Will Monzo eventually be bought by a legacy bank?

Monzo Chat
21

That’s all my thoughts for now, hopefully I’ve highlighted some of the key issues, even if I haven’t spotted all of the problems they’d cause.

I think I’ll leave this for others to judge (or maybe I’ll change my mind and reply later). It’s been good to bounce these ideas around with you :raised_hands:

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I’ve always had the impression that if Monzo were bought out, it would have to be a hostile takeover. They’re in this for the long haul.
They haven’t created their own infrastructure just to be a subsidiary of another bank. We can only go by what the company says but everything I hear from them doesn’t indicate in anyway that they’re looking for an exit anytime soon.

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23

To be honest, who cares. If they’re bought and continue to be great then what’s the issue. If they turn rubbish then someone will set up a new one. The genie is out of the bottle when it comes to banking and Monzo are reliant on doing it first and doing it best.

24

Monzo isn’t getting being brought out .

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25

Famous last words, No one can tell the future :wink:

26

Well it won’t be RBS because Tom’s mission is to destroy Natwest - because he hates those bastards :rage: you can’t censor me cos that is word for word what the CEO said! :heart_eyes: :sunglasses: what a legend https://youtu.be/2FcHQV4NqpA

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27

If anyone gets bought out by a UK legacy bank it will be Metro or Atom imho. Lots of capital, balance sheet lending and the packaged approach that legacy banks love and understand. Monzo is way too foreign and lean and will be seen as an enemy to destroy rather than a competition that can be bought and added on. It’s classic innovator’s dilemma because by acquiring monzo you would be saying goodbye to your model which generates £500 per customer/victim every year and you’d be accepting that almost everyone in your organisation including yourself is redundant.

When Blockbuster video could have bought Netflix cheaply they were instead trying to buy a similar business model to their own in Hollywood video. When it was too late they tried to make their own netflix which obviously sucked and wasn’t cheap enough. That’s what is going to happen with these banks and all my intuition says it will be Monzo who will the Netflix of retail banking. :kissing_smiling_eyes:

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28

Atom and Starling are unlikely to be bought out by a legacy bank as they already have major investment by legacy banks. If they wanted to buy them they probably would already done so. I think they are more likely to pick off smaller new entrants such as Tide or Tandem (assuming Monzo not up for grabs)

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It’s perfectly normal for a company which has invested in a startup to increase their holdings over time as they prove their viability, especially if they buy into their revenue model and think they’re underpriced.

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Just one point to add - buyout by a big bank doesnt necessarily mean integration into their systems and death by legacy tech. I would have though a more likely death scenario there is if you are brought ‘under the fold’ of the big bank you then need to start aligning to their product roadmap/strategy etc etc which would at best just hamper agility - this would probably lead to another competitor moving faster/becoming more featured.

I think one of the biggest risks to Monzo is actually can it continue to deliver to innovate at the pace it has set in its vision and will that vision really translate into mass market quickly enough. To be able to convince people to move to Monzo I think they would either need to:

  1. Get a full portfolio of services (presumably through marketplace) such that they can fill being ‘your financial partner’ that a lot of the banks market on (and mass market wise are largely successful at being)
  2. Successfully deliver a ‘new model’ of banking where the bank focuses on helping you out financially rather than transaction/product based and change peoples expectation of what a bank should be
    These are both massive things to deliver and pretty far away from where Monzo is right now. I am a very satisfied Monzo user and believe in their vision and way of operating but people shouldnt underestimate the challenge in reaching those endpoints
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31

Has to be done :slight_smile: lets hope it happends

32

I doubt a bank would buy Monzo but Apple, Google even Twitter might ?

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There are plenty of companies that COULD buy Monzo but no real compelling reason why they WOULD, especially not any time soon.

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34

Tom’ just done an interview with TechCrunch & was asked about an acquisition offer from one of the legacy banks - which they turned down.

He does concede that an acquisition is possible but here’s why he doesn’t want to sell now -

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35

So i wonder who tried to acquire monzo? Barclays, HSBC, Santander or??? :dizzy_face:

36

not sure if I should be posting this or not :slight_smile:

legacy banks waking up to the challenge ?

http://fintech.global/banks-should-not-invest-in-fintech-startups-they-should-acquire-them/

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37

Thanks Ian, this is a really interesting article. I’ve moved it here as it follows on nicely from the discussion earlier in this topic :slightly_smiling_face:

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38

This rubbish should be put in the bin them rumours again👌

39

Stick this topic in bin where it belongs

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lol doesnt actually mention any challengers to be taken over, just an opinion on where legacy banks might be heading but yep I suppose you’re right, the guys company have only done £25 billion in M and A s - small potatoes - sheez what does he know :slight_smile: