Latest news with #digitalbank
Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Digital bank Monzo hits £1bn as UK market grows but boss talks down London listing
Monzo revenues have topped £1billion for the first time following a boom in customer numbers. Chief executive TS Anil said the digital bank was 'just getting started' after sales grew 48 per cent to £1.2billion over the 12 months to March 31. Monzo welcomed 2.4m customers, bringing its total base to more than 12m clients – making it the UK's largest digital bank and the seventh-largest overall. Profits hit £60.5million, some four times higher than a year earlier, as the fintech firm reaped the rewards of new paid subscription plans. About 1m customers pay for a subscription, which offers perks with retailers including Greggs and Vue, as well as phone and travel insurance. Anil however, dashed hopes that the bank – founded in 2015 and which employs 3,700 staff – will list on the London stock market anytime soon. 'He said such a move 'is not something we're focused on right now'.
Forbes
6 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
Chime Aims For $11 Billion IPO Valuation
Chime caters to Americans earning less than $100,000 a year and says 8.6 million people use its banking app monthly. San Francisco-based Chime, the largest digital bank in America, wants to go public at a price between $24 and $26 per share, which implies a fully diluted valuation of about $11 billion, according to a new press release and filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). That's down steeply from the $25 billion Chime reached in a private fundraise in August 2021, right around the peak of the fintech market bubble. The $11 billion diluted valuation reflects what Chime would be worth after setting aside 59 million shares to compensate employees and to fund its Chime Scholars charity program. Without those issued shares, its target IPO valuation would be $9.5 billion, slightly higher than the $8 billion we valued it at a year ago. Despite the economic uncertainty and stock market volatility brought on by President Trump's tariffs (including those already imposed and those threatened and then delayed), 13-year-old Chime is moving ahead with its IPO plan. The fintech has grown to attract 8.6 million active customers by offering a checking account and debit card with no monthly fees, plus additional features like a secured credit card and paycheck advances of up to $500. Chime makes most of its money on interchange–the 1% to 2% fees merchants are charged to accept debit and credit cards–and has been expanding aggressively into small-dollar lending. (It lacks a bank charter and partners with banks like Bancorp and Stride to offer banking services.) Have a story tip? Contact Jeff Kauflin at jkauflin@ or on Signal at jeff.273. Chime cofounder and CEO Chris Britt owns 5% of Chime, and cofounder Ryan King owns 4%, according to the filing, making their stakes worth about $500 million apiece. Yet combined, they control 65% of the voting power of Chime's stock, which could rise to 75% if they hit performance targets. That control allows them 'to significantly influence or determine any action requiring the approval of our stockholders,' the filing reads. The company's largest shareholder is venture firm DST Global, which owns about 12% of the company on a fully diluted basis. CrossLink Capital and Access Industries Management, owned by Ukranian-born billionaire Len Blavatnik, also hold large stakes in the digital bank. Chime's debit card was first publicly announced on the Dr. Phil show in 2014. Today, Jay McGraw, Dr. Phil's son and a TV producer, owns 5.5 million shares of Chime, which will be worth about $140 million at its IPO. McGraw plans to sell some of those shares in Chime's public debut, according to the SEC filing, as do other investors including Flourish Ventures, Cathay Innovation and Northwestern Mutual.
