Monese Ltd
TypePrivate
IndustryFinancial technology, financial services
Founded2015 (2015)
HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
Area served
European Economic Area
Key people
Norris Koppel, founder & CEO
ProductsCurrent accounts, remittance, debit cards
Revenue20,908,409 euro (2021) Edit this on Wikidata
Number of employees
370 (2019)
Websitewww.monese.com

Monese is a British-Estonian company that offers current accounts and money transfer services as an alternative to traditional banks. The mobile-only service provides accounts in Pounds sterling, Euros and Romanian leu, and is available in 31 countries across the European Economic Area. As of January 2020, it has over 2 million customers.[1]

History

Monese was founded by Norris Koppel, an entrepreneur from Estonia. Koppel moved to the United Kingdom and had his application for a current account at a major high-street bank declined because he could not provide local proof of address and did not yet have credit history in the UK.[2] This experience led Koppel to vow that one day he would launch a banking service that did not exclude customers based on their residency or lack of credit history.[3]

The company completed its seed round in May 2015, raising $1.8 million from Seedcamp, early Spotify investor Shakil Khan and several other angel investors.[4]

Monese launched its first product, an instant-to-open mobile current account in the UK, on 21 September 2015.[5]

Prior to the launch of its current account, it was reported that over 56,000 customers pre-registered for service and joined a waiting list to be granted access.[6] Monese is able to provide banking services to resident and non-resident customers, and has an account opening process that can be completed on a customer's smartphone in under three minutes.[7]

Monese closed its Series A round in January 2017, announcing a $10 million raise from Outward VC, Anthemis Exponential Ventures, STE capital, and Korea Investment Partners, Smartcap and Seedcamp.[8] Later that year it launched European accounts.[9]

Its next funding round, $60 million as part of Series B, was announced on 6 September 2018, and was led by Swedish investment company Kinnevik AB, with participation from PayPal, Augmentum Fintech, British Airways owner International Airlines Group and Investec backed Outward VC.[10]

Monese initially provided all of its services free of charge, except international money transfer – but in 2016 it began charging a fixed fee of £4.95 per month for its current account product.[11] It subsequently launched other plans and, as of November 2019, offers three different pricing plans: "Simple" with limited benefits but no fixed monthly fee, "Classic" for £4.95 per month, and "Premium" with no transaction charges for £14.95 per month.[12]

Towards the end of 2023 Monese began to charge UK customers £0.30 for virtual debit cards and £1 for domestic outgoing bank transfers. Transfers between Monese bank accounts remained unaffected.[13]

Mobile apps

To open and manage a Monese current account, customers must install the company's mobile app on their Android or iOS smartphone. The Android app has been available since Monese's public launch on 21 September 2015,[14] and the iOS app launched on 28 July 2016.[15]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Monese lands 2m customers since 2016 launch". AltFi News. 22 January 2020.
  2. ↑ "For Banking App Monese, Founded To Serve Migrants, Brexit Has Been Good For Business". Fast Company. 13 January 2017.
  3. ↑ "Monese raises $1.8m for mobile banking service for immigrants". Finextra. 28 May 2015.
  4. ↑ "Monese Joins Seedcamp, Raising $1.8m to Provide Banking Services for Immigrants and Expats Across Europe". Seedcamp. 27 May 2015.
  5. ↑ "Monese Launches In U.K. To Let Immigrants And Expats Get A Mobile Banking Account". Techcrunch. 21 September 2015.
  6. ↑ "A banking app for migrants has 56,000 people on its waiting list". Business Insider. 16 October 2015.
  7. ↑ "Check out the smart tech that lets you open a bank account with just a selfie and a passport pic". Business Insider. 16 November 2015.
  8. ↑ "Monese raises $10M Series A for its banking app targeting immigrants and expats". TechCrunch. 3 January 2017.
  9. ↑ "The infamous Brexit Bus is now being used to promote a fintech startup". The Next Web. 25 September 2017.
  10. ↑ "Digital bank Monese scoops $60m Series B". AltFi. 6 September 2018.
  11. ↑ "Here's the huge question facing fintech startups — can they make any money?". Business Insider. 6 June 2016.
  12. ↑ "Monese pricing". Monese website. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  13. ↑ "UK Personal Fees and Limits". Monese website. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  14. ↑ "The mobile banking revolution is here as Monese arrives". The Memo. 21 September 2015.
  15. ↑ "Monese, the UK banking app for immigrants and expats, finally lands on iOS". Techcrunch. 28 July 2016.
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