Monzo is pulling out of the United States to focus on the UK and Europe.
The digital bank launched in the US in 2020 with a debit card but withdrew its application for a banking licence the following year.
Despite initially claiming it still had “big ambitions” for the region, it has now taken the decision to close its accounts for existing customers by June. It has stopped onboarding new customers.
Bloomberg, which initially reported the news, said it would lay off around 50 employees as a result of the exit.
“With a fast-growing customer base of 15 million in the UK and the growth opportunity our European banking licence creates, we’re making a deliberate, strategic decision to focus on scaling in our home market and Europe and to step away from the US,” the company said.
The development follows a boardroom battle at the London-headquartered unicorn.
In a surprise announcement last October, Monzo said CEO TS Anil would step down in February 2026 and be succeeded by former Google and Standard Chartered exec Diana Layfield, who had originally been lined up to lead its UK business.
Reports claimed that Anil was effectively ousted by the company’s board after a disagreement over its IPO plans. Following a shareholder revolt, Anil was handed the role of vice chair.
Anil joined Monzo in 2020 from Visa to lead its US expansion but took over as CEO soon after when founder Tom Blomfield stepped down due to burnout. The FinTech unicorn has since tripled its customer base and reported record pre-tax profits of £60.5m in its latest annual results, with revenues of £1.2 billion.
However most of that growth has been in the UK, and the Financial Times claimed the board wanted to delay the IPO to build a larger customer base overseas. Anil, however, is said to have preferred an earlier float – and the board was concerned that he would leave the business soon after the fiscal event.
Late last year Monzo secured a European banking licence to expand on the continent.
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