The 2022 Lunar Bank Review: Fees, the Lunar App, and Monito's Verdict
Guide
A writer and editor at Monito, Jarrod is passionate about helping people apply today’s powerful finance technologies to their lives. He brings his background in international affairs and his experiences living in Japan to provide readers with comprehensive information that also acknowledges the local context.
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Read moreLunar is a great digital bank in Scandinavia that Monito highly recommends. A leader in its industry in the Nordic region, Lunar is a fully-regulated and licensed bank in Sweden as well as in Denmark and Norway. Highly rated by its 400,00 current clients and counting, your Lunar bank account services come with a physical and digital debit card, an investment platform, and even a portal to apply for loans.
While Monito recommends using a money transfer service instead of the Lunar app to send your Swedish krona abroad, the platform’s no ATM withdrawal fees, no international transaction fees, and high 1.05% interest on SEK savings through 2022 are impressive features that add to Lunar’s appeal.
What Monito Likes About Lunar
- Powerful app with budgeting, savings pots, and pay later features;
- Free to open a bank account and no monthly fees;
- Free ATM withdrawals and no international card transaction fees;
- Zero fees for instant domestic bank transfers;
- No need to change banks to use the app;
- Applies savings interest rate of 1.05% through 2022 — one of Sweden’s highest.
What Monito Dislikes About Lunar
- Applies 1% to 2% exchange rate margin on international transfers;
- Only provides a Swedish IBAN;
- Operates in Swedish krona only and not in the Euro;
- Lunar’s great savings rate does not apply to deposits above 1,050,000 SEK;
- Charges 20% interest rate if you overdraft.
Control Your Finances With Lunar Bank
We recommend Lunar to all Swedish residents and citizens who would like to move their finances from a traditional bank into a smarter digital one.
Watch your krona grow with Lunar’s competitive interest rate on savings, but also budget and manage payments and investments through a sleek and easy-to-use app.
Key Questions About Lunar Answered
Who is Lunar For?
Lunar is a Nordic digital bank that is only available to tax-paying citizens and residents of Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. It is important to note that Lunar does not currently offer a multi-currency account option, meaning that you may only open a Lunar bank account with a Swedish IBAN if you are a citizen or resident of Sweden.
Your Lunar account in Sweden will not come with a Norwegian IBAN or a pot to hold Norwegian krone (NOK), for example. This same rule applies to Lunar bank accounts opened in Denmark and Norway.
If you are living in Sweden, then Lunar provides a great opportunity for you to take control of your finances straight from your mobile phone. You can use the account to pay your taxes, receive your benefits, and manage your spending with your Lunar cards.
While Lunar operates in full capacity in Denmark and Norway, this review only accounts for clients who become members in Sweden. Please note that the following prices, percentages, and fees in this Lunar Bank review apply to Swedish customers, and may vary if you open an account with Lunar in Denmark or Norway.
Documents Required to Open a Lunar Bank Account
To open an account with Lunar in Sweden, you will need to present the following official documents:
- Driver's license, national ID, or passport;
- Swedish social security number (personnummer);
- Valid BankID.
What Is a Swedish BankID?
Only nationals and residents of Sweden have access to BankIDs. Sweden’s network of banks uses BankID to verify the legitimacy of digital payments and contracts between individuals and businesses. To get one, you will need to have already opened an account with a Swedish bank. The law requires that Swedish banks only open accounts for nationals, EU/EEA residents, or non-EU/EEA residents with a Swedish residence permit.
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How Monito Reviewed Lunar’s Services
As with all services reviewed by Monito, Lunar underwent a rigorous evaluation to assess the quality of its service. To begin with, our experts analysed several key criteria, including customer reviews, the percentage cost of various transaction types, top-up options, access to customer service, as well as business and legal metrics such as revenue, appropriate authorisation, and company size. As with all Monito Scores, Lunar’s score was peer-reviewed by at least one Monito expert.
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Trust & Credibility
Background check
Insured by the Danish FSA with a fully-regulated banking license.
Security & reliability
Accounts are fully secured using segregated user accounts and HTTPS and cards are 3-D Secure.
Company size
A young and fast rising company that serves 400,000 account holders as of 2022.
Transparent pricing
A full overview of pricing is easily accessible and provides all fees as per the regulator-standard fee schedule.
Is Lunar Safe?
Lunar received its full banking license in Sweden in 2019 and now offers its services to over 400,000 clients across Scandinavia.
Founded in Denmark, Lunar is a legitimate and duly-registered company, regulated by the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority. Under the government's deposit guarantee scheme, outstanding amounts in your bank account up to 750,000 SEK will be protected in the case of bankruptcy.
