Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

To apply for a Zero account and debit card please download the Zero App from the App Store (Apple devices) or the Google Play Store (Android devices) and follow the sign-up process in the App.

Visit the Sign Up page for the links to our Apps.

Customer funds are safeguarded with Clearbank which is a fully regulated UK bank. This money is ringfenced from Zero’s own funds and ensures that customer funds are protected in the unlikely event that Zero becomes insolvent.

You can read more about ClearBank in the Key Suppliers section of the FAQ.

The Zero account and card are only available to individuals over the age of 18.

The Zero card is a Mastercard debit card.

Zero does not offer a credit card.

Zero is not a bank. Zero is a money app including a personal account, a Mastercard debit card and other banking services.

The Zero personal account is known as an Electronic Money (E-Money or EMI) account within the industry. From a customer’s perspective, the account works like a bank current account. The difference is that Zero cannot use the funds in the account to lend to others to make money. Instead, your money is held with a fully regulated bank to keep it safe. This is known as safeguarding and you can read more about this and where we safeguard your money elsewhere in the FAQ.

Zero’s mission is to reinvent banking for the generation putting the planet first. We aim to expand our product to offer all the digital banking features you expect from a leading bank.

Zero may apply to become a fully regulated bank in the future. If we do and are then awarded a bank licence, we would aim to migrate your Zero accounts and cards to the new bank service without any effort on your behalf. If this does happen, it will not be for many years and we will let you know well in advance.

It's free to open a Zero account and to get a Zero Debit Card. In fact we don't charge for anything else right now either. 

In case you're worried that there are any hidden charges, we break down all the things that you'd think we might charge for on a dedicated Fees and Charges page. 

Zero does not offer joint accounts at this time.

Zero does not offer savings accounts at this time but watch this space, there's one coming soon.

Zero does not offer business accounts at this time.

Zero earns money from the interchange fees received through Mastercard International when you spend with your Zero Debit Card. This does not directly cost you anything, it is funded by the merchant (seller) who pays a small percentage to accept card payments. The percentage paid by the merchant is shared by multiple parties that participate in the card scheme including Mastercard International, the acquiring bank, the issuing bank, the card processor and Zero. The fees and shares vary depending on the type of card transaction and the country in which the payment is made. 

In the future, we will launch additional services from which we aim to earn fees and/or commissions.

In the longer term, we aim to make money by lending to consumers and small businesses to finance projects that help to improve individual and company sustainability such as solar panel installations, EV purchases, heat pumps, building energy efficiency improvements etc.

We may launch sustainable mortgages and offer sustainable (ESG) investment plans that customers can opt to use at their discretion. We will disclose any fees that we earn for these services when they are launched.

Zero Fintech Ltd is our trading company, in which we employ our staff and through which we earn revenue and pay our main costs. Zero Fintech Ltd holds the contractual relationship with our partners and therefore carries the responsibility for meeting regulatory standards. As a customer of Zero, you are a customer of Zero Fintech Ltd.

The sole shareholder (owner) of Zero Fintech Ltd is Zero Fintech Group Plc. Zero Fintech Group Plc is a parent holding company whose sole activity, for now, is to own Zero Fintech Ltd.

This structure is very common. It allows us the possibility to diversify in the future. If it is not appropriate or possible to offer certain new services through Zero Fintech Ltd, we could create new subsidiaries of Zero Fintech Group Plc to deliver the new services, although we currently have no plans to do this.

To complete the application process please follow the instructions within the Zero app.

There are a variety of checks we do in the background. In most cases, we will be able to confirm successful applications straight away in the app within one minute but in some cases we are required to perform additional checks. In this case, please hold tight and you will be notified when the checks are complete.

The Zero team monitors all applications and identity checks. Should an issue arise, we will be in touch as soon as possible to help you complete your check and get your account open as soon as possible.

There are a variety of different reasons why we may be unable to offer you an account.

Unfortunately, we cannot provide feedback on individual applications, however, you are welcome to submit an application for an account again in the future.

