UK challenger Monument names Fiona Pollard as new chair
Monument Bank, a UK-based digital bank catering to the country’s mass affluent population, has appointed Fiona Pollard as its new chair.
Monument appoints Fiona Pollard as its new chair
Pollard replaces Niall Booker, who indicated his intention to step down from the position last year to focus on “other interests” after four years in the role.
Monument says the announcement “completes an orderly succession process which has been in train for the last six months and came into effect as of 26 July”, adding that Pollard was “selected as the Board’s preferred candidate subject to regulatory approval after an extensive appointment process”.
Pollard was previously an independent non-executive director at the bank and has chaired a number of companies over her career, including Leicestershire’s Melton Building Society. She has also served in various roles at firms including Barclays, Daiwa Europe Bank, NatWest Capital Markets and Goldman Sachs.
Commenting on the appointment, Monument CEO Ian Rand says Pollard “has shown an exceptionally broad ranging skill set through her deep knowledge of the financial services sector”, while also thanking Booker for helping to guide the bank through its licensing process and early lending journey.
Targeting customers with over £100,000 worth of assets, the neobank landed an authorisation with restriction (AWR) banking licence from the UK’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in October 2020 before securing its full licence in November 2021.
In December 2021 it launched its app and first suite of savings products to the market. It has since partnered with digital engineering firm Persistent to build a cloud-native digital banking platform for its lending and deposit services.
