UK’s famed digital bank Monzo reported an annual loss more than double, media reports said. The digital bank has said that the pandemic’s uncertainty might affect its operations. This year, it reported an annual post-tax loss of £113.8 million, up from its loss of £47.1 million last year.
Monzo said in its report, “Our revenue streams have been significantly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and resulting macro-economic uncertainty. Regulatory reviews will also lead to stricter financial crime requirements. This may result in lower forecasted customer numbers and revenues, along with increased costs associated with correcting areas of concern. This increases the risk that the Group will not be able to execute its business plan, which could adversely impact its ability to generate a profit or raise sufficient capital to meet future regulatory capital requirements.”
With that, the challenge for the digital bank is to find ways to generate revenue from its 4.4 million users. More recently, it launched Monzo Plus which has had a good start with more than 50,000 active users. The service was launched a month ago. The launch of Monzon Plus arrived the digital bank’s first attempt at a premium account offering which did not perform as expected.