Shine review

The monthly fee is €0 and the pricing model is no monthly fee, so keeping the account open costs nothing each month. Support is available on phone and help centre whenever you need to ask something, and the balance is the only thing you have to keep an eye on.

The account kind is easy access, so there is no commitment period and you can cancel and close whenever you choose. The one condition is that the balance must stay positive, since the account is built for running day to day business rather than for holding a reserve.

Deposits are covered by EU DGS up to EUR 100,000, so the balance is protected under the EU scheme up to that ceiling. Shine France is licensed in France under 71758 and appears in the national register as PSD_PI FR_ACPR!71758, the pair of entries to check before opening an account.

The card is debit and runs on the mastercard network, so it is a Mastercard for day to day business spending with suppliers and staff. Prepaid cards such as Skrill and AccessMore work on a different basis, since their card is prepaid and prepaid.

The rate is variable, so the return on the balance can change as the market moves. Treat the account as a place to run a business rather than as savings, since a variable rate gives no fixed return to plan around over a set period.

The audience is business, so the account is aimed at freelancers and companies rather than individuals running a personal current account. The legal entity is SHINE FRANCE in France, so anyone outside France looking for a personal card would be at the wrong kind of provider.

The balance must stay positive, so a large bill can leave the account short. With a €0 monthly fee and a no monthly fee model, the practical answer is to plan payment dates rather than expect help from the bank.

Support runs on phone and help centre, so a phone call and the help centre cover most questions. The help centre is the quicker route for anything routine, while the phone line suits problems that need a person to look at the account.