Monzo to launch in Spain, as ramps up EU expansion plans

Monzo, the UK digital bank, is to launch in Spain, ramping up its European expansion plans, following its exit from the US market.

Monzo has set up offices in Barcelona and Madrid, with over 50 employees, and plans to grow the team over the next year, it said.

It has also appointed Francisco Sierra, a former Western Union and N26 banking executive, as country manager for Spain, who will report to European boss Michael Carney.  

The neobank was given the green light to expand across the EU after winning a European banking licence from the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI), in December last year.

The move into Spain marks Monzo’s second EU market, following its launch in Ireland, which is Monzo’s EU headquarters, where it launched in April, with “thousands of customers on its waitlist”, it said.

Monzo, which has over 15m customers, already has a UK banking licence. The challenger bank has been vocal about its EU expansion plans. On products it will offer in Spain, Monzo said it would “start by listening to customers to better understand how to solve their pain points and create a localised offering”. It said product launches would be subject to regulatory approval.

Monzo’s European licence means it can hold customer deposits, opening the door to income streams such as loans and mortgages.

In Spain, Monzo, which exited the US market earlier this year, will go up against Santander-owned Openbank, Revolut and N26 as digital bank rivals.

Carney said: “At Monzo we are passionate about making money work for everyone and the next step for us is bringing that to the Spanish market. After a hugely successful launch in Ireland, Spain is the latest milestone in our European expansion. People tell us they genuinely love Monzo and we can’t wait for other markets across Europe to experience that."

Sierra said: “I’m delighted to be joining Monzo at such an exciting time as we bring a new way of banking to Spain. I look forward to listening and working closely with future customers to really understand how we can best serve the Spanish market and solve their everyday banking pain points."