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5

Monzo

Power Score: 41.06

Momentum Score: 42.35 (9)

HQ: London, U.K.

CEO: TS Anil

On Power

As the largest neobank in the U.K. by number of accounts, Monzo has remained a power player in the market despite a tumultuous year that included the ripple effects of a down round and its co-founder, Tom Blomfield, departing the company completely in January 2021 after transitioning from CEO to president in May 2020 . But over the course of 2020, CEO TS Anil has managed to right the ship and is rumored to be raising an additional $400 million that would put the company back on its high-growth trajectory. On top of that, Anil says the company’s revenues are now 30% higher than pre-pandemic levels.

On Disruption

Monzo has continued to expand its product suite, most recently announcing that the company would be entering the hot BNPL space . It’s one of three new products the company launched, with Anil saying in an interview that each was doing better than expected . Monzo is also still cultivating its Monzo Plus product, an as-a-service premium account with interest rates and offers akin to a traditional bank account that it tried to launch in 2019 and ultimately succeeded in launching in 2020. In March 2021, the company noted that the service had 135,000 subscribers , still just a fraction of its five million-plus accounts, but the product could help diversify Monzo’s revenue stream and add more liquidity to a company that was hit hard by the pandemic. Though it’s not necessarily a unique strategy for a neobank, it does help bring cash in as talk of a potential IPO continues to build.

Tea Leaves

Back in October 2020, Monzo withdrew its bank charter application in the U.S., opting not to follow in the footsteps of Varo Bank and foreshadowing what N26 would eventually find itself doing a year later. The U.S. market and its complex web of regulatory policy has proved increasingly difficult to crack for global neobanks, and, as a result, Monzo reorganized its U.S. strategy in January. That included choosing to focus on integrating more payments infrastructure to support its existing partnership with Ohio-based Sutton Bank and adding more personal finance capabilities to its app. It’s a next-best-thing approach for Monzo after a setback, but since N26 suffered the same fate in its bid for a bank charter it won’t hurt the company as much as it could have.

They Said It

“If someone tells me a bank is doing something similar to Monzo, I actually applaud it because that means our strategy is working. We set out to make money work for everyone. It raises the bar for the whole industry.” — CEO TS Anil in an April 2021 interview

Return to the Neobanks Power Index here .