Lunar Invest
Lunar also runs an investment platform, where you may purchase stock in domestic and foreign companies with as little as 25 SEK. To operate this service, Lunar partners with Saxo Bank to open your brokerage account where you can make trades.
Saxo Bank is licensed by the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority and is subject to both Danish and EU regulations governing financial institutions¹. There is always a risk in investing, so although Saxo Bank works under high standards of compliance, you will be personally liable for your losses.
Contact Lunar
As a digital bank, Lunar does not have physical branches. If you have questions and concerns about your account, you can contact the customer support team at Lunar in the following ways:
- Live Chat: Chat with customer support directly from the Lunar app.
- Lunar Website: Visit their help center for clear answers to a long set of frequently asked questions.
- Phone: Call +45 70 60 54 54 on weekdays from 0900 to 2300 or weekends from 1000 to 1700.
Email: Send an email to Lunar at support@lunar.app.
Service & Quality
Using the mobile app
Sleek, user-friendly design with budgeting tools, savings, and card management.
Managing the account
Overdraft and savings on interest available, but only in SEK, DKK, or NOK.
Contacting support
Easy to access FAQ and live chat support, plus phone support for account holders.
Making card payments
Contactless, online payments, Apple Pay, and Google Pay are all supported, but bill splitting is not.
Lunar Bank's Product & Service Quality
Lunar was founded in Denmark in 2015 and expanded to Sweden in 2019 to bring transparent digital banking to the Swedish krona. While the Lunar app helps you take control of your financial health, you can also rest assured that the bank applies an easy-to-understand fee schedule.
You may complement your current bank account with the Lunar app or open a new account altogether.
How to Transfer Money with Lunar
Make domestic transfers with Lunar for free on the app. Both standard transfers, which may take one or two business days, and instant transfers, which take seconds, come with zero fees.
Here’s how to easily make a standard transfer on the Lunar app:
- Select the "Transfer" page;
- Press "Transfer to another bank";
- Enter clearing number and account number of the recipient bank;
- Accept the payment details.
International Money Transfers with Lunar
The Lunar app comes with a function to transfer your Swedish krona abroad too. In the app, you can send money to foreign bank accounts by providing account information, such as European IBANs or UK sort codes.
However, Lunar will apply a 1% to 2% currency conversion fee for each transfer you make. These fees will still apply to transfers sent to the other countries that Lunar operates in — Denmark and Norway².
For these reasons, Monito recommends running a search on our comparison engine to find international money transfer services that charge lower fees and apply stronger exchange rates on your currency conversions.
Lunar Bank Card
When you open a bank account with Lunar, you will be given a Visa debit and virtual card for free (allow 10 days for shipping). They are accepted anywhere in the world that accepts Visa.
Lunar has also partnered with Project Blue, which you may opt into to contribute to beautifying the Scandinavian coastline. If you sign up, Lunar will give you your own Project Blue Visa debit card. For every 1,000 krona you spend with it, 1 krona goes toward removing plastic from the Nordic oceans³.
Lunar App Review
Lunar’s mobile app is at the core of the company’s service, and is one of the best finance apps available in Sweden. The Lunar mobile app allows you to create budgets for yourself and automate rules on spending. If you set a monthly food budget, then Lunar will notify you how close you are getting to your maximum after you make a payment at a restaurant or a supermarket.
You can even set rules to help yourself save towards a big purchase, such as a vacation or a new laptop. When you make purchases with your cards, you can tell Lunar to automatically set aside a percentage of the amounts into a savings pot. Each time you spend, you can slowly but consistently save up for something special.
To get a good picture of what you’ll be able to enjoy with Lunar’s well-designed app, have a look at these great features:
- Automate spending rules and set aside savings;
- Get notified each time you near your personal budgets;
- Track your spending habits with free Visa debit and virtual card;
- Scan bills with your phone for easy payments;
- Automatically save receipts digitally;
- No fees on standard or instant domestic transfers;
- Use “Pay Later” feature to split up payments;
- Earn a 1.05% interest rate of SEK savings through 2022.
Fees & Exchange Rates
Everyday use
No everyday costs such as monthly fees or local transfer fees, but ATM withdrawals incur a small fee.
ATM withdrawals
Local ATM withdrawals incur a small fee and international withdrawals incur an extra 1% fee.
Online spending
Online spending comes at no cost, except if purchasing a good in a foreign currency.
International spending
Multi-currency account not supported, incurring 1% fee costs whenever using card abroad.
Lunar's Fees & and Exchange Rates
The Lunar app is completely free to download and use alongside your current bank account. Opening up your fully-licensed bank account with Lunar Bank is free too, and will make your transition from traditional to digital banking a seamless experience.
