PSD2
Payment Services Directive 2 (Directive 2015/2366)EU directive governing payment services and PSPs; introduced Strong Customer Authentication (SCA), open banking APIs, and consumer protections. Being superseded by PSD3/PSR.
Premium neobank plans,
compared.
Metal cards, travel insurance, lounge access, FX allowances — the perks that actually justify a paid tier, and the ones that don't.
Cheapest mid-tier
€3.99/mo
Revolut Plus and bunq Easy Bank. The base-to-mid-tier step is the most cost-effective
upgrade in the category.
Median metal tier
€14/mo
Metal cards across the index cluster at €13–€17/mo. Revolut Metal, bunq Elite, and N26
Metal all sit in this band.
Highest top tier
€45/mo
Revolut Ultra is the upper bound of the category. At that price, the savings-rate and
lounge benefits have to pay back themselves.
Break-even on travel
~8 flights/yr
Rough rule: travel insurance alone covers the Metal premium if you take ≥4 long-haul
trips; lounge access pushes this to ~8.
01 — Every premium tier
Who sells what, at what price.
Grouped by bank; each row is one tier. Metal / insurance / lounge columns use ✓ / — so you can scan vertically.
| Bank | Tier | Price | Metal | Travel ins. | Lounge | FX free/mo | Key perk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revolut United Kingdom | Standard | €0 /month | — | — | — | 1000 | 1 free stock trade/month |
| Revolut United Kingdom | Plus | €3.99 /month | — | — | — | 3000 | 3 free trades/month |
| Revolut United Kingdom | Premium | €7.99 /month | — | ✓ | — | 5000 | 5 free trades/month |
| Revolut United Kingdom | Metal · our pick | €14.99 /month | ✓ | ✓ | — | 20000 | Metal card (stainless steel) |
| Revolut United Kingdom | Ultra | €45 /month | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Unlimited | Unlimited fee-free FX |
| N26 Germany | Standard | €0 /month | — | — | — | — | Virtual Mastercard |
| N26 Germany | Smart | €4.9 /month | — | — | — | — | Physical Mastercard |
| N26 Germany | Go | €9.9 /month | — | ✓ | — | — | Comprehensive travel insurance |
| N26 Germany | Metal · our pick | €16.9 /month | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — | Metal stainless steel card |
| bunq Netherlands | Free | €0 /month | — | — | — | — | Savings-only account |
| bunq Netherlands | Core | €3.99 /month | — | — | — | — | 1 IBAN and debit card |
| bunq Netherlands | Pro · our pick | €9.99 /month | — | — | — | — | Up to 25 sub-accounts with IBANs |
| bunq Netherlands | Elite | €18.99 /month | ✓ | — | — | — | Metal card |
| Vivid Money Germany | Standard | €0 /month | — | — | — | — | Up to 15 currency sub-pockets |
| Vivid Money Germany | Prime · our pick | €9.9 /month | ✓ | — | — | — | Metal card |
| Qonto France | Solo | €9 /month | — | — | — | — | 1 user, 1 debit card |
| Qonto France | Essential | €49 /month | — | — | — | — | Multiple users and cards |
| Qonto France | Business · our pick | €99 /month | — | — | — | — | Full team finance management |
| Qonto France | Enterprise | €199 /month | — | — | — | — | Unlimited users and cards |
| Monzo United Kingdom | Personal (free) · our pick | €0 /month | — | — | — | — | Irish IBAN |
| Monzo United Kingdom | Monzo Plus | — /month | — | — | — | — | Virtual cards |
| Monzo United Kingdom | Monzo Premium | — /month | ✓ | ✓ | — | — | Metal card |
| Lunar Denmark | Free | €0 /month | — | — | — | — | Basic current account |
| Lunar Denmark | Standard | €5.2 /month | — | — | — | — | Physical Visa card |
| Lunar Denmark | Plus · our pick | €10.6 /month | — | ✓ | — | — | Worldwide travel insurance |
| Lunar Denmark | Unlimited | €20 /month | ✓ | ✓ | — | — | Metal card |
| Starling Bank United Kingdom | Personal Account | €0 /month | — | — | — | — | Full UK current account |
| Starling Bank United Kingdom | Business Account | €0 /month | — | — | — | — | Business current account |
| Starling Bank United Kingdom | Euro Business Account · our pick | €2.4 /month | — | — | — | — | Dedicated euro IBAN for SEPA payments |
02 — Worth it, or not
When a paid tier actually pays back.
Pays back quickly
Travel insurance bundle. €14/mo for Metal gives you roughly €800/year of travel insurance. Break-even is a single missed-flight claim.
Higher FX allowance. If you convert €2,500+/mo at mid-market rate instead of a 0.5% weekday fee, you save ~€12.50/mo — roughly the cost of the mid-tier alone.
Savings-rate uplift. Revolut Ultra's 3.49% vs Standard's 2.11% is worth ~€14/mo on a €12,000 balance — at which point the €45 tier is not self-funding unless you're parking a lot more.
Rarely worth the price
Lounge access, per-visit. Most Metal tiers give you pay-per-visit at ~€20–€30 per lounge. This only beats a Priority Pass if you visit fewer than 6 times a year.
Concierge services. Near-universally unused. Treat as a rounding error.
Metal-card-as-status. The physical card costs the issuer maybe €8; you're paying for a tier, not a card.
Regulatory landscape · EU
The EU rules behind premium-tier products.
Every neobank in this ranking is regulated under one of these five EU frameworks. Cards link directly to the EUR-Lex / Commission source text.
PSD3
Third Payment Services Directive (provisional agreement)Successor framework to PSD2. EU Parliament and Council reached provisional political agreement 27 November 2025. Extends Verification of Payee (VoP) to all credit transfers; mandates fraud-data sharing between PSPs.
DORA
Digital Operational Resilience Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/2554)ICT risk-management and incident-reporting framework for EU financial entities. In force since 17 January 2025.
AMLR / AMLD6
EU Anti-Money-Laundering Package: AML Regulation + 6th AML Directive + AMLASingle AML rulebook + EU AML Authority (AMLA, HQ Frankfurt, operational 2025). 6th AML Directive transposed 2025–2027; AMLR directly applicable from July 2027.
MiCAR
Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (EU) 2023/1114EU framework for crypto-asset issuers + CASPs. Transitional period through end-2025; full effect from Jan 2026. Required for any neobank offering crypto trading (Revolut, Vivid Money, Lunar, Bitpanda).