UK digital bank Zopa is launching a UK current account product which pits it directly against industry leaders like Monzo and Revolut on day-to-day banking.
Founded in 2005 as a peer-to-peer lender, Zopa began developing banking services in 2016 as it sought more stable means to fund its loanbook. In 2020, it became a regulated bank and launched savings accounts and credit cards.
Zopa’s current account product, called Biscuit, has been in a trial period since last year, when it was being sampled by around 10k users. CEO Jaidev Janardana told Sifted in December that the product would be rolled out to all users by the end of H1 this year.
Biscuit offers customers cashback on spending and interest rates of more than 7% on regular savings, according to a company statement released on Tuesday.
“We would love to be serving more than 5m customers in the next three to four years, growing to more than 10m customers over a five to seven year period,” Janardana told Bloomberg. He said the bank was targeting deposits of around £1,500 to £2,000 per account.
Competitor Monzo has more than 12m customers, while Revolut has amassed more than 50m globally.
Zopa raised €80m in December last year from investors including A.P. Moller Holding, IAG Silverstripe and Augmentum, some of which will go towards acquiring other fintechs to add to its range of products.
“As we think about growing and consolidating and actually replacing the incumbents, we do feel that combining forces with other like-minded fintechs is a good idea,” Janardana told Sifted at the time of the raise.
The company also raised £80m in May this year after listing its first ever bond on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/zopa-takes-on-revolut-and-monzo-with-current-account-launch/
