# Monzo's EU expansion strategy 🚀🇪🇺 **URL:** \ **Category:** Crowdfunding & Investors\ **Created:** [6 August 2024 09:18 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzos-eu-expansion-strategy/166925 "2024-08-06T09:18:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![berth](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/monzo/user_avatar/community.monzo.com/berth/32/107985_2.png) [@berth](https://community.monzo.com/u/berth)\ **Post date:** [6 August 2024 09:18 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzos-eu-expansion-strategy/166925/1 "2024-08-06T09:18:09Z")
Headlines reported that [Monzo is working on setting up an Irish office](https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2024/0604/1452871-monzo-eyes-entry-to-dublin-market/). This would serve as a gateway to further European expansion, apart from the US that’s being worked on (on and off) for longer. Did anyone read more on the European plans? What do you think might make a good strategy? Germany has N26, France doesn’t seem to generate a lot of press with native neobanks. Denmark has Lunar (there were some rumours about a collaboration / merger with Monzo, but these turned out to be false). Some countries like Belgium have access to N26 or Revolut, but it’s relatively rare to see it as main bank. (most offer no local IBAN’s, or didn’t integrate country-specific features which incumbent banks have) ---
**Author:** ![Arnie7](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/monzo/user_avatar/community.monzo.com/arnie7/32/108404_2.png) [@Arnie7](https://community.monzo.com/u/Arnie7)\ **Post date:** [6 August 2024 11:26 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzos-eu-expansion-strategy/166925/2 "2024-08-06T11:26:56Z")
There’s BoursoBank in France [https://www.boursobank.com/](https://www.boursobank.com/). I think they mainly don’t generate press that we see is that they mainly only operate in french. PS you seem to be able to open that from the UK. ---
**Author:** ![richyb](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/monzo/user_avatar/community.monzo.com/richyb/32/1179_2.png) [@richyb](https://community.monzo.com/u/richyb)\ **Post date:** [6 August 2024 11:36 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzos-eu-expansion-strategy/166925/3 "2024-08-06T11:36:54Z")
To me, it always made more sense to expand from the UK to IE before US/DE/ES etc: same language (okay, Gaelic is used but the vast majority use English day to day), similar time zone (so support staff can be shared), similar bank systems (yes, domestic integration may vary a bit - but IBAN/BIC/Euro bank connections will be the same: US will be totally different: dependency on checks etc), similar postal addresses (but some variation of Eircodes/postcodes), similar regulatory restrictions. Enough variation to help identify major pain points, but enough commonality that you aren’t nearly starting from scratch. ---
**Author:** ![Arnie7](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/monzo/user_avatar/community.monzo.com/arnie7/32/108404_2.png) [@Arnie7](https://community.monzo.com/u/Arnie7)\ **Post date:** [6 August 2024 11:52 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzos-eu-expansion-strategy/166925/4 "2024-08-06T11:52:20Z")
Also post Brexit, UK citizens don’t need a visa to live & work in Ireland (and vice versa). ---
**Author:** ![berth](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/monzo/user_avatar/community.monzo.com/berth/32/107985_2.png) [@berth](https://community.monzo.com/u/berth)\ **Post date:** [6 August 2024 19:53 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzos-eu-expansion-strategy/166925/5 "2024-08-06T19:53:03Z")
After Ireland, a larger country with one dominant language probably makes most sense. For example: France (thanks for mentioning BoursoBank there, not sure how popular they are) or Germany (having N26). N26 lost quite some trust with press coverage of freezing cards too quickly. It happened to lots of neobanks, but seems to be more intense for them. Netherlands is known to be open to innovation, but is a smaller country and already has Bunq. Belgium could use Monzo, but has three official languages to cater for (Dutch and French being the most common). ---
**Author:** ![pshores](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/monzo/user_avatar/community.monzo.com/pshores/32/2504_2.png) [@pshores](https://community.monzo.com/u/pshores)\ **Post date:** [8 August 2024 02:45 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzos-eu-expansion-strategy/166925/6 "2024-08-08T02:45:53Z")
Most corporates use Ireland for Europe based business due to tax breaks ---
