From then, it will be free to withdraw up to £250 of cash in the UK and European Economic Area (EEA) every 30 days. After that there will be a fee of 3%.

Those who withdraw more than £200 (or £400 for Monzo Plus customers) elsewhere in the world during a 30-day period are already charged 3%.

Monzo is also introducing a £5 card replacement fee. Although if your card expires, is stolen or if you’re the victim of fraud, it will send you a new card for free if you’re in the UK.

In a blog post, Monzo said the changes won’t affect 79% of its customers, based on how people used their cards in the past year.

It said that the average Monzo customer only withdraws £36 a month, and 90% have never ordered a replacement card. It admitted that the new fees were aimed at people using their card for day-to-day spending rather than as their main bank account.

Monzo Plus users are exempt from the cash withdrawal fee in the UK and EEA, and can get up to two cards replaced each year for free.

The blog post said: “In the rarer cases where people are using lots of cash or replacing lots of cards, whilst also doing most of their banking elsewhere, we think it’s fair to ask them to cover those costs so our other customers don’t have to. We’re also making it easy to see exactly what your fees and allowances are with a new home in your Monzo app, so nothing’s ever hidden.”

Monzo said it doesn’t want to restrict access to cash for those who rely on it for their core banking needs, rather than using it as a spending account.

So it will waive cash withdrawal fees within the UK and EEA and give two free replacement cards per year to customers who meet at least one of the following criteria:

Paying in at least £500 to a Monzo account every 35 days and having at least one active direct debit on the same account.

Getting a Department for Work and Pensions or Department for Communities payment, such as a state pension or Universal Credit payment, paid into a Monzo account every 35 days.

Getting a student loan paid into a Monzo account every eight months.

Monzo said that these criteria help it to work out who uses Monzo as their core bank account – and so might not have free access to cash withdrawals elsewhere – and those who use it as a spending account but will have another main bank account with free cash access.