Sitting within the Monese app, Avios will appear as a separate account, alongside other Monese currency accounts such as euros and pounds. This allows customers to track and maximise their Avios as they fly, travel, or spend across hundreds of Avios partner brands such as ASOS, John Lewis and Just Eat.

Monese offers instant, smart and connected banking services for a fast-growing and internationally mobile customer base. Customers can track and manage all travel and finances, including Avios earned on any credit cards, in one place, via one, simple-to-use app.  Monese is built around these customers’ lives, wherever they are, and thispartnership offers a new way to manage their lifestyles, as well as their finances. As customers travel and earn Avios, they can seamlessly switch between their Aviosaccount—linked to British Airways Executive Club—and their UK, European and business current accounts all from within the Monese app.

In the coming months, this service will become even smarter to help customers get the most out of collecting and spending Avios. For example, Monese customers will earn Avios for referring friends, they will be able to send and receive Avios between Monese customers and link their Monese account cards to Avios in-store offers; to allow for easy and seamless Avios earning while using their Monese card.  Further plans include a smart feature (via app push-notifications) that will highlight how and where everyday spending can help customers earn more Avios across hundreds of Avios partner brands.

Norris Koppel, CEO and Founder at Monese, said: “We are delighted to be announcing this partnership with Avios, following our successful Series B fundraise. We serve a fast-growing and incredibly international audience who travel the world for study, work, family, or retirement. We’re proud to offer customers a smart, portable and seamless way to manage their lifestyles, as well as their finances. We know that these customers would value an easy and simple way to track and maximise Aviosalongside their finances and travel. In the coming months, our Avios offering will become even smarter and stronger and it will help our customers make better decisions, wherever they may be in the world.”

Andrew Crawley, CEO, Avios Group, says: “Partnering with Monese is a significant move to making it even more convenient for customers to track their Avios while on the go.

As Avios can be collected and spent in over 190 countries, we understand the need to have a banking account that’s as mobile as its customers.  We look forward to working with Monese on our exciting plans to make collecting and spending even more rewarding.”

The demand for Monese’s services has continued to grow since its launch in late 2015. Over 800,000 customers have signed up across the 30 European countries, new customers have tripled in 2018, and customers are now moving over $3 billion each year through Monese accounts.

The news follows Monese securing $60 million in Series B funding in September 2018, which has paved the way for an aggressive product roadmap. The round was led by Kinnevik, a global investor focused on digital businesses, with participation from PayPal, European investor Augmentum Fintech and International Airlines Group for its loyalty and data business Avios Group Ltd.

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Norwegian Air Shuttle confirmed it had no prior knowledge that IAG had acquired a 4.6% stake till the news got public on Thursday. With the emergence of the news, share prices of Norwegian Air Shuttle went up by 47% and IAG’s shares fell 1.2%.

Although Norwegian Air Shuttle said it had no prior discussion with IAG about the same, IAG said the interest validates the ‘sustainability and potential’ of their business model and overall global growth.

IAG is of the opinion that it hasn’t finalised its decision to go ahead making an offer to the Norwegian airline said: “The minority investment is intended to establish a position from which to initiate discussions with Norwegian, including the possibility of a full offer for Norwegian.”

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