**Author:** ![berth](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/monzo/user_avatar/community.monzo.com/berth/32/107985_2.png) [@berth](https://community.monzo.com/u/berth)\ **Post date:** [10 December 2024 21:22 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzos-eu-expansion-strategy/166925/7 "2024-12-10T21:22:12Z")
There’s a welcome prepared in Portugal 🇵🇹 [https://monzo.pt/](https://monzo.pt/) Any fun ideas with the domain name? 😅 ---
**Author:** ![WillsT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b782af/32.png) [@WillsT](https://community.monzo.com/u/WillsT)\ **Post date:** [11 December 2024 15:42 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzos-eu-expansion-strategy/166925/8 "2024-12-11T15:42:04Z")
Have you bought up Denmark too?? I checked a few countries around europe ---
**Author:** ![berth](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/monzo/user_avatar/community.monzo.com/berth/32/107985_2.png) [@berth](https://community.monzo.com/u/berth)\ **Post date:** [12 December 2024 08:43 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzos-eu-expansion-strategy/166925/9 "2024-12-12T08:43:43Z")
I can neither confirm or deny 😇 ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_G](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/monzo/user_avatar/community.monzo.com/peter_g/32/89632_2.png) [@Peter\_G](https://community.monzo.com/u/Peter_G)\ **Post date:** [26 April 2025 11:07 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzos-eu-expansion-strategy/166925/10 "2025-04-26T11:07:59Z")
Feels like time to bump this. Monzo has been public in its EU expansion ambitions for about a year now. Ireland is the HQ but might not be the target market. Where do we think they’ll aim for? And when do you think we’ll hear any news? I’m hoping we might get an update before the annual report comes out (in June usually?)… I also suspect Monzo will target individual countries with localised offerings rather than do a blanket EU approach. They might do Ireland for table stakes, but I think initial targets might be a bit bigger… Any thoughts? Or even any insight from anyone in the know? ---
**Author:** ![dinosm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/71c47a/32.png) [@dinosm](https://community.monzo.com/u/dinosm)\ **Post date:** [26 April 2025 14:08 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzos-eu-expansion-strategy/166925/11 "2025-04-26T14:08:20Z")
I think Monzo would be mad not to do Ireland. Revolut are making a killing there because the incumbent banks are stuck in prehistoric times with their offerings and digital services, I am sure there’s a big piece of that pie for Monzo to grab. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_G](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/monzo/user_avatar/community.monzo.com/peter_g/32/89632_2.png) [@Peter\_G](https://community.monzo.com/u/Peter_G)\ **Post date:** [26 April 2025 14:26 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzos-eu-expansion-strategy/166925/13 "2025-04-26T14:26:22Z")
> [@dinosm](#): > > I think Monzo would be mad not to do Ireland > [@BenC](#): > > I think Ireland would be a good shout for Monzo as well. I’m pretty sure that Monzo is basing itself in Ireland for EU expansion, and using an Irish banking licence (if / when it comes) to passport across the EU. I suppose I was mulling over what Monzo’s main target will be. I assume they’ll launch in Ireland, using UK support\* and as much UK localisation\*\* as possible. But I think that’s just table stakes at the moment - I think they’ll probably target a larger EU country that doesn’t have a strong, local challenger bank. So not Germany (N26), not France, maybe Spain or Poland? Although I have half a memory of Poland having some odd on shore data requirements… \*poor the Irish \*\*yay the Irish ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_G](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/monzo/user_avatar/community.monzo.com/peter_g/32/89632_2.png) [@Peter\_G](https://community.monzo.com/u/Peter_G)\ **Post date:** [26 April 2025 14:28 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzos-eu-expansion-strategy/166925/14 "2025-04-26T14:28:35Z")
