UK challenger bank Monzo plans to hire 500 new staff this year, bringing its headcount from 1,500 to 2,000 people as it gears up to turn a profit within the next three years.
The London headquartered firm, which also has offices in Cardiff and Las Vegas, is targeting 5.5 million users in 2020 and will try to launch a paid-for product to its currently free service.
The firm, which was named one of the UK’s most desirable places to work last year, launch ‘Monzo Plus’ in 2019 but axed the project months after.
The £3-12 per month product offered perks include travel insurance and travel money, discounts at participating stores, and content insurance but was rolled back after complaints about the complexity of the product.
On the company website, it said it is “rethinking Monzo Plus, and so it won’t be available for a while.”
Tom Blomfield, founder and CEO of Monzo told Reuters that the firm is now planning to relaunch paid-for accounts in the first quarter 2020.
“We learned that things that seem a universal truth when you are 50 people, launching iteratively as no one is paying attention, when you do that with 3.5 million customers it’s foolish,” he said.
“Our real focus is on monetisation. We’re looking to drive revenue and do it in a way that’s transparent and fair.”
Blomfield said Monzo plans to float within three to four years and expects the firm to be profitable by then.
The bank, which reported a loss of £47.2m in 2018, is in talks with investors to raise between £50m and £100m, said Reuters.