Banking Without Borders

Technically Money
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Banking Without Borders is a podcast about modern money — from digital banks and cashback cards to savings, credit cards, FX, global accounts, and the financial products reshaping how people manage money in the UK and beyond. We focus less on hype and more on what actually matters: who a product is for, how it makes money, where the trade-offs are, and whether it’s genuinely worth using. If you want clear thinking, real-world context, and fewer buzzwords and less BS when it comes to banking, cards, and personal finance, this is the podcast.

  1. 3d ago

    Why We Think Personal Loans Are Predatory (And Better Ways to Borrow)

    In this episode, Jonny and Jan ask whether you should ever take out a personal loan. We checked 22 UK lenders and found advertised rates that only just over half of borrowers have to get, price lists that reward borrowing more, and banks that charge you for paying off early, plus where Revolut’s new loans fit in. Then we cover the cheaper ways to borrow, and what to do if a loan really is your only option. The 51% rule: why the advertised rate only has to go to just over half of accepted customersBand cliffs: at Monzo, borrowing £100 more means paying back £1,882 less, and at Nationwide £1 more cuts the rate by a full pointPayment holidays that keep charging interest, and the banks that penalise you for clearing a loan earlyHow Revolut’s new UK loans compare: 6.9% to 29.3% APR, no early repayment fee, and an app that makes borrowing almost too easyThe alternatives: 0% purchase cards, balance transfer and money transfer cards, and 0% buy now, pay laterIf you must borrow: soft searches, comparing lenders and talking to your own bankJonny and Jan disagree on whether loans should ever be sold for holidaysSponsored by XTB: get five free shares of the Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap ETF when you open an account with code BWB1, deposit at least £50 and buy any share or ETF within seven days. https://link.bankingwithoutborders.co.uk/xtb Join the new Banking Without Borders Discord community  https://link.bankingwithoutborders.co.uk/discord Subscribe on YouTube https://link.technicallymoney.com/oy8e Check out our website DepositScout.com for the latest savings rates.  Connect with us (via LinkedIn) Jan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jan-watermann/ Jonny: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jonny-pease Got a question or topic you want us to cover? Drop us a message at jonny@technicallymoney.com

  2. Oct 23

    The 10 Best Cashback Cards in the UK – Ranked by What They Actually Pay

    In this episode, we rank the ten best cashback cards in the UK, debit and credit, by what each one actually pays on £1,000 a month over two years, after fees. From Chase’s 2% and Amex’s new welcome offer to Trading 212’s invested cashback and the year-two cliffs nobody mentions, they cover the catches, then reveal the two-card stack that beats any single card. How we ranked them: one model spender, £1,000 a month, net of fees over two yearsWhy Monzo’s new Aura card missed the top tenNatWest Reward, Zopa Biscuit’s 3% on eating out or bills, and Lloyds Ultra (plus the hotel payment Lloyds blocked)Santander Rewards’ 3% and its 12-month cliff, and SumUp’s £10 monthly capAmex Cashback, the Krak card from Kraken, and Amex Cashback Everyday’s 2% offer (apply by 12 January 2027)Chase’s 2% and our number one, the Trading 212 Card, including how to turn invested cashback back into cashWhich card for you: eating out, investing, the big weekly shop, and the Chase + Trading 212 stack worth £436.80 over two yearsSponsored by XTB: get five free shares of the Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap ETF when you open an account with code BWB1, deposit at least £50 and buy any share or ETF within seven days. https://link.bankingwithoutborders.co.uk/xtb Join the new Banking Without Borders Discord community  https://link.bankingwithoutborders.co.uk/discord Subscribe on YouTube https://link.technicallymoney.com/oy8e Check out our website DepositScout.com for the latest savings rates.  Connect with us (via LinkedIn) Jan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jan-watermann/ Jonny: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jonny-pease Got a question or topic you want us to cover? Drop us a message at jonny@technicallymoney.com

  3. Oct 20

    Revolut Hiked Prices Again: Is It Time to Quit?

    In this episode, Jonny and Jan dig into Revolut’s latest price rise, the second in three years, and whether the new perks justify paying more. We break down what Premium, Metal and Ultra now cost, why bundles like these are built on breakage, and which alternatives might suit you better. What’s changed: Premium up £1, Metal up £2, Ultra up £5 to £60 a monthThe new perks rated: Duolingo, Flo, Lovable Lite, eSIM data, Laundryheap and airport Fast TrackBreakage explained, and why Perplexity Pro disappeared from the bundleWhy Revolut could lose 1 in 9 Premium customers and still break evenThe banking hasn’t moved: same ATM limits, savings rates that trail the best easy-access dealsThe alternatives: Starling, Chase UK and Monzo for free banking, Monzo Perks vs Revolut Premium, Klarna Max vs Revolut Ultra, and where Amex Platinum fitsWhy this is likely to keep happening, and what a $115bn valuation has to do with itJoin the new Banking Without Borders Discord community  https://link.bankingwithoutborders.co.uk/discord Subscribe on YouTube https://link.technicallymoney.com/oy8e Check out our website DepositScout.com for the latest savings rates.  Connect with us (via LinkedIn) Jan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jan-watermann/ Jonny: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jonny-pease Got a question or topic you want us to cover? Drop us a message at jonny@technicallymoney.com

  4. Oct 16

    We Ranked the UK’s 10 Best PAID Bank Accounts

    In this episode, Jonny and Jan rank the ten best paid bank accounts in the UK by what a household actually gets back: cashback and insurance, minus the fee. The winner costs £12.50 a month — and the £595-a-year Revolut Ultra didn’t make the ten. What we cover: How we scored every account the same way: a model household, insurance priced at average market quotes, perks shown but not countedRevolut Ultra and Metal: huge subscription bundles, but travel cover only counts on trips paid with the cardNatWest Reward Silver vs Platinum: what the extra £11 a month buys, from Europe-only to worldwide family coverClub Lloyds Platinum: travel cover to 80 and the £5 fee that catches people outMonzo Max at £19, Nationwide FlexPlus and its Fairer Share payment, and Virgin Money’s £14 family bundleCo-op Everyday Extra: the fee cut from £18 to £12 and the most cover per pound of any accountSantander Edge Explorer and Chase Protect: the two accounts where the cashback pays the feeChase vs Santander savers, and the switch offers worth havingGet 5 FREE shares with XTB: https://link.bankingwithoutborders.co.uk/xtb  Terms apply.  Join the new Banking Without Borders Discord community  https://link.bankingwithoutborders.co.uk/discord Subscribe on YouTube https://link.technicallymoney.com/oy8e Check out our website DepositScout.com for the latest savings rates.  Connect with us (via LinkedIn) Jan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jan-watermann/ Jonny: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jonny-pease Got a question or topic you want us to cover? Drop us a message at jonny@technicallymoney.com

  5. Oct 6

    Best UK Savings Rates — October 2026 | 5.35% Fixed & Starling 5% Easy-Access Warning

    In this episode, we run through the best UK savings rates for October 2026. What we cover: Why fixed rates have jumped — three Bank of England members want a hike, and banks have moved firstSwitch offers — Barclays' new £300, Lloyds' £200 for three Direct Debits, and two deadlines this weekEasy access — Starling's new 5% and why it's one to be careful with, LemFi, and the best no-cliff rateCash ISAs — eToro at 4.87%, Plum and Trading 212 at 4.60%, and the set-and-forget 4.52%Fixed ISAs — every term from two years up now above 5%, and why Close Brothers tops the table but isn't the pickFixed bonds — 5.35% for five years, and why interest paid annually matters for your taxNotice accounts — still paying less than easy accessRegular savers — the 8% club is down to one, Chase's new 6.5%, and which account wins at £200, £300 and £500 a monthThe Savings Stacker — build a five-account stack and see the blended rate, live on DepositScoutEvery account we mention is on DepositScout.com — filter by type, compare rates properly, run the savings and tax calculators, and check the rate history graphs before you open anything. eToro's 4.87% Cash ISA (Market Leading) Tembo's Home Saver Join the new Banking Without Borders Discord community  https://link.bankingwithoutborders.co.uk/discord Subscribe on YouTube https://link.technicallymoney.com/oy8e Check out our website DepositScout.com for the latest savings rates.  Connect with us (via LinkedIn) Jan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jan-watermann/ Jonny: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jonny-pease Got a question or topic you want us to cover? Drop us a message at jonny@technicallymoney.com

  6. Oct 2

    Revolut Handed Customer Data to a Scammer. Here's What Happened

    Revolut has just had the worst month in its history: two customer data breaches, one of them a months-long con run from a hijacked Italian government email account, and a facial-recognition payments launch in the middle of it all. Jonny was caught up in one of the breaches himself, so this one's personal. In this episode: How hackers used a stolen Ministry of the Interior email account and forged European Investigation Orders to get Revolut to hand over passports, selfies and home addressesWhy the targets weren't random: blockchain analysis, the richest crypto wallets, and what a "wrench attack" isThe victims, including the former Mt. Gox CEO who's moved his family into a hotelThe moment Revolut corrected the hackers' paperwork for themRevolut's response, and why "no funds were affected" misses the pointThe DriveWealth breach: Jonny's own data, Revolut's chatbot reply, and who's actually responsiblePay With Smile: what it is, why it's really a merchant acquisition play, and whether there's any upsideWhy data breaches have become background noise, and what, if anything, you can do about itJoin the new Banking Without Borders Discord community  https://link.bankingwithoutborders.co.uk/discord Subscribe on YouTube https://link.technicallymoney.com/oy8e Check out our website DepositScout.com for the latest savings rates.  Connect with us (via LinkedIn) Jan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jan-watermann/ Jonny: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jonny-pease Got a question or topic you want us to cover? Drop us a message at jonny@technicallymoney.com

  7. Sep 23

    Monzo Aura: The £15 Credit Card That Doesn't Add Up

    In this episode, Jan and Jonny put Monzo's new £15-a-month credit card, Aura, under the microscope — what you actually get for the fee, how much you'd need to spend or invest to break even, and whether it holds up against the cashback cards you can get for nothing. What we discuss: 1% cashback on groceries, 0.5% on everything else — and which supermarkets actually countThe break-even maths: £1,500 a month on groceries, or £3,000 elsewhere, just to cover the feeApple TV, Google AI Plus and lounge passes — is the "worth £360 a year" claim real?Spending abroad at Mastercard's rate, and earning cashback in PortugalThe investment fee waiver — who it helps, and why most people should ignore itThe Flex-to-Aura funnel, and the flexed payment that earned no cashbackThe metal card: beautiful, but at 14g the lightest metal card we've weighedWhy the interchange cap means a free version was never on the tableLloyds Ultra, Amex Cashback, Barclaycard Rewards and Revolut Metal — how Aura comparesHalf-baked, or just not for you? Who should actually get this cardJoin the new Banking Without Borders Discord community  https://link.bankingwithoutborders.co.uk/discord Subscribe on YouTube https://link.technicallymoney.com/oy8e Check out our website DepositScout.com for the latest savings rates.  Connect with us (via LinkedIn) Jan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jan-watermann/ Jonny: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jonny-pease Got a question or topic you want us to cover? Drop us a message at jonny@technicallymoney.com

  8. Sep 9

    Can Revolut Actually Win In America?

    In this episode, Jan and Jonny dig into Revolut's conditional approval to build a bank in America — what it actually got, what's still outstanding, and whether the US is a masterstroke or the most expensive mistake in its history. What we discuss: What the regulator said yes to, and the March 2028 deadlineWhat Revolut already has in the US — three partner banks, a million customers, and a thin offeringWhy customers might barely notice on day oneChime Prime, credit cards and the interchange problemNubank got there first — and has a head start Revolut doesn'tThe TSB migration disaster and what it means for moving a million accountsWhy Monzo, Wise and bunq were all turned away this yearCheques, instant payments and whether America is worth the troubleWill Americans want a super app?The $300 cost of winning a US customerJoin the new Banking Without Borders Discord community  https://link.bankingwithoutborders.co.uk/discord Subscribe on YouTube https://link.technicallymoney.com/oy8e Check out our website DepositScout.com for the latest savings rates.  Connect with us (via LinkedIn) Jan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jan-watermann/ Jonny: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jonny-pease Got a question or topic you want us to cover? Drop us a message at jonny@technicallymoney.com

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About

Banking Without Borders is a podcast about modern money — from digital banks and cashback cards to savings, credit cards, FX, global accounts, and the financial products reshaping how people manage money in the UK and beyond. We focus less on hype and more on what actually matters: who a product is for, how it makes money, where the trade-offs are, and whether it’s genuinely worth using. If you want clear thinking, real-world context, and fewer buzzwords and less BS when it comes to banking, cards, and personal finance, this is the podcast.

Information

  • Creator
    Technically Money
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    84
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Banking Without Borders
  • Show Website
    Banking Without Borders

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