You may have seen in the news this morning that we’d applied for some funding from something called the Capability and Innovation Fund (CIF), but we weren’t successful (Nationwide, Co-op and Investec were awarded £50m, £15m & £15m respectively). CIF was a pool of money set aside to improve competition in business banking following the financial crash in 2008.
I just wanted to let you all know that, although we’re disappointed not to have been chosen for the grant, this doesn’t change our vision for Monzo Business Accounts at all. We’re still super excited to be offering business accounts soon, and we can’t wait for you to try it out! We’ve got an exciting update to share in the next week or two, so keep your eyes peeled
Nationwide Building Society has won the second round of a hotly-contested prize to boost competition in the UK’s business banking market, receiving £50m to fund investments in new technology and services. Investec and the Co-Operative Bank won smaller awards of £15m each. The awards are part of a £775m programme funded by Royal Bank of Scotland as a condition of its bailout during the financial crisis. A total of £425m will be given in cash handouts to rival business banks and financial technology companies, while a further £350m is being used to encourage RBS customers to switch to alternative providers. The first and largest round of awards in February was dogged by controversy after scandal-hit Metro Bank was given the biggest prize of £120m. Favourites including CYBG and TSB also missed out in favour of less-established digital startups Starling and Tide. Nationwide was widely expected to secure Tuesday’s £50m prize, though the success of Co-Op Bank and Investec could surprise some observers who expected digital bank Monzo to win a share of the prize. Nationwide, Co-Op Bank and Investec have pledged to match the prize with their own investments. Nationwide, which has tried to move into business banking several times in the past before abandoning plans, said it would begin offering business current accounts early next year. It added it will work to “bring the fairness and value of mutuality to the SME banking market”. Andrew Bester, Co-Op Bank chief executive, said: “Our SME banking business is a key priority for us and we see considerable potential for growth. We are committed to more than doubling our current two per cent share of the market over the next five years and look forward to putting our plans into action.”
I’d be surprised if they were counting on the money from this. Given the way round 1 went with the ‘expected’ banks not getting a thing, it’s pretty clear the BRS could throw another curveball.
If Nationwide are looking at “next year” I would say it is at least important for Monzo to get their wider launch underway by the autumn, though (to some extent) like current accounts there are plenty of accounts to go around
Being a TSB account holder I am all to aware of their inherent shambles, but even so this makes the RBS fund look increasingly dodgy alongisde the Metro and Starling controversy.