Vivid - our account for home and on the road
Vivid is the modern bank we use in everyday life and when travelling. We have several free accounts for budgeting, which helps us immensely to keep track of things at home and on the road.
We’re on the move a lot - at the seasonal pitch, touring with the caravan, abroad time and again. We need a bank that’s modern, cheap, flexible - and that handles international payments without skimming fees off us at every corner. At some point our classic branch bank just couldn’t keep up.
We juggled various apps and accounts for a long time. Eventually it was clear: we want one bank for everything - everyday life, travel, and our little budgets. That’s how we ended up at Vivid*.
More control over your budgets
The best thing about Vivid*? You can open several accounts - and for free. Each account is standalone (incl. IBAN): on holiday, for instance, we split fuel, trips, campsites, and groceries this way. So we can see straight away where the money is sitting right now and where it’s getting tight. Very handy when we’re on the road for four or six weeks at a stretch again.
That has completely changed our budgeting for card payments: you can link your Vivid card to any Vivid account at any time (in real time) and pay straight out of it.
And the nice bit: because the accounts cost nothing, we just open what we need. No minimum balance, no transaction fees. It’s only free, though, as long as you make one payment a month. Not an issue for us - we pay daily. But good to know.
No fees abroad
On the road it really comes into its own. Whether in the Netherlands, Belgium, or in England or Scotland - we pay with the card and pay no foreign fee. No currency surcharge, no hidden items on the statement. Exactly what a travel bank needs to do: you don’t notice it because it just works.
Shared accounts - for the two of us
We’re two people, and all expenses run jointly. With Vivid we share accounts right in the app - one sets them up, both see and book against them. Whether it’s the holiday kitty or shared spending: everything visible on both phones, no more endless tallying of who owes whom what.
Whether that’s useful obviously depends entirely on your living situation. For us, though, it’s super handy.
Cashback and interest pockets
A little bonus that adds up: every month you pick categories - supermarket, fuel station, restaurants - and then get money back on all payments in those shops. No big amount per purchase, but over the year you notice it. For us it’s more of a nice-to-have - we use Vivid mainly for the accounts and the interest, not for the cashback. We’ll take it gratefully, of course, when it comes around.
The interest pockets we celebrate even more. Here you get decent interest (usually identical to the ECB main rate), paid out to you daily. That way compound interest kicks in fully. You can open several interest pockets. They don’t have an IBAN, though, so you can only pay in or withdraw money within Vivid.
What else wins us over
Two things that don’t make the headlines but count in everyday life: the interface is intuitive - you find your way around quickly, no manual needed. And Vivid connects to other services for free via standard bank APIs. If you like, you pull your expenses into a budgeting app without paying for it.
What we miss
Nothing is perfect, in a world where needs are this individual. Three things we miss:
Sharable interest pockets. With Vivid you can collect interest quite nicely using interest pockets, but the pockets themselves can’t be shared. For shared saving as a couple, that would be a real win.
A “subject” for interest pockets. When you pay money into or withdraw from an interest pocket, you can’t add any text to it - no note, no description, nothing at all. Afterwards you only see amount and date, but not why you booked that just now. With pockets that you regularly put money into or take out of, that gets opaque fast: without your own transaction texts you quickly lose the thread of what a movement was actually for.
A web interface. So far everything in the private area runs through the app. Fine for a quick glance on the phone - for bigger bookings at the desk we’d wish for a web version. Thanks to the banking app, not quite so tragic.
Still: for us Vivid* has become the bank we actually use at home and on the road - every day. Flexible, with as many accounts as we need. Since we’re quite “fussy” about that, we’ve meanwhile signed up for a paid plan and still pay noticeably less than with the bank before.
See how/where we use Vivid, for example here:
Gilmore Girls "Stars Hollow Fall Special" at Sisu Café Braunschweig: an autumnal coffee bar and bookshop with Luke's-Diner vibes - and why we ended up having to move on.
Read travel report →
The London Cable Car glides nearly 90 metres above the Thames - cheaper than the London Eye and with views of Canary Wharf, the Docklands, and the O2 Arena. Tips on "tap and go", ride duration, and the best time to visit.
Read travel report →
An autumn day trip to Lulworth Cove on the Jurassic Coast in Dorset. Learn about the little scramble over the pebble beach, the famous crab sandwich and the windy but beautiful viewpoint above the bay.
Read travel report →
A visit to Lokito in Peine: Churros, Lokma and colourful toppings in a cozy atmosphere. A real food highlight for all sweet lovers.
Read travel report →
A day trip to the Isle of Wight with a visit to Osborne House, the Culver Cliffs and a lobster experiment at The Crab and Lobster Inn. Ferry journey with Red Funnel and relaxing time in the Signature Lounge.
Read travel report →
An impressive light experience in Elbauenpark Magdeburg featuring the story "Around the World in 80 Days". Enchanting installations, large crowds and culinary surprises await you.
Read travel report →
A walk through Bath with visits to the Royal Crescent, Bath Abbey, Sally Lunn's Historic Eating House, and Pulteney Bridge. Four hours in old, cosy surroundings. Nice people and great food.
Read travel report →
We visited Paddington in London. The immersive 70-minute Paddington Experience, the statue and shop at Paddington Station. A whole day under this wonderful theme.
Read travel report →
The impressive Seven Sisters Cliffs in Seaford. A 7 km hike to the white chalk cliffs with breathtaking panoramic views. We took an easy route and were very impressed.
Read travel report →
A spontaneous stop at Gertrudenhof in Hürth near Cologne - one of the most beautiful pumpkin farms in Germany. Autumn flair like in Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls with pumpkin pyramid and Highland Cows.
Read travel report →
Some links on this page (marked with *) are affiliate links. If you purchase something through one of these links, we receive a small commission - at no additional cost to you. This helps us keep Wohnwagentraum running, plan new adventures, and share even more inspiration with you.
Of course, you decide alone if, when, and where you order something. We only recommend products that we use ourselves or that fit our travel lifestyle. Thank you for supporting us in this way - every click is a little bit of fuel for our next kilometers! 🚐💨