No, opening an account with Zero does not impact your credit score.

No, you need a UK phone number to open and operate a Zero account.

As long as you are a UK resident, you can open a Zero account.

This includes residents of England, Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland.

For the avoidance of doubt, this excludes residents of Channel Islands and Isle of Man.

Unfortunately, accounts are only available to UK residents at this time.

This includes residents of England, Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland.

For the avoidance of doubt, this excludes residents of Channel Islands and Isle of Man.

It may take a few minutes for your email verification link to arrive. If you’ve not received your email verification link, check your junk emails or try clicking ‘resend email’. If the problem persists, contact Customer Services by emailing help@zero.co.uk or calling the Customer Service telephone number from our Contact Us page.

To reset your passcode, when prompted to enter your passcode there will be an option for ‘Forgotten passcode’. For security, you will then be required to verify your ID by taking a short video before being able to choose a new passcode.

Please freeze your card and contact Zero immediately by emailing help@zero.co.uk or calling Customer Services.

Both Apple Pay and Google Pay are available to use on your Apple and Android devices. 

Depending on the type of transaction, some transactions can take up to 48 to settle with the merchant.

If you believe you have made a transaction which is not accurately showing within your Zero App, please contact Customer Services.

There are many different reasons for transactions to be declined. Please contact Customer Services if you are unclear on why you are seeing declined transactions.

Transaction limits can be found within our Terms & Conditions and are summarised below in the question “What are the payment limits”.

If you do not recognise a transaction even after having spoken with the merchant, please immediately freeze your card and contact Customer Services for assistance

Some transactions are preauthorised with an amount that is different to when the transaction is settled, based on how much is eventually spent. If you are unclear why the amounts are different, please contact the merchant to discuss that specific transaction.

Please freeze your card in our app and then please telephone Customer Services immediately to report the issue and request a new card.

Normally you can expect to receive your card within 5 working days (including Saturday) of the day you ordered it, but occasionally it can take longer.

Card orders for new cards and replacements for lost or stolen cards are sent to our manufacturer first thing, the day after you order. They are normally manufactured same day and posted that day. They are posted using Royal Mail 2nd class post in order to keep costs for you as low as possible, as ultimately any costs have to be covered by customers one way or another. Royal Mail quote 2-3 days for 2nd class post but only achieve this in about 75% of cases. Sometimes they also deliver more quickly.

If you haven't received your card within one week of ordering it, please contact customer services who can check when your card was dispatched and advise whether to treat your card as lost and order another for you.

In some instances, payments can take up to two hours to reach an account. Please contact Customer Services if you have not received your payment after this time.

Payments may be held while Zero performs additional checks in order to protect you (the customer) and the company. Once these checks have been completed the payment will be released. In some instances, we may request further information in order to authorise the payment.

We want to protect our customers from fraud and financial crime. Sometimes we need to request more information to ensure that the payment is legitimate. We also have obligations about these things that are prescribed by regulators.

Payment and Transaction limits are defined in our Terms & Conditions. The main limits are:

• 100 card transactions per day
• £4,250 in a single card transaction
• £10,000 per day on card transactions
• 4 ATM withdrawals per day
• £500 ATM withdrawal per day
• £1000 ATM withdrawal over four days

Unfortunately, we are only currently offering payments to other UK accounts. We expect to remove this restriction in the future.

Unfortunately, currently we can only accept payments from other UK accounts. We expect to remove this restriction in the future as our systems and controls are expanded to protect against the frauds and scams that can be associated with receiving money from abroad.

Currently we only offer accounts in GBP. We expect to launch foreign currency accounts in the future. You can still make card payments in foreign currencies, however the transaction will be converted to pounds (GBP) and settled from your GBP account.

We do not currently support direct debits but plan to add support shortly.

We do not currently support scheduled or recurring payments or standing orders. Check back soon as we will be adding this shortly.

If you do not recognise a payment, the sender or the recipient please contact Customer Services.

