UK challenger bank Mondo gets banking licence
UK-based challenger bank Mondo has got its banking licence.
The bank kindly passed the news to the Financial Times first rather than informing anybody else. It then issued a tweet saying it’s an “exciting day” which caused some confusion to its followers.
According to the Financial Times, Mondo’s founder Tom Blomfield (formerly chief technology officer at Starling) is now in the “mobilisation” phase, allowing the bank to secure further investment and bolster its IT systems before launch.
Mondo’s regulatory approval comes soon after rivals Starling and Tandem got theirs. Atom beat them all to the punch earlier.
The start-up positions itself as a “mobile first” bank. It will be offering a current account with a contactless debit card and a mobile banking app.
The mobile app’s standout features are intelligent notifications, instant balance updates and financial management. It has partnered with Thames Card Technology for debit card production and personalisation. For banking ops, it decided to build its own platform.
Earlier this year, Mondo raised £1 million from a crowdfunding platform in just over 90 seconds. The bank has also got about £7 million from venture capital company Passion Capital.
Recently, Mondo reached the £20 million mark for money spent through its service. Since its last spending announcement, published at the end of April, the bank has gone from around £80,000 spent daily to over £200,000.
The bank is also looking for a new name to replace Mondo as it has been legally challenged by an undisclosed company with a similar name.
On top of all these developments, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has unveiled its plans to make banks “work harder for customers” and ensure the “benefits of new technology are fully exploited”.
Who’s who on the UK’s bustling challenger bank scene and what are they up to? Click here to find out.
