Dublin becomes Monzo’s official EU headquarters as the neobank secures a full European banking license authorised by Ireland’s Central Bank.
Competition just heated up for consumer and business banking in Ireland as the UK’s Monzo chose Ireland as its first European market, while Dublin becomes its European HQ under CEO Michael Carney. Both consumers abd businesses can sign up to a waitlist for early access.
The digital bank has secured a full banking licence from the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI), opening up its potential to expand into Europeean markets.
Monzo was established in the UK back in 2015, where it has been regulated since 2017, and it says it serves 800,000 businesses customers,and 14m customers in total.
“The approval from European regulators means we can now take our much-loved products and service to millions more personal and business customers,” said Michael Carney, EU CEO at Monzo, who held previous executive roles in Stripe, Twitter and Google. “Monzo has already proven that by combining the trust of a regulated bank with cutting-edge technology, we can truly transform people’s relationship with money.”
“We’re excited to be launching an Irish digital bank serving customers and businesses,” said Elaine Deehan, country manager for Ireland at Monzo. “People here are tech-savvy who value digital-first products that are built around their real life.”
Deehan promised a free current account for Irish customers with “no maintenance fees” and “human customer support” available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. According to Monzo, its accounts will come with an Irish IBAN, while instant access savings accounts will come with a 1.6pc variable interest rate.
Monzo first indicated its move to Dublin back in June 2024 and currently has a team of 35 people here across business, tech, and operations, with plans to further scale with further hiring already actively underway to support growth in Ireland and Europe.
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