UK challenger bank Monzo plans US expansion

Monzo, a British exclusively digital bank, has taken the UK like a storm. Just 12 months ago, it mostly offered its services through pre-paid cards in the UK, but Monzo reports that by the end of 2018, 93 percent of its clients had opened full UK current accounts. The challenger bank also launched a host of new features, including Apple Pay, bill splitting, and Shared Tabs. 

It’s even rumoured to be secretly starting a US chapter, following the opening of a 24/7 customer support office in Las Vegas. TechCrunch claims the office might be a foothold to start operations in the US, which will most likely mirror the launch in the UK—making pre-paid cards available to the public until Monzo obtains a banking license in the US.

No details regarding the upcoming US expansion are available at the moment. A Monzo spokesperson in a statement for TechCrunch said, “We’re really excited about international expansion over the coming months and years. After all, it’s hard to build a bank for a billion people in the UK alone!”

Reviewing his plans for 2019, Monzo CEO Tom Blomfield states, “[W]e didn’t set out just to be the best bank in the UK. We set out to make money work for everyone. In terms of achieving that mission, we’re only at the starting line.”