Account details including your sort-code and 8 digit account number can be found within your Zero App on the Accounts screen by clicking the Account Details button.

Your debit card details can be found on the Accounts screen by clicking the ‘Reveal Card’ button or within the card tab (middle tab at the bottom) by clicking the “view card details” button.

In order to protect our customers, Zero may from time to time deem it necessary to freeze accounts. Should this be the case Zero will inform the customer and advise on next steps.

If you believe your balance is erroneous for whatever reason, please contact Customer Services, who can assist in investigating.

Customers are currently limited to one account each.

We do not currently provide statements in our App although you can view all of your historical transactions in our App. If you need a statement, please get in touch with Customer Services who will be able to provide these.

Any payments you make with your Zero Card are protected by Mastercard’s own comprehensive suite of fraud protection systems including 3DS which you can read more about below.
You are also entitled to the protections and compensation that are included as part of the Mastercard Scheme.

We provide notifications on your phone as soon as a transaction occurs. You should check these as you see them and contact Customer Services straight away if you see any suspicious transactions or any that you don’t recognise.

We also employs state-of-the-art technology from Flagright which examines every transaction that goes through your Zero account to look for any suspicious payments or transfers. We may freeze transactions, return money or contact you in relation to anything suspicious.

We also utilise Confirmation of Payee to check outbound payments which you can read about in another section of this FAQ.

In the early days of Zero whilst we are a young business we have also configured tight limits on payments and transactions which we aim to ease over time.

3DS (also known as ‘Mastercard SecureCode’, ‘Identity Check’ and ‘Verified by Visa’) is a standard which helps to reduce fraud and provide extra security to your online payments. Authentication is the process by which you identify yourself by sharing secure information that is available only to you. 3DS 2.0 is the latest version and provides a much smoother and safer process for you to authenticate your payments.

Authentication provides an additional layer of security for online transactions, making it harder for fraudsters to use your card details to make a payment without your knowledge.

On the online checkout page, you will be instructed to open your Zero app to verify the payment. On the ‘Account’ page of the app dashboard, the transaction that requires approval will appear within the ‘Activity’ section. To authenticate the transaction, you’ll need to click on the transaction, review the details and click ‘Approve’. You’ll be required to enter your app passcode to complete the approval.

Yes, your card has been enrolled in Mastercard SecureCode (3DS) so that wherever you see the Mastercard SecureCode logo online, your card number will automatically be recognised during checkout. Your card provider is contacted during checkout to confirm your identity as the genuine cardholder.

If you ever suspect that a fraudulent purchase has been made using your card, freeze your card immediately in the Zerp App and immediately telephone Customer Services.

Yes we meet the standards for Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) as mandated by regulators.

SCA aims to enhance the security of electronic payments. The principles of SCA are that you (customers) should be authenticated before making or approving payments using at least 2 of the following 3 elements: 

• Something you know: Passwords or PINs.

• Something you have: Smartphone, hardware token, or a one-time code sent to your device.

• Something you are: Biometric data, such as fingerprint, facial recognition or voice recognition.

The 3DS mechanism described in other sections of the FAQ is how we achieve SCA for card payments.

Online fraud is any type of fraudulent activity that uses the internet.
This includes scams designed to steal your money, personal information, or both, through websites, emails, social media, and other online platforms.

Payment fraud is a serious issue that affects individuals and businesses alike. It involves any type of fraudulent or illegal activity where someone uses stolen or fake payment information to obtain goods, services, or money

APP (Authorised Push Payment) fraud is when criminals trick you into voluntarily sending money to their account by pretending to be a legitimate person or organisation. To avoid it:
• Verify the recipient's details before sending money.
• Be wary of urgent requests for money.
• Don't be pressured into making a payment.
• If a deal seems too good to be true, it likely is a scam.
• If you are asked to send money to a new account, that you have not sent money to before, verify that account before sending funds.

Common types include:
• Phishing: Fraudulent emails, texts, or calls tricking you into revealing personal or financial information.
• Skimming: Criminals illegally copying card data at ATMs or point-of sale terminals.
• Account Takeover: Criminals gaining access to your online banking or e-money account.
• Malware: Malicious software that steals your data.
• Authorised Push Payment (APP) Fraud: Tricking you into sending money to a criminal.

Most common types include:
• Romance scams. The fraudster preys on the victim's need for affection by establishing an online romantic relationship through social media or dating platforms, to later persuade them to send money to the fraudster.

• Investment scams: The scammer sets up a fake investment website promising easy and high returns with little or no risk. When the victim deposits the money, it becomes clear that such a return never existed.

• Advance fee scams: The fraudster sends an email or letter to the victim stating that there is a large sum of money, for example that the victim has won a lottery or an inheritance, but there are some fees that must be paid before the large sum is released.

• CEO scams: The fraudster poses as the victim's boss or senior manager and convinces them to make an urgent payment or change payment details for a contract or supplier. The fraudster gains 
access to the company's business email account through hacking or spoofing.

• Mule accounts: In this case, the fraudster convinces genuine individuals to act as 'money mules' for him, most often by paying the victim a portion of the fraudulently obtained funds. The 'mules' may be duped or willing to accept payments into their own e-money accounts from (unknown to them) stolen cards/accounts. They are then instructed to transfer the funds to an account under the fraudster's control.

• Gift card scams: Gift cards are similar to cash and scammers exploit this by contacting victims with urgent situations, instructing them to purchase gift cards from specific stores, and providing the card numbers and PINs to access the loaded money, resulting in permanent loss of money for the victim.

• Deepfake: Voice fraud is a relatively new method of attack but one that has proven highly effective. As the name suggests, a criminal fakes the voice of somebody else with software that can successfully copy his/her voice via a small audio sample.

• Employment scams: Scammers target job seekers, offering fake employment opportunities or 
requiring payment for job applications, pre-employment checks, or training.

Key measures include:
• Never share your PIN, passwords, card details, or CVV/CVC code.
• Never share personal documents like passports, national IDs, driving licenses.
• Be cautious of unsolicited emails, texts, or calls asking for personal information.
• Use strong, unique passwords for all your online accounts.
• Regularly check your account statements.
• Keep your devices operating systems, antivirus and anti-malware software up to date.
• Be wary of suspicious websites and online offers.
• Be cautious about online stores where you use your card details. Do some research online before 
completing your purchase to make sure the website or app is legitimate.
• Enable two-factor authentication (2FA) wherever possible.
• Only use trusted Wi-Fi networks when using your accounts or making purchases.
• Be very sceptical of anyone asking you to transfer money urgently.

Phishing involves criminals sending fraudulent messages that appear to be from your payment services provider. These messages often ask for your login credentials, card credentials, personal information, or to click on malicious links.

2FA gives you twice the protection over your emails and social media accounts, which are common entry points that fraudsters try to exploit to get access to your e-money accounts and cards. So even if cyber criminals have gained access to your password, they can't access your email or social media account if they don’t have access to the second factor. For example, getting a code sent to your mobile phone when you sign in using a new device or change settings such as your password. This control will not trigger every time you check your email or social media account.

• Immediately contact us.
• Change your passwords and PINs.
• Report the incident to the police or relevant authorities.
• Keep a record of all communication and actions taken

• Immediately report the loss or theft to us.
• Request a new card.
• Check your account for any unauthorized transactions

For card and account holders living in England, Wales and Northern Ireland who have been a victim of fraud or cybercrime, report it at www.actionfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2040.

In Scotland, victims of fraud and cybercrime should report to Police Scotland on 101.

In Malta, customers can report fraud to the Cyber Crime Unit, Malta Police Force, telephone no. +356 2294 2231, or email: computer.crime@gov.mt

• Europol’s website - Payment Fraud | Europol
• Stop Scams UK - Home - Stop Scams UK
• Action Fraud - Action Fraud
• The UK International Consumer Centre - Common Scams | UKICC - The UK International Consumer Centre
• Crime Prevention – Malta Police - Crime Prevention | The Malta Police Force
• The European Banking Authority (EBA) website - Frauds and scams | European Banking Authority
• National consumer protection agencies.

