Monzo ‘has no Irish plans’ despite 2018 ambitions
MONZO, a UK-headquartered digital-only bank, is understood to have no plans to launch in Ireland at this time, despite announcing its services would soon be available here in 2018.
That year, Monzo, which has been backed by Irish online payments company Stripe, announced it was set to take its first step outside of the UK by offering its services here. The announcement followed the bank receiving passporting approval from the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority, enabling it to begin operations here.
Thomas George, head of international at Monzo, said at the time the company was “thrilled” to have received passporting permission to offer services in Ireland.
“Beyond unlocking a whole new set of customers who can soon get their hands on a Monzo account, this moment is particularly exciting because Ireland will be Monzo’s first step outside the UK, as we begin our journey to bring Monzo to the world,” he said.
Ergo has learned that Monzo has since pared back its Irish ambitions, with the company understood to have no plans to launch here at this time.
Last June, Monzo closed a new funding round which doubled the startup’s valuation to more than $2.5bn (€2.25bn), making it one of the UK’s most highly valued financial technology companies. Monzo brought in £113m (€133m) of fresh capital from the round, which was led by Y Combinator Continuity, the growth fund managed by startup accelerator Y Combinator, and included Stripe.
Monzo declined to comment.