YooMoney review

The account is free to keep, with a monthly fee of RUB 0 on the wallet. That matches the site median of €0 for accounts of this kind, so the monthly line rarely decides the choice. What matters more is what you pay when money is converted.

The currency conversion fee is 2.9% on the card, and it applies whenever you pay with a currency other than the one held in your account. The site median for card conversion is 1%, so this rate sits well above the typical one. Keeping a balance in the currency you spend in avoids the charge.

Yes. YooMoney operates through the legal entity ООО НКО «ЮМани» and is listed under the Bank of Russia licence 3510-К. The Bank of Russia is the regulator here, and the company is based in Russia, so oversight comes from the Russian central bank rather than a UK or European authority.

The card type is virtual, so the card lives in your app rather than as plastic in your wallet. It runs on a local network, which is the domestic Russian scheme. That makes payments at home straightforward and awkward once you are travelling.

Yes. The features listed for the product cover multi currency and virtual card, so several currencies are handled in the same account. Holding the amount you are about to spend in the matching currency keeps the conversion charge away, and the card can draw on the balance that suits where you are.

The monthly fees sit side by side. YooMoney charges RUB 0, Monzo Flex charges £0 and Wise charges £0. Since the account itself is not the deciding cost, choose on the conversion rate and the currencies you need rather than on the monthly line.

On this site YooMoney ranks 196 out of 237 providers for currency conversion. A position that far down the list is a real cost if you pay in a second currency regularly, and far less important if you keep spending in the same one.