Forbes
9 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
Digital Bank Monzo Says ‘Too Early' For IPO Talk As Profit Soars 300%
TS Anil, CEO of Monzo, speaking at the Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal, on November 2, 2022. Monzo reported sharply higher profits on Monday that will inevitably fuel further speculation about an initial public offering, but the digital bank wants to downplay those expectations. Monzo's CEO TS Anil told reporters that it was 'way too early' to talk about IPO plans. 'We believe we'll make a great public company one day, and we're well on the trajectory to doing that when we choose to, but it's just not something we're focused on right now,' he said. Monzo is said to be working with Morgan Stanley to arrange meetings with potential investors for an IPO that could take place as early as the first half of next year, according to a report by Sky News. Citing people close to the company, Sky said the timing, size and location of the listing are still to be decided and will depend on market conditions in London and New York. The London-based bank saw a more than fourfold increase in profits last year. Monzo reported a pretax profit of £60.5 million ($81.8 million) for the year ended March 31, compared to £13.9 million a year earlier. The firm's revenue jumped 48% to £1.2 billion, which Anil said is a testament to Monzo's diversifying business model. He pointed out that three of the bank's revenue streams – deposits, transactions and lending – each contribute more than £200 million in annual revenues. 'Our growth across FY2025 is reinforced by the growing trust customers have in Monzo as they bring more and more of their financial lives to us,' Anil said. Customer deposits rose to £16.6 billion, a 48% increase from a year earlier. A third of its customers now use Monzo as their primary bank. Monzo also signed up another 2.4 million people to its platform last year, bringing its customer base to more than 12 million. The digital bank said its lending portfolio swelled to £1.9 billion, an increase of 36% from a year ago, but it managed to reduce its expected credit losses through better risk management. Monzo, which was founded a decade ago, has grown to become the U.K.'s seventh-largest bank. The majority of its customers are in Britain, but the firm is also aiming to expand overseas. Last year, Monzo hired former Stripe executive Michael Carney to lead its push into the European market. In 2023, the bank appointed Conor Walsh, a former executive at Block's Cash App, to lead its expansion in the U.S. market. Monzo is one of a host of digital banks, often described as neobanks or challenger banks, that emerged over the past decade and managed to take market share from Britain's biggest lenders. Monzo, which was originally named Mondo until it faced a trademark challenge, began as a 'scrappy startup' issuing prepaid debit cards in 2015 before obtaining a bank license two years later. Since then, Monzo has grown to become one of Britain's most valuable fintech companies. Last year, Monzo was valued at £4.5 billion ($5.9 billion) in a secondary share sale that allowed employees to sell some of their stock. Investors who participated in the round included StepStone Group and Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC.
Reuters
12 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
Money manager Thrivent opens digital bank to attract younger retail clients
NEW YORK, June 2 (Reuters) - Money manager Thrivent opened a digital bank on Sunday, aiming to attract young people as part of a nationwide push, the company said on Monday. "For over 120 years, Thrivent has provided purpose-based advice and now we're expanding in banking to grow and serve even more people," Thrivent CEO Terry Rasmussen said in a statement. The bank "will help us build relationships with younger clients earlier," she said. The company, which has Lutheran roots, currently serves 2.4 million clients through thousands of financial advisors and manages more than $193 billion in assets. "There's been this very notable upswell out there for more purpose-driven experiences," Brian Milton, CEO of Thrivent Bank, told Reuters in an interview. "There are 20 million Americans out there who are shopping for a bank account... we know they're younger, we know they're diverse, we know they're looking for transparency and fairness.' The new bank is one of few to have gained approval to operate from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation under the Biden administration. It secured a rare charter from the government to become an industrial loan company, the first since 2020. The digital bank will take on a group of about 50,000 members from Thrivent's existing credit union, which will be merged into the bank. It already houses about $700 million in deposits and will continue to offer loan products, such as mortgages, to retail clients.
The Independent
15 hours ago
- Business
- The Independent
Monzo annual profit booms four-fold after huge growth
Monzo reported a pre-tax profit of £60.5 million for the year ending March, a four-fold increase from the previous year's £13.9 million, driven by new customers and subscription growth. Founded a decade ago, Monzo, now the UK's seventh-largest bank with over 12 million customers, achieved its first annual profit last year. Monzo 's customer base grew by 2.4 million in the past year, with deposits increasing by 48 per cent to £16.6 billion. The digital bank has also been cashing in on new paid subscription plans, which offer perks with retailers such as Vue and Greggs, enhanced budgeting features, and phone and travel insurance. The bank's fee and commission income increased by 38 per cent to £329 million, with about one million customers subscribing to paid plans that offer perks and enhanced features.