Confirmation of Payee (CoP) is an account name-checking service that aims to reduce the risk of accidental or fraudulent payments being sent to the wrong account for UK domestic payments. It operates by verifying the name of the account holder you're intending to pay (payee) against the details held by their accounts service provider. 

1. Initiating a Payment: When you initiate a payment to a new payee, we will query the payee's 
   account provider to confirm the account name.
2. Name Verification: The payee's account provider compares the account name you've provided 
   with the details on their records.
3. Result Notification: You will see a CoP Response on your screen indicating one of the following: 
   o Match: The names match perfectly.
   o Close Match: The names are similar but not identical. You may need to verify the details 
   with the recipient.
   o No Match: The names don't match.
   o No Data: The account provider does not participate in the Confirmation of Payee service.
4. Payer’s decision: Based on the response, you can decide whether to proceed with payment, 
   change payment details, or cancel the payment.

Confirmation of Payee will help UK banks, building societies and other financial service providers to reduce certain types of fraud and misdirected payments. In particular, it addresses certain types of authorised push payment (APP) fraud by providing effective warnings to payers about the risks associated with progressing with a payment to an account where the name does not match.

Clearbank powers our personal accounts, so this is fine. 

This issue relates to the Confirmation of Payee data that other financial institutions retrieve when you enter your Zero sort code to send money to your Zero personal account. We cannot change this to say Zero at this time.

Although, highly unlikely, errors can occur. In this case, please let us know as soon as you notice something is wrong and we will try to resolve the issue as soon as possible. 
The party who is responsible for the error will be liable for the losses incurred because of a payment made in error. Rest assured that if an error does occur, our complaints department will investigate the matter,
and we will reimburse you for the amount of the payment made in error as a result of an incorrect CoP response.

• Not a Guarantee: While CoP is a valuable tool, it's not infallible. It's essential to remain vigilant and exercise caution when making payments, especially to unfamiliar recipients.
• Opt-Out Option: Some individuals may choose to opt out of CoP. However, this can limit the protection offered by the service.
• Staying Informed: Stay updated on the latest information on fraud an financial crime, and guidance regarding CoP from us and other financial institutions.

By understanding the principles and implications of Confirmation of Payee, you can make more informed decisions and protect yourself from potential financial risks.

Yes, we enable other financial institutions to access information from your Zero account, with your permission, through Open Banking. We provide this service in conjunction with a partner Tell Money. If you would like more information, please visit the Zero Fintech profile on Tell Money's website at https://developer.tell.money/zero. 

You can also get API uptime statistics about Zero's open banking interface on the above website page.

We also enable you to connect to your other bank accounts from within the Zero App, so that we can enhance the accuracy of your Zero GreenScore. You will see options within the App to connect your other bank accounts.

Please refer to our Privacy Policy to understand how we handle and process your data. 

You can read our Privacy Policy here, which provides the complete answer to the first part of this question.

Further details about how we process, use and protect your data is covered in our Terms and Conditions.

GreenScore^® is a proprietary index we calculate to help you understand how sustainable you are. GreenScore is a number between 1 and 1000, with a higher GreenScore indicating a more sustainable lifestyle, or put another way a higher GreenScore indicates a lower impact on the planet.

In the future, we aim to share benchmark information about how your GreenScore compares to other people (always anonymously). We will improve the accuracy and stability of GreenScore over time and would love your help to shape the future of GreenScore.

Please bear with us in the early days as GreenScore is work in progress and will be improved progressively during the early years of the company.

We provide a GreenScore to help you understand how sustainable your life is. There is no obligation to act upon it but, if you wish, you could try to improve (increase) your GreenScore by spending more sustainably. In the future we will be providing tips to help you understand ways you could achieve this.

Your GreenScore is calculated by using data science to process the transactions you make on your Zero personal account and card. We have partnered with Doconomy to provide an estimate of the carbon impact of each transaction.

If you link your Zero account to your other bank accounts using our open banking feature, we will also process the transactions in those other accounts to give you a more accurate GreenScore.

Please be patient with GreenScore as it is work-in-progress. We would greatly appreciate your feedback and suggestions to help us improve GreenScore. If you have feedback or suggestions please contact Customer Service.

We aim to improve the accuracy of GreenScore progressively in the coming years by introducing additional data to the algorithms and data science. We will seek your consent to process any additional data before we use it.

Your GreenScore will change each time you make another transaction on your Zero card or in any other bank accounts connected by open banking. It  may go up or down depending on your spending on more sustainable merchants, reducing the number of high-carbon purchases (those flights to Thailand for example!), buying less fuel at petrol stations, are just some of  the ways that may cause your GreenScore to change.

In the future we plan to offer you tips and information in the GreenScore section of our App to give you specific personalised recommendations about how to improve your sustainability and thereby improve your GreenScore.

GreenScore is not a reward scheme. It is provided solely to help you understand how sustainable you are and to consider actions you could take if you want to reduce your impact on the planet.

Your GreenScore is not shared with any third parties although we may aggregate GreenScore data anonymously to produce comparatives and benchmarks.

Our Community Share Option Scheme (“Option” & “Options”) is the mechanism for how we plan to deliver on our aim to share up to 20% of the value of the company with our customers for free when we IPO (or sell the company, although that is not our goal). 

Community Share Options will be awarded to our customers in our app after they sign up and have been accepted as a customer.

The scheme may be withdrawn if we are unable to construct a legal and tax-efficient mechanism or if it becomes subject to regulatory, legal or tax constraints that render the scheme ineffective or uncommercial.

Our goal is that you are able to sell your Zero Community Share Options when we float on a stock market, also known as conducting an Initial Public Offering (IPO). At this time, the value of your shares will depend on the valuation achieved by the company on its IPO.

Just like employee share options that staff sometimes get from their employer, the scheme is intended to empower you to help build the success and future value of the company because you will share in that success and its value.

In the meantime, the Options carry no cash value alternative and cannot be redeemed for anything else.

It is our aim that one Option is equivalent to one share upon IPO or when the company is sold.

However, if at the point of IPO, the total number of Options held by customers would represent more than 20% of post IPO shares, then we will fractionally downrate the number of shares you get so that the total for all customers is 20%.  

Subject to the above, when we conduct our IPO (or sell the company) you will receive real shares in the company. There may be a requirement to pay a nominal sum (much lower than the value of the shares) in order to receive the shares due to regulations, laws or tax rules which are constantly changing. The Company may cover this cost itself which will be confirmed when we publish the full scheme details in due course.  

As is common practice, there may be restrictions on your ability to sell shares you receive through the scheme for a period of time after an IPO. 

You cannot buy more Zero Community Share Options. However, you will be able to earn more by being an active customer and member of our community. Details of how to earn more Options will be publicized within the app and may change from time to time.

Options carry no cash value alternative and cannot be redeemed for anything else.

You cannot sell or transfer your Zero Community Share Options. 

They are offered as a reward for being a customer and helping the growth of the Zero movement.

We are exploring the option of allowing customers to elect that the value of their options goes to a good cause. More details later.

You will be able to opt-out of the community share option scheme if you do not wish to receive shares.

We aim to provide the opt-out in the App at a future date, so if you wish to opt out, please wait until this option is added to the App. There will be no  disadvantage to opting-out later if that is your preference.

We are also exploring the option of allowing customers to elect that the value of their options goes to a good cause. More details later.

If you cease to be a Zero customer, you will lose your entitlement to any Zero Community Share Options. In order to be able to exercise your right to your Zero Community Share Options at the point of IPO or exit, you will need to have been an active customer in the period leading up to the IPO or exit. Please check our Terms and Conditions for the definition of an Active Customer.

