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Monzo, a UK digital banking service, will be launching its services in the United States this year.
According to reports, the company has organized a team in the United States to put the launch in order. The launch will reportedly include events in US cities like Los Angeles and New York. Through these events, Monzo hopes to gain insights that can help in identifying the banking habits and needs of US customers.
CEO Tom Blomfield said that Monzo will partner with a US bank upon launching. However, Monzo also plans to eventually obtain a license that will allow it to stand on its own.
Similar to its UK counterpart, Monzo will have no brick-and-mortar locations in the United States, so transactions will happen through the Monzo app. Customers will only be given debit cards that are linked to the app.
However, Monzo will initially release only the lite version of its app in the United States. This means that it cannot conduct financial transactions that are available to UK customers, like lending money. But most of the other banking features, such as online payments and spending notifications, will be available.
One challenge for Monzo is that the banking regulations in the United States are not the same as those of the United Kingdom. A digital banking consultant shared that US banking regulators are not as lenient as those in the United Kingdom. He also warned Monzo that most US customers prefer using credit cards.
Despite this, a financial analyst is positive that Monzo will become popular in the United States because the country has no key player in the digital banking market yet.