to the UK.

The premium account offers its users a free UK and European IBAN account which removes all withdrawal and exchange fees. The account can be opened in two minutes and only requires a single form of ID and a video selfie to authorise. It does not require any proof for a local address.

There is a growing number of EU citizens applying for British citizenship, with over 30,000 applications between June 2016 and June 2017, according to Monese. In tandem, the company has seen a growing number of applications for its dual accounts, rising threefold from 2017 to 2018.

Since the Brexit referendum, there has been a significant spike in the number of UK citizens applying for EU passports. Ireland has received 180,000 passport applications from Northern Ireland, according to the Irish department of foreign affairs.

Norris Koppel, CEO and Founder at Monese, said in announcement: “Individuals who have undergone the costly, lengthy and often stressful process of obtaining a dual citizenship will benefit from having a simpler way to manage their finances that’s completely free.”