Is the Zopa Biscuit bank account any good?

Zopa has been a licence bank for number of years now, but Biscuit is its first ever current account.

There’s been a fair amount of fan-fare leading up to the launch of the account, which Zopa seems to think fills a gap in the market. It hasn’t been as bold as Chase’s “blow the competition out of the water” statement, but Zopa feels Biscuit offers something new.

Having spent some time with the account, I’m not convinced. It’s a solid first offering but isn’t going to threaten the likes of Monzo.

What is Zopa Biscuit?

Biscuit is Zopa’s new personal current account. After trialing a few different digital account, Biscuit is one that Zopa has decided to roll out to the wider public. The account is free and is managed entirely via the Zopa mobile app.

Zopa Biscuit account features

We’re used to new accounts coming packed with features. Biscuit is no different. Here’s the low-down on what it has to offer.

Interest on balances

Zopa Biscuit offers 2% AER on deposits. This beats out Starling which previously removed its interest rate offer, but isn’t a patch on the best savings rates around.

Regular saver

While the interest on the account balance might not be anything to write home about, the 7.1% AER regular save might be. In fact I’ll go out on a limb and say this is probably the account’s headline feature.

This is one of the highest rate around for a regular saver account, and maxing out the £300 a month would net you £137 over the year.

The rate is variable though, so can and will change in the future, but for now it’s the top rate out there.

Zopa Biscuit cashback

With Chase limiting its cashback, I was pleased to discover the new Biscuit account offers 2% cashabck on bills. All is not as it seems though, as that cashabck is limited to the first £1,500 spent on bills each year.

That means the maximum cashback you could earn is just £30 a year, or broken down monthly – £2.50 a month, barely enough for a packet of biscuits.

Trading 212 with its 0.5% (often boosted to 1.5%), allows you to earn up to £15 a month from your cashabck. Even with Chase’s new gimped cashback offer, most would still earn more than Zopa’s £2.50

Is the Zopa account any good for travel?

Zopa’s Biscuit account offers fee free foreign spending, with currency conversion based on the Visa card rate. You can withdraw up to £200 from ATMs abroad each month. Anything over that is charged at 2%.

Others such as Trading 212’s debit card, and Monzo, allow £400 a month fee free. The former also uses the interbank exchange rate, which tends to be slightly better than the Visa or Mastercard rate.

Nevertheless, Zopa offering fee free foreign spending is plus.

What are the fees and limits

Zopa’s Biscuit account is free to use, but there are a number of transaction limits to be aware of. These are represented in the table below:

How to open a Zopa Biscuit account

Having recently come out of beta testing, the Biscuit account is now available to the masses. You’ll need to be over 18 years old, and be tax resident in the UK to open an account, but process is pretty quick and easy.

To open an account, you’ll need to download the updated Zopa app from your devices app store.

Once you’ve done that, it’s just a case opening the app, tapping on open an account, and running through the various questions and security checks. My account was open in less than 5 minutes, but the exact timing just depends on how long the security checks take.

As part of the process Zopa will perform a soft search on your credit report. This is for identification purposes. It won’t show up to other organisations, and won’t affect you getting credit in the future.

Is Zopa’s Biscuit Safe?

Zopa is a well known brand. It’s been offering low cost loans and saving accounts for over a decade. It quietly gain its banking licence back in 2020, and as such your deposits enjoy full FSCS protection up to £85,000.

Zopa iteself enjoys a 4.6/5 rating on Trustpilot, and 4.9/5 on the App Store. Since the current account is brand new those rating will be in reference to Zopa’s other product offerings, but they still provide an indication into how well Zopa is received by its customers.

Is Biscuit worth it?

Zopa’s new account has some nice features but nothing that has bee done before. A solid start, but unless you’re keen on the regular save, there’s compelling reason to open an account.

Trading 212 has better cashback rates, and is better abroad. Monzo has more features, and acclaimed budgeting tools that Zopa doesn’t match, and its saving rates are bettered elsewhere.

In a way it reminds me of Kroo when it first released a current account in 2022. Its main claim to fame once being mentioned by Martin Lewis.

I don’t want to be too negative, as the account is still new and there’s likely more to come. After all it took Chase a year before they even offer direct debits. Either way, I’m keen to see how it develops in the future.

What should you try instead?

Trading 212 – its debit card offers 0.5% cashabck on spending, better FX rates, higher interest on deposits. The Card distributed by Trading 212, issued and provided by Paynetics (UK), and is available with an Invest Account, but you don’t actually have to invest anything to use it.

Monzo – better features, and budgeting, high interest savings accounts, plus up to £10-50 for opening an account via our link

Chase – better for spending aboard, and even its limited cashback will net you more than Zopa’s Biscuit.