Welcome to Mondo

https://getmondo.co.uk/blog/2015/06/01/welcome-to-mondo/

I wonder if this thread can be used to discuss the origins of Monzo / Starling / Marketplace banking…

Some things I don’t know and would like to:

  • who first had the idea for marketplace banking?
  • did they have the idea by tracking Reg and saw PSD2 on the horizon?
  • innovation is not a single Eureka! moment as often portrayed. In that case, where did the idea spawn from? Were people discussing this at conferences in 2015 and prior? Were people blogging about this 2015 and prior?
  • did big banks have the idea but then chose to ignore it because it wasn’t in their interests? Then someone who worked in a big bank heard the idea and thought they could do something with it?
  • How did so many non-FS people get interested in it? E.g. Tom was not a banker - was Tom thinking about cross-industry innovation trends and then spotted this opportunity?

The driver for me asking these questions is the theoretical: “how does one spot the next big thing?”. What was the sequence of events that led to Monzo, going right back to the very initial origin of the person who first conceived marketplace banking / Open Banking?

I bet the community can collectively spread some light. Thanks!