Monzo Says, Ole! The Bank of Spain Gave the Green Light
Hey Digital Banking Fanatic!
Bullfights usually take place in Pamplona during one of Spain’s most famous festivals.
But now, we are witnessing a different kind of bull fight nationwide in the digital banking arena, the heavyweight battle between Monzo and Revolut.
Monzo obtained registration from the Bank of Spain to launch in the country. The British neobank, with 13 million customers and profitable since 2023, has been registered as a branch in the Official State Gazette.
For context, Spain is Revolut’s third-largest market, and it closed 2025 with 6.3 million users in Spain, after adding two million in the last year alone. Can Monzo compete with Revolut in this market?
Monzo is doubling down on simplicity by sharpening its focus on budgeting, saving, and everyday banking, a strategy anchored by its famous "Pots" feature that became massively popular in the UK.
This laser focus sets up a fascinating strategic battle in the FinTech arena, positioning Monzo's deliberate, user-friendly everyday banking experience directly against the expansive all-in-one financial ecosystems being built by its rivals.
Scroll down to see what else is happening in the Digital Banking world. 👇 See you on Monday!
Cheers,
NEWS
🇪🇸 Monzo obtains registration from the Bank of Spain to launch in Spain and compete with Revolut. The authorization is the first regulatory step for the British neobank's launch. Monzo has 13 million customers in the UK and intends to compete in a market where digital players already capture more than 25% of new accounts.
🇰🇷 K Bank accelerates stablecoin business, aiming to lead digital asset competition among banks. The bank’s strategy is to leverage the capital strength secured through its IPO to build overseas remittance and payment infrastructure and to gain a leading position in the banking sector’s digital asset competition.
🇫🇷 Revolut's plan to become a "fully-fledged French bank". Béatrice Cossa-Dumurgier said Revolut plans to establish a second EU banking entity in Paris to support its rapidly growing Western European business. The company intends to invest €1 billion and hire 200 additional employees in France as it seeks a French banking license.
🇬🇧 Starling’s profit slides as falling interest rates bite. Starling Bank reported a slight decline in annual profit and revenue as lower UK interest rates reduced interest income, while the bank also limited some customer growth to strengthen financial crime controls and address historical compliance gaps.
🌏 Kakao partners with Google DeepMind to strengthen AI content transparency, first in Asia to adopt SynthID Watermarking. The initiative aims to improve transparency and traceability of AI-generated content on platforms such as KakaoTalk, helping combat deepfakes and misinformation through invisible digital watermarks.
🇺🇸 FinTech Yotta fined $1 million for Synapse deception. An investigation determined that Yotta, a company that offered sweepstakes games and gave prizes to people who opened savings accounts with them, misled consumers by marketing its services as safe while falsely claiming that their accounts were FDIC-insured.
Want your message in front of 100.000+ FinTech fanatics, founders, investors, and operators?
Shoot me a message on LinkedIn or send me an e-mail.
