Second current account in case of emergencies?

K80_Black

Another vote for Starling - you can pay with the app if it's below the contactless limit even if you do lose your card - and if you keep your cards separate you'd have your normal bank card to use too.

PRAISETHESUN

Monzo/Starling are my best picks for travelling, however technically any high street bank will do - they might just charge some fees for using your card overseas. Just make sure it is a different bank from your main account to protect against outages, problems with frozen accounts while travelling, etc

MilduraS

I can't make a recommendation but make sure to ask what happens if your card or online banking is locked before opening the account. When I went backpacking I had an existing account with Natwest and opened a second fee paying account with HSBC which had free withdrawals abroad. I explained at the time of opening the second account that I was going backpacking. The plan was to use my HSBC account for the free atm withdrawals abroad and keep my Natwest account to hold the majority of my savings. Two months into my trip my HSBC card was blocked due to "suspicious transactions" and I was locked out of internet banking. I called them and they explained that it was flagged up because I had withdrawn money in four different countries at that point and had logged in to internet banking overseas. They refused to send a new card abroad and insisted that I'd have to visit my local branch in the UK to get a new card. It was three years before I went back to the UK and without access to my account it went into an unauthorised overdraft due to the fees. Caused a huge hassle, affected my credit rating and meant I lost the few hundred pounds that were in there when my access was locked (later got all of the money back plus compensation). My Natwest account had no issues whatsoever.