Natwest wins approval to beef up US presence Banking Natwest has landed approval from the US Federal Reserve to beef up its presence on the other side of the Atlantic. The British banking giant has been granted permission to set up a “representative office” in Connecticut that will “act as a liaison with current and prospective US customers of the bank”. The approval document [...]
Monzo faces outage as thousands of users unable to make payments or transfers Fintech UK fintech Monzo has suffered an outage that has left thousands of its users unable to use its banking services. The digital bank said it had “identified some issues” and initiated a stand-in backup service, which would allow users to still complete card payments and receive transfers. But some users have continued to raise concerns [...]
Monzo chair makes early exit after boardroom rift Fintech The chair of Monzo will make an early exit from the UK fintech next month following a period of a turmoil in the neobank’s boardroom. Garry Hoffman will step down from his role as soon as next month, ending his tenure over a year earlier than his nine-year term permits. He will be replaced by [...]
Starling plans to ‘come out swinging’ in diversification bid August 6, 2026 Bernadette Smith has a spring in her step as she sits down in Starling’s headquarters to discuss her new role. The fintech’s new banking boss is buzzing with energy that she wants to pass onto customers and investors. “I want everyone to be talking about us,” she says, envisaging how she will measure success in [...]
A £3bn reckoning that will reshape buy now, pay later July 15, 2026 Buy now, pay later providers are cheering the arrival of new regulations.In this week’s column Samuel Norman considers how the industry could be reshaped. Five years ago, the government revealed plans to crack down on the buy now, pay later market after an industry review found financial risks posed by the ease with which consumers [...]
Monzo founder joins Anthropic as AI talent race heats up July 13, 2026 Monzo co-founder Tom Blomfield has joined Anthropic, as the US AI giant steps up its recruitment drive for senior tech leaders. Blomfield announced on Monday that he is taking a leave of absence from Silicon Valley startup accelerator Y Combinator to join Anthropic’s compute team, where he will work alongside co-founder Tom Brown on the [...]
How the boss of Zilch became UK fintech’s power broker July 8, 2026 Last year, Zilch founder Philip Belamant sat down with then-boss of Monzo, TS Anil. As the two friends caught up, Belamant was fizzing with ideas to turn his $2bn British fintech into a global powerhouse, according to sources familiar with the matter. Not long ago, Zilch had set up shop across the pond, and Belamant [...]
This is why the City’s fintech IPO boom hasn’t happened yet June 3, 2026 Hopes remain high for a flurry of fintech listings, in this week’s column Samuel Norman takes a look at whether this could come to fruition and what could be holding it up. City officials have pinned a hefty portion of their hopes for a London Stock Market revival on the nation’s fintech stars. Rachel Reeves [...]
Fintech firms grew four times faster than traditional banks in 2025 June 1, 2026 The explosive growth of the global fintech sector continued in the last year, drastically outpacing its incumbent rivals but faced a challenge in cementing its market share. Fintech firms’ average growth rate was four times faster than that of traditional financial services at an average of 22 per cent in BCG’s Global Fintech Report 2026. [...]
Monzo goes mobile: UK fintech debuts cell service in tie-up with Virgin Media O2 May 28, 2026 Monzo is set to launch its mobile service this summer in the firm’s latest play at diversifying its income from its traditional digital banking roots. The London-based fintech has sealed a tie-up with Virgin Media O2 and 1Global to kick off ‘Monzo Mobile’ – a phone plan and e-sim offering. Virgin will provide the UK [...]