Looking back through the archives, I think this still stands up pretty well, although I think I totally underplayed the cultural difference in banking between English speaking nations… Language aside, banking in France is pretty similar to banking in the UK, whereas banking in the US… 🤯 > [@Monzo international expansion - where and why?](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzo-international-expansion-where-and-why/44683/11): > > I really don’t know. I think the trick is to bring the Monzo ethos / culture to each market individually, rather than directly translating stuff - which might makes it seem easier for English-speaking nations (especially as the biggest one - the US - is huge). But the trade-off is, Ireland aside, it’s really difficult. You need to set up a local company, meet regulatory requirements - basically spend lots of time and effort. Which is more difficult the more geographically remote you are. And th… ---
**Author:** ![Arnie7](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/monzo/user_avatar/community.monzo.com/arnie7/32/108404_2.png) [@Arnie7](https://community.monzo.com/u/Arnie7)\ **Post date:** [26 April 2025 17:01 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzos-eu-expansion-strategy/166925/15 "2025-04-26T17:01:42Z")
I think the problem is that the US isn’t one market, but 50 separate ones. That’s why even the local Allstate insurance company is actually All But a Few States for many types of insurance and even the largest banks generally only offer their services in a few states. The US is, even today, 50 separate countries, each with their own parliament, so regulations vary. ---
**Author:** ![topknot\_06](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@topknot\_06](https://community.monzo.com/u/topknot_06)\ **Post date:** [26 July 2025 18:59 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzos-eu-expansion-strategy/166925/16 "2025-07-26T18:59:07Z")
> **[GitHub - monzo/docs: Public API documentation](https://github.com/monzo/docs)** > > Public API documentation Monzo’s API documentation has been updated with some details on EU accounts. Seems like it may be launching soon. ---
**Author:** ![Sachaz](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/monzo/user_avatar/community.monzo.com/sachaz/32/28064_2.png) [@Sachaz](https://community.monzo.com/u/Sachaz)\ **Post date:** [26 July 2025 19:47 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzos-eu-expansion-strategy/166925/17 "2025-07-26T19:47:05Z")
Still don’t have the Irish license ---
**Author:** ![orangefuturebright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/977dab/32.png) [@orangefuturebright](https://community.monzo.com/u/orangefuturebright)\ **Post date:** [27 July 2025 00:05 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzos-eu-expansion-strategy/166925/18 "2025-07-27T00:05:02Z")
Absolutely bang on. And I think this point is often misunderstood. ---
**Author:** ![Sachaz](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/monzo/user_avatar/community.monzo.com/sachaz/32/28064_2.png) [@Sachaz](https://community.monzo.com/u/Sachaz)\ **Post date:** [15 September 2025 14:14 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzos-eu-expansion-strategy/166925/19 "2025-09-15T14:14:46Z")
> **[Making Money Work For Everyone, jue, 25 sept 2025, 18:00 | Meetup | Thomas...](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tom-leitch_making-money-work-for-everyone-jue-25-sept-activity-7371158485834829824-I8xh?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios&rcm=ACoAAAVJBzoBr-CkCKDDWZca9GSNgfdPEhvK-y0)** > > Monzo is coming to Barcelona. We're opening an tech office here and we want to meet people and make friends! > > Thursday 25th October we're hosting a tech meet-up and a whole bunch of us will be over in the city to hang-out. We've got some awesome... ---
**Author:** ![berth](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/monzo/user_avatar/community.monzo.com/berth/32/107985_2.png) [@berth](https://community.monzo.com/u/berth)\ **Post date:** [28 September 2025 11:11 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzos-eu-expansion-strategy/166925/20 "2025-09-28T11:11:33Z")
Did anyone attend? ---
**Author:** ![Phalliday](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/monzo/user_avatar/community.monzo.com/phalliday/32/29985_2.png) [@Phalliday](https://community.monzo.com/u/Phalliday)\ **Post date:** [23 May 2026 22:36 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzos-eu-expansion-strategy/166925/21 "2026-05-23T22:36:06Z")
Well just saw a post for Monzo Spain. So quite rapid expansion after Ireland [Next page](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzos-eu-expansion-strategy/166925.md?page=2)