This week’s FS news 27.01.2020
Monese to reach unicorn status despite low UK adoption of digital banks
Monese to reach unicorn status despite low UK adoption of digital banks
UK fintech Monese is set to hit a £1 billion valuation and reach so-called unicorn status following talks to raise £100m from investors.
The news comes as Monese, which offers mobile-only UK and European current and small business accounts, celebrates two million sign-ups.
The challenger bank’s customer growth tripled last year with more than 9,000 people joining each day. At its current rate of growth, Monese will have 5 million users by the end of 2020 in 31 countries.
“It’s clear another [investment] round has to happen,” Monese’s CEO Norris Koppel told Financial Times. “What we are intending to do with our next raise is raise enough capital to take us all the way through to profitability.”
The app has previously been backed by PayPal, International Airlines Group, Investec’s INVC Fund and Zalando investor Kinnevik. Going forward, Monese will be working with new and existing investors.
While challenger banks have received a lot of attention in recent years, only 8% of British people use digital-only banks like Monese, Monzo, Starling and N26.
According to a recent YouGov survey, one third of people in Britain do not use mobile banking and 25% are uncomfortable with online banking.
While most people do manage their money digitally, they typically use technology provided by traditional institutions; around half use their bank or building society’s app, with a similar amount using their online banking services.
26% of people still manage their money via their local bank branch.
Commenting on the findings of the report, Matt Palframan, YouGov’s director of financial services research, said: “If most of the public uses digital banking in some form, many still value the in-person experience — and only a small proportion have gone fully online.
“When it comes to apps and digital services, Brits heavily favour those provided by established institutions and building societies.”
He added: “The FinTech market is not fully mature, and this could certainly change — for the moment, though, it appears the main beneficiaries of the mobile banking revolution are the legacy banks it was meant to overthrow.”
- Monese becomes UK’s latest fintech unicorn
- Monese review: is it the best bank for your money?
- UK fintech Monese nears unicorn status
- Fewer than one in 10 Brits use digital-only banks
- A third of Brits don’t use mobile banking
- Fintechs are struggling with consumer adoption in the UK
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