In the unlikely event that Zero ceases trading or issues a notice that it is winding down it’s business, you will lose your entitlement to any Zero Community Share Options which would have no value at that time anyway.

We are working to make the Zero Community Share Option scheme as tax-efficient for customers as possible and are in negotiation with HMRC about this. As such, we have not yet finalized the details of the scheme. We will clarify the full details of the scheme as soon as possible.

As mentioned in the answer to a question above, you will be able to opt-out of the scheme if you are concerned that there is any negative tax implication for you. 

There is no cost to receiving Zero Community Share Options, which you will see on the Community Share Options widget in our app.

At the time of our IPO or exit, your options will be converted into real shares which you will be able to sell then or later. For details of this process, please read the answers to the other questions in this section.

We would like there to be no cost to exercise the options at this time but, depending on HMRC, there make be a requirement to pay a nominal price per share in order to receive the real shares before you can then sell them to make a profit.

Our vision at Zero is a world where money is a force for the good of the planet and we’re on a mission to redefine banking for the generation putting the planet first and empower our community's personal journey to net zero. 

Zero will enable people to bank with the knowledge that their money is helping to save the planet and will never be used for anything that isn’t supporting the future health of the planet. 

Through our GreenScore and the sustainable actions our community is inspired to take, we hope to enable users to collectively prevent 4MTCO2e from being emitted by 2031.

By achieving B Corp Certification we are verifying that we meet high standards of social and environmental performance, and that we are among a select group of businesses proving to the world that it’s possible to be commercially successful while benefiting people, communities and the planet. 

The dirty secret of the finance industry is that many mainstream banks use your money to lend to other people and businesses, potentially those in unsustainable sectors such as fossil fuels, deforestation or arms and weapons.

Finance for the fossil fuel industry is one of the reasons we are all still struggling to adequately tackle climate change despite the fact that the science is clear that burning fossil fuels leads to climate change.

Zero will enable people to bank with the knowledge that their money is helping to save the planet and will never be used for anything that isn’t supporting the future health of the planet. 

Zero's customer funds are held at Clearbank, a fully licenced and regulated UK bank, whose deposits are lodged at the Bank of England. This ensures that your money is never used to finance fossil fuel companies, arms or weapons companies and many other adverse sectors that the British government does not support.

Transact Payments Limited is licensed by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC) as an Electronic Money (E-Money) Institution.

Zero debit cards are issued by Transact Payments Limited pursuant to its licence with Mastercard International Limited which is disclosed in the footer of our website.

More information can be found on their website here.

A glossary of the Key terms associated with the services provided by Transact Payments can be found here.

Mastercard International provide Zero with a debit card scheme.

These scheme allows you to use your Zero card to spend at merchants around the world that can accept Mastercard payments.

Our partnership with Mastercard is via our partnership with Transact Payments the details of which are disclosed in the footer of our website.

You can read more about Mastercard on their UK website here.

Marqeta provides debit card transaction processing services that enable us to provide you with your Zero debit card.

More information can be found on their website.

Integrated Finance provide us with a gateway that enable us to connect Zero Personal Accounts to the underlying personal accounts provided by ClearBank. Integrated Finance also provide us with an administrative portal to enable us to manage our customers personal accounts and provide customer service.

More information can be found on their website.

We use services from Onfido to verify the identity of our customers and conduct various checks to ensure that we are allowed to accept new customers when they sign up. 

We also use Onfido technology to provide additional checks when authorizing payments from your account in the Zero App.

You can find more information about Onfido on their website here.

Plaid Financial Ltd provides Zero with open banking services which allows the Zero app, at your discretion, to access information about transactions in your other bank accounts.

Zero is an agent of Plaid, as per the disclosure in the footer of our website.

More information can be found on their website here.

Doconomy provides Zero with Carbon assessments for transactions which we process as part of our GreenScore feature.

