Monzo (company)

Monzo is an online bank based in the United Kingdom and developer of a mobile banking application designed to offer banking service. The company's mobile application updates balances instantly, offer spending notifications and track day-to-day financial transactions without usage fees, offering customers a timeline of their overall expenditures and control over their spending.

Originally operating through a mobile app and a prepaid debit card, in April 2017 its UK banking licence restrictions were lifted, enabling it to offer a deposit account. As of February 2020, Monzo had 3.5 million customers. Monzo is focused on building a current account and working with a range of banking providers so that Monzo can be an intelligent hub for users entire financial life.

History

Monzo was founded in 2015 by Tom Blomfield, Jonas Huckestein, Jason Bates, Paul Rippon and Gary Dolman. The team met while working at Starling Bank, a competitor in the mobile and online banking market in the United Kingdom, and their 2016 crowd-funding campaign raised £1 million in 96 seconds via the Crowdcube investment platform.

Services

Personal

Monzo offers personal banking services, which include: one day advances on salary; sorting functions for a users salary to keep money for spending, bills, and savings at the time of being paid; bills pots which allow a user to keep money aside for bills without accidentally spending it; and 0.60% AER interest on a users savings account with a £500 minimum deposit to open. Otherwise, the account works the same as traditional bank accounts, including access to overdrafts, travel spending, and FSCS protection up to £85,000.

Business

Monzo offers business banking services. There are two business accounts: a free account which offers the standard Monzo personal account services, and a paid account which includes: tax pots, integrated accounting, multi-user access, and invoicing.