Monzo Launches New Credit Card
Hey Digital Banking Fanatic!
Not everyone can get a credit card, and Monzo is trying to fix that.
A new pilot scheme under its Flex Build product lets customers with poor credit scores deposit a small amount, borrow up to £250, and start rebuilding their credit file, one repayment at a time.
The goal: bring 16 million underserved UK adults closer to mainstream financial products, one small limit at a time.
I covered Monzo's FY2025 results. Revenue hit £1.7bn, up 39% year-on-year, with adjusted profit before tax rising 20% to £172.6m.
Seems like they are willing to take more risks before their awaited 2026 IPO, in which they are targeting a valuation of £6–7 billion.
On another note. Money 20/20 Amsterdam came and went. Keep scrolling to find a summary I made of the event’s highlights. 👇
See you tomorrow!
Cheers,
INSIGHTS
📊 Busy at Money20/20 and missed the headlines?
Same here, so I've made a full recap.
NEWS
🌍 Backbase collaborates with Mastercard to simplify cross-border payments for banks. The collaboration is designed to accelerate near real-time cross-border payment adoption among financial institutions worldwide, enabling them to deploy international payment solutions while reducing implementation complexity and time-to-market.
🇬🇧 Monzo launches a new credit card for customers who struggle to access lending. The new pilot scheme is a deposit-backed credit card facility, allowing those with low credit scores to access borrowing capacity in limited amounts before potentially building those limits over time.
🇹🇭 Kakao Bank is preparing to launch Bank X in Thailand. Developed alongside SCBX and WeBank Technology Services, the venture marks Kakao Bank’s transition from investor to operator, with responsibility for the digital bank’s mobile platform, user experience, and core services.
🇬🇧 Revolut said to plan a $750M share sale, potentially valuing the company at $109 billion. Strong investor demand could push the transaction well above its initial target, providing liquidity for employees and early shareholders while underscoring investor confidence in Revolut’s continued growth and global expansion.
🇳🇱 Revolut launches Dutch MVNO on KPN 5G network. The offering will give customers in the country access to 5G-connected plans running on the KPN network, delivered through a partnership with telecoms provider 1GLOBAL. Read more
🇲🇽 Revolut has surpassed 500,000 customers in Mexico less than six months after its official launch. The milestone follows the company’s decision to operate under its own local banking licence and comes alongside a recent $64 million capital injection, bringing its total investment in Mexico to $167 million.
🌍 Revolut is leveraging its Formula 1 partnership with Audi to strengthen its brand positioning and accelerate growth in payments and business banking. The FinTech is using the platform to promote services such as Revolut Business and Revolut Pay, while pursuing its ambition to become a leading European payments provider and compete more directly with players like PayPal, Stripe, and Adyen.
🌍 Qonto partners with Upvest to enable businesses to put their idle cash to work with money market funds. Through Upvest's API-first infrastructure, Qonto’s business users will be able to earn yield with money market funds directly within the platform.
🇵🇪 Peru’s central bank extends digital currency pilot to 2027 after surpassing 3.5 million users. The initiative, delivered through the BiPay wallet in partnership with Bitel, has attracted more than 3.5 million users and is aimed at expanding financial inclusion by providing digital payments and transfers to populations with limited access to traditional banking services.
🌏 Visa promotes Adeline Kim to a wider role across Southeast Asia. Kim will now oversee Visa’s business across the three Southeast Asian markets, while continuing to work with clients and partners across the region. Read more
🇬🇧 Tuum sharpens its growth strategy, naming James Bushby as Chief Revenue Officer. Bushby brings over 20 years of sales leadership experience in the FinTech, banking, and payments sectors, with a proven track record of helping clients deliver innovative, value-based solutions.
🇧🇷 Nubank appoints John Walton as Chief Information Security Officer. Walton will lead Nubank’s information security strategy, helping the company continue to protect its platform, customers and operations while supporting its long-term growth agenda.
🇪🇸 Bankinter customers in Spain can now split their payments when making purchases with Apple Pay. This option offers a convenient and secure way to pay for a purchase. Customers can choose from monthly payment plans of between three and twelve months directly at the time of purchase.
🇪🇬 Egyptian POS financing FinTech Blnk raises $37 million. With the new funding, the company will extend its tech capabilities, expand into new products, explore geographic expansion, and launch its credit card programme, enabling customers to utilise the credit limit beyond its network.
🇵🇰 Telenor is said to be exploring the sale of its 55% stake in Easypaisa Bank in Pakistan. The digital bank has delivered strong recent growth, with profitability rising sharply as it continues to expand its digital financial services business.
🇨🇭 Temenos acquires additiv. The acquisition is aligned with Temenos’ strategic focus on strengthening its Wealth franchise and expanding AI-enabled experience and orchestration capabilities that amplify the value of its trusted core banking platform and is consistent with Temenos’ disciplined capital allocation framework.
🇮🇩 Grab becomes the majority owner of Indonesia’s Superbank. The move follows additional share purchases by Grab-related entities and comes as Superbank continues to grow rapidly, with loan balances rising 55% year over year and profitability supported by deeper integration with the Grab and OVO ecosystems.
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