Monese is a London-based fintech founded in 2013 that provides digital banking and remittance services to consumers and businesses across Europe. Its product suite includes online-only cash accounts, savings, and international money transfers, and it also offers a banking-as-a-service platform unveiled last year. The company is positioned among challenger banks such as Revolut, Monzo, Starling and Wise. Monese has raised capital in multiple rounds, including a $90M Series C in September and the $35M tranche reported here. The $35M is the first tranche of an eventual Series D that will close at a later date. Total financing for the company now stands at $208M, and TechCrunch reports its valuation has increased "multiple times" on its Series C valuation (the Series C valuation was undisclosed). Monese offers a mobile-based current account and debit card that can be opened in as little as two minutes using technology-driven KYC and background checks. The app supports account numbers, cash deposits and withdrawals, international money transfers, direct debits, and tiered pricing including a free tier and paid plans from £4.99/month. Launched in 2015 and operating from London and Tallinn, Monese claims nearly 600,000 sign-ups and is available in 20 European countries. Monthly new customer acquisition has tripled since the end of 2017. The company says the majority of customers use Monese as a primary account (receiving salaries and paying rent), enabling it to leverage transaction data to help customers access credit without relying solely on traditional credit-score providers. Monese plans to scale operations, hire about 100 additional employees across its U.K. and Estonian offices, and open a third office in Portugal by year-end. Monese provides a mobile banking app that lets users open a current-account style account in under three minutes, with a bank account number, a Visa debit card, low-cost international transfers, cash deposits/withdrawals, and multi-currency balances. The app is available on Android and iOS and targets immigrants and expats who have difficulty opening traditional bank accounts. The company shifted its revenue model to a simple monthly fee of £4.95 per account (with a small additional currency-exchange fee), a move positioned to make the business potentially profitable except for the most active users. Monese plans to use new capital to launch a Euro account to expand into European markets beyond the U.K. and to roll out functionality such as direct debit and credit services, moving closer to a full current account offering. Operational metrics reported include over 40,000 customers from more than 179 countries, over 1.8 million transactions, and £150 million moved since September 2015, with 74% of incoming deposits reported as salaries. Monese offers a mobile-first current account aimed at immigrants and expats who struggle to open bank accounts when moving countries. The company is based in London, U.K., and Tallinn, Estonia, and is regulated as an Electronic Money Institution by the FCA. Users can open an account via the mobile app in a claimed under-three-minutes flow, access a full current-account interface, use a contactless debit card, and send low-cost international transfers. Monese does not seek a full U.K. banking licence and therefore cannot lend or invest customer deposits; customer funds are safeguarded and held in segregated accounts. The startup’s revenue model is transaction-based: customers receive a set of free transactions each month, pay a flat fee for excess transactions, and can earn more free transactions by referrals.

Total raised

$107M

Funding rounds

4

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Sep 2022