More information can be found on their website here.

Kani Payments provides Zero with software-as-a-service that allows us to reconcile and check that account balances are correct and that the money we must pay to settle card payments is correct.

More information can be found on their website here.

Flagright provide us with software that we use to monitor payments and receipts to ensure that they are not fraudulent or associated with money laundering.

More information can be found on their website here.

Clearbank provide the underlying personal accounts to our partner Transact Payments and thus to you via Zero.

Clearbank is a fully regulated bank in the UK and EU.

Clearbank also safeguard the money that is in your Zero personal account.

You can read more about Clearbank here. 

We provide a number of ways that you can contact Zero Customer Services, which are described on the Contact Us page of our website.

If you are dissatisfied with the service we've provided or anything else about Zero, you can raise a complaint which we be handled according to our Complaints Policy. Our Complaints Policy is described on a dedicated page of our website here. The policy describes the ways you can submit your complaint.

Anyone aged 18 and over who is a UK resident can apply for an account. 

Adding to your savings is quick and easy! Simply navigate to the savings section of the Zero app and select ‘Add to savings’. You’ll then be prompted to enter and confirm the amount you want to transfer from your Zero personal account into your savings account.  

Simply navigate to the savings section of the Zero app and select ‘Withdraw’. You’ll then be prompted to enter and confirm the amount you want to withdraw from your savings account. All withdrawals will be sent to your Zero personal account and should arrive within 1 working day. 

The Planet Safe Saver is an easy access savings account so you can withdraw money from your account at any time. All withdrawals will be sent to your Zero personal account and should arrive within 1 working day.

Interest is calculated and paid into your savings account on a monthly basis. 

Yes, the minimum deposit for opening the account and for any subsequent deposits is £1.

The maximum balance you can hold in your savings account is £1,000,000.

No, it’s completely free to open a Planet Safe Saver account. 

You can manage your savings account via the Zero mobile app. Simply navigate to the savings section of the dashboard to view your current savings balance, add and withdraw funds, and view your transaction history. 

Eligible deposits are protected up to £85,000 by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). 

Unlike a lot of other savings products, the money you add to your Planet Safe Saver account will never be used to support fossil fuels or other environmentally harmful industries.  

At the moment, you can only have one savings account.

If you would like a savings account statement, please contact our customer support team at help@zero.co.uk and they will be happy to send you an account statement. 

Your Planet Safe Saver account is made available on the Zero App through Bondsmith Savings Nominees Ltd.  

Your savings deposit is then held with our selected Deposit Taker, Griffin Bank.  

Griffin is a B Corp-rated bank with minimum standards to do no significant harm to the environment. Griffin does not lend to unsustainable industries and deposits its surplus capital at the Bank of England. 

Find out more in our Savings T&Cs.  

When money is deposited in Zero personal or savings accounts, it is held in a way that minimises harm to people or planet. Money deposited with many traditional banks is often loaned or invested elsewhere without adequate scrutiny of the ethics or activities of the recipient.

Zero Savings account balances are currently deposited with Griffin Bank, a fully regulated UK bank protected by the FSCS scheme. Like Zero, Griffin is a Certified B-Corporation which means that it has rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. At the present time, Griffin places all surplus capital with the Bank of England, rather than lending or investing itself.

Similarly, Zero personal account balances are safeguarded with ClearBank, also a fully regulated UK bank. ClearBank places all surplus capital with the Bank of England, rather than lending or investing itself.

The Bank of England is a subsidiary of the UK Government. Deposits held by the Bank of England are classed as central bank reserves. Central bank reserves are used to enable the stability and functioning of the UK financial system and economy.

In the longer term, we hope to strengthen our promise by becoming a bank ourselves. Then we would aim to offer sustainable lending in which we use as much of the capital as possible, within regulatory and liquidity tolerances, to empower the green economy. For example, we might lend to consumers to help fund sustainable purchases such as EVs, Solar Panels, Heat Pumps or other home energy efficiency retrofits.