UK neobank Monument given green light to launch by FCA and PRA

UK challenger Monument has announced it can now operate as a fully licenced deposit-taking bank following the lifting of deposit restrictions by financial regulators.

Monument CEO Mintoo Bhandari

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.

The firm — which has executives and board members poached from HSBC, Barclays, McKinsey, Goldman Sachs and PwC — intends to marry the lending and saving needs of the UK’s so-called mass affluent population using modular cloud banking and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) technology.

Monument claims it is the first UK neobank to meet the needs of these customers, considered to be those with over £100,000 worth of assets.

Monument CEO Mintoo Bhandari says: “While we never planned to build and launch a bank in the middle of a global pandemic, the timing could not have been more relevant as the demand for, and comfort with, digital finance has accelerated dramatically over the past 18 months.”

Monument will offer a suite of products including landlord-friendly buy-to-let loans of up to £3 million and various fixed-term savings products for those looking to deposit over £25,000.

Earlier this year, Monument raised over £28 million in its Series A funding round from new and existing investors, bringing its total capital raised to over £40 million.

Source: https://www.fintechfutures.com/2021/11/uk-neobank-monument-given-green-light-to-launch-by-fca-and-pra/