Lunar Memberships
Let’s have a look at the three tiers of membership that Lunar offers its clients:
- Standard: For zero monthly fees, pay no ATM fees or international card transaction fees. Get a physical Visa debit card connected to the innovative Lunar app, and enjoy a 1.05% interest rate on your SEK savings.
- Premium: For 79 SEK per month, get all the benefits of standard membership for three accounts and three cards. If you book flights and travel with your Lunar card, get covered for baggage and accident insurance for free.
- Pro: For 149 SEK per month, get your own metal Lunar card engrossed with your unique engraving of choice. Pro also comes with six accounts total, useful if managing money for your immediate and extended family.
ATM Fees and Traveling with Lunar
In the rare cases that you need cash in Sweden (as the country has digitized most of its finances), you will be able to withdraw from ATMs without being charged a fee. Withdrawing from foreign ATMs in the EU and around the world are free of charge as well.
Lunar also does not charge international card transaction fees on their debit cards. You’ll be able to save yourself the stress if you need to make foreign payments online or while on holiday.
Lunar’s standard account in Sweden truly stands out thanks to these two features. If you opened a free standard account with Lunar in Denmark, for example, then you would not get access to free ATM withdrawals or fee-free international transactions. You’d have to pay for the Premium upgrade for those features. Lucky for clients in Sweden, those features come included with a standard membership.
International Money Transfer Fees
Lunar will apply a 1% to 2% currency conversion fee for each international transfer you make. This will still apply to transfers to the other countries that Lunar operates in — Denmark and Norway.
Monito recommends running a search on our comparison engine to find international money transfer services that charge lower fees and apply stronger exchange rates on your currency conversions. Complimenting your Swedish bank account with a money transfer specialist is a great option to bank internationally with Lunar.
Send Money From Sweden Cheaply
Best Swedish Digital Bank Cards Compared
To get a better picture of how Lunar's pricing compares with other digital bank alternatives in Sweden, take a look at the table below:
Customer Satisfaction
Customer review score
Average Trustpilot rating of 4.3 out of 5 stars.
Number of positive reviews
Over 11,000 four- and five-star reviews.
Customer Satisfaction Score
Customers have given Lunar a score of 4.3/5 on Trustpilot, mentioning that the app is intuitive to use and provides a good overview of their finances. Over 80% of reviewers rated Lunar four or more stars in more than 8,700 reviews. Lunar has been scored a 4.5/5 on the Apple app store and a 4.2/5 on the Google Play app store as well.
Positive Lunar Reviews
- User-friendly interface and useful budget management service;
- Fast to answer questions when using the chat function in the app;
- Easy to open an account and quick to receive the card in the mail.
Negative Lunar Reviews
- Some customers have found customer service difficult to reach by email;
- Clients have reported delays in processing documentation to open accounts;
- Loan options are not as extensive as other banks.
Frequently Asked Questions About Lunar
Is Lunar Bank safe?
Yes, Lunar is a licensed bank in Sweden and is regulated by the Danish FSA. Lunar is an official company that operates under high standards of compliance.
How does Lunar Bank work?
Lunar Bank operates as a mobile application that manages your finances by helping you keep track of your spending habits, set budgets, and save money. It is a real, licensed bank as well so you may use Lunar as a current account to deposit your salary, pay bills, and build your savings.
What is Lunar Bank?
Lunar is a digital bank that offers its financial services to clients fully online. Lunar offers personal bank accounts, debit cards, business accounts, interest of savings, and even loans. Lunar has no physical branches in Sweden.
Does Lunar give a bank guarantee?
Yes. As a regulated bank by the Danish FSA, Lunar is registered under the government’s deposit protection scheme. Lunar protects your deposits of up to 750,000 SEK in the rare case that the company declares bankruptcy.
Does Lunar bank have a negative interest rate?
No. As of 2022, Lunar is offering a 1.05% interest rate on savings deposits for its Swedish customers. This is the high savings rate of any bank in Sweden at the moment.
Is Lunar a bank?
Yes, Lunar is a licensed and duly-regulated bank in Sweden, as well as in Denmark and Norway.
How does Lunar make money?
While Lunar does charge some fees if you overdraft or need a replacement card, its fee schedule is quite small. Lunar’s business model revolves around its subscription plans and interest charges on money it loans out. Lunar also earns interest on securities it holds.
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References Used In This Guide
1. Saxo Bank. Saxo Compliance. Accessed 25 February 2022.
2. Lunar. Swedish Fee Schedule. Accessed 25 February 2022.
3. Lunar. Project Blue. Accessed 25 February 2022.