Will Monzo expand to Brazil?

(Andrew Gifford) #1

For those with relatives abroad you may relate to this, but my wife sends money to her family who struggle back home. It takes days to process and despite paying all the fees the bank in Brazil always take a cut and charge fees for either the privilege of having an account or simply the lack of service they provide!

All in all frustrating so my question although simple is I guess more to do with legislation and it’s will Monzo open to Brazilian residents or is there a way to open a Monzo account for my relatives there and simply add some spare cash in there now and then for them to use…?

Thanks for any light you might be able to share :star_struck:

(Allie) #2

I don’t know anything about banking but I know in general Brazil has a very protectionist economy. Apple has built factories in Brazil just to avoid extremely high import taxes.

I can’t speak for Monzo, but if I was opening a bank, Brazil would be low on my list of countries to move to.

(Alex Sherwood) #3

No there isn’t I’m afraid, Monzo is only available to U.K. residents & the accounts can only hold GBP.

(Andrew Gifford) #4

Thanks Allie and Alex, I almost knew the answers, but as they say if you don’t ask :wink:

#5

Could you change the title by any chance? (Thought title ‘Monzo expanding to Brazil’ was a news article and my eyebrows went through the roof).

Tom Blomfield has mentioned in a previous podcast that he looks to NuBank in Brazil as evidence that viral growth in smartphone banking can be achieved, with that bank hitting a million customers very quickly through word of mouth. I think the written version of that interview misquoted him as referring to Neon Bank (Banco Neon) which is another smartphone Bank doing well in Brazil.

Brazil is going to be a hotbed for fintech ( and the banks above are examples) but I’m pretty sure that Monzo are looking at the USA and Europe as their target markets, so it is unlikely your hopes will be fulfilled anytime this decade. :persevere:

#6

I’ve edited it, @Mischeviousmorph feel free to edit again if you didn’t like my change :slight_smile: