MuchBetter Fees & Limits, Explained

MuchBetter is an excellent e-money transfer service once you've registered and verified an account. But that's only the beginning - there's a reward programme to understand, and then there are the big ones, fees and limits. Today's topics are going to focus on the latter options.

Fees and limits affect your daily use of MuchBetter more than most other factors, so it's crucial that you understand them - so maybe read along.

Table of Contents:

1. MuchBetter Limits, Explained
   • General
   • Contactless
   • Card & ATM
2. MuchBetter Fees, Explained
   • Deposit & Withdraw
   • With a MuchBetter Account
   • With the MuchBetter MasterCard
3. MuchBetter Limits FAQ
4. MuchBetter Fees FAQ

Now - let's start with MuchBetter's account limits.

MuchBetter Limits, Explained

MuchBetter splits its limits into three general categories:

1. General
2. Card and ATM
3. Contactless

Each has its own bits and bobs to keep in mind, so it's important to know the difference. General limits strictly cover your account's usage and the total threshold that you can spend, card and ATM limits are self-explanatory, and contactless is something we'll discuss more in detail in the relevant section.

General

General fees cover the usual stuff (spending thresholds) but with a twist when compared to other services. Most services have strict limits that remain, with a few changing as you gain VIP tiers - but MuchBetter doesn't have a VIP programme. Instead, they measure your account's limits based on how often you use it.

In other words, the more you use MuchBetter, the more your limits will rise.

The general account limits are as follows, and will increase as you gain loyalty tiers:

This applies to all of your MuchBetter accounts and actions and is cumulative over time. This makes it crucial that you verify your account; if you don't, you'll be stuck with a lifetime limit of £150 across all transactions forever. Additionally, this limit is the same across currencies. (It's $150 in USD, £150 in GBP, and €150 in EUR.)

Contactless

Okay - we mentioned contactless above as being somewhat different. Some users (higher loyalty tiers) will be offered a contactless payment FOB. These are very limited in usage and application, as they're accepted at specific merchants only (detailed when you receive your FOB) and are heavily secured.

No matter your loyalty tier or time with MuchBetter, you will be restricted to five (5) transactions with the FOB total. After those five transactions have been made, the FOB will be locked. You may unlock it in your mobile MuchBetter app with your secure PIN and gain five more uses. 

This is done to prevent the possibility of your FOB being compromised or stolen and used without your knowledge. So while it may be a pain, it's definitely worth the effort.

Card & ATM

Card and ATM limits are a bit more straightforward, following a limit structure of per day, month, and year limits to various services.

Note that the following are all post-verification limits, and limits are the same across currencies:

You can find MuchBetter's ATM and MasterCard limits here.

MuchBetter Fees, Explained

Next up are MuchBetter's fees - let's dive right in. These are pretty straightforward, so I'll let you just read along.

Deposit & Withdraw (Basic Fees)

It's worth noting that, while the cash deposit fee is far higher than the others, MuchBetter charges no fees on many services that generally come with a 1.5-4% fee with other services.

With a MuchBetter Account

Once you've registered and verified your MuchBetter account, you'll have quite a few services unlocked. Take a peek below to see the fees on your account's new functionality:

*Currency conversion costs will vary with all currencies other than GBP, EUR, and USD. All other currencies will be converted following the current market value.

With the MuchBetter MasterCard

And finally, we make it to one of MuchBetter's most popular features - their MasterCard. This card allows you to use your MuchBetter account balance at brick-and-mortar locations and online shops alike. You can find more information about the MuchBetter MasterCard right here.

The MuchBetter MasterCard fees are as follows:

*Currency conversion costs will vary with all currencies other than GBP, EUR, and USD. All other currencies will be converted following the current market value.

MuchBetter Limits FAQ

What is the limit of an unverified MuchBetter account?

Unverified MuchBetter accounts are extremely limited. They're kept to a total lifetime spending threshold of only £150 across all transactions (deposits and transactions). Additionally, users are unable to withdraw any funds until they've verified their account - so just bite the bullet and verify.

How much money can I have on MuchBetter?

This depends on how often you use your account. The higher your loyalty tier, the higher your limit. As mentioned above, brand-new (unverified) users have very low limits, while users in the highest echelon can have £90,000+ on their account.

If you'd like to check your current account maximum, head to your MuchBetter profile's Top Up section; it'll be clearly displayed beneath.

MuchBetter Fees FAQ

Why does MuchBetter charge to send money?

This is a pretty simple question with a surprisingly complicated answer. The short version is "because that's the industry standard," but the smart answer is that MuchBetter actually charges pretty low fees on P2P transactions when compared with similar services. 

Most transactions in common European and American currencies are fee-free for currency conversion, P2P transactions to other MuchBetter users are always free, and merchant/POS purchases are also fee-free.

If you're trying to send funds to a buddy or merchant - especially in your home country - you'll pay very little to do so. Just be thankful that MuchBetter doesn't charge the industry standard ~3% on P2P purchases.

Why does MuchBetter charge for withdrawal?

MuchBetter charges for withdrawals because that's the usual practice for most e-money services, P2P lenders, and financial institutions.

Banks and credit unions don't do this as often, but it's still something that happens all over the world. MuchBetter has solved this by ensuring that their fees are incredibly easy to understand and that they're kept to a reasonable level.

It's also worth remembering that MuchBetter pays to process your funds; it isn't free. So paying less than £10 for transactions in the thousands is pretty reasonable when you actually think about it.

Why is MuchBetter so expensive?

This is an interesting question that we get quite regularly. I say interesting for one reason: 

In truth, MuchBetter isn't expensive; it's actually pretty dang cheap when compared to its competitors.

Their fees are transparent, quite low, and applied to very few transactions. In fact, their currency conversion (FX) and crypto fees are only beaten by a select few services - most others charge 2-2.5 times the fee that MuchBetter does. Let's take a look at the standard MuchBetter experience versus others: