Monument moving to launch as regulators lift restriction on deposit taking
Monument (or the “Bank”) is delighted to announce that the UK regulatory authorities, the Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority, have lifted deposit restrictions on its licence, so it can now operate as a fully-licensed deposit taking bank, built during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Monument is the first neo-bank to be launched in the UK specifically to meet the unmet demands of mass affluent clients – approximately 4.8 million professionals, entrepreneurs, property investors and others – who are seeking a bank to help them save and grow their wealth (which is estimated at c.£6 trillion). Monument is uniquely focused on the needs of the mass-affluent and will demonstrate through its exceptional service, that it treats their time as more valuable than its own.
The Bank has raised £60m in capital to date having successfully completed one of the largest Series A funding rounds in fintech-banking earlier this year and including our current fundraising round (which is shortly to close having exceeded £20m). Monument has attracted investment from highly-experienced investors, including respected figures in venture capital, private equity, fintech and real estate as well as a significant South American financial institution and S CUBE Capital, a fund managed by a Singapore based financial institution.
Mintoo Bhandari, CEO of Monument, said: “We are very pleased to share the news that the Regulators have given us the green light to proceed to commercial launch. We are ready and eager to serve clients, who we believe have been lacking a bank that is being developed to serve their needs and service requirements.
“While we never planned to build and launch a bank in the middle of a global pandemic, the timing could not have been more relevant as the demand for, and comfort with, digital finance has accelerated dramatically over the past 18 months.
“We are very excited to take our first steps of addressing the substantial, aspirational, hard-working, asset-rich but time-poor community which holds trillions in wealth in the UK and which lacks the right financial services partner.
“We will be entirely focused on understanding our clients’ needs and providing them with great service, enabled by technology, which we think will set a new standard. Our goal is to create an institution that truly understands this community, helps them save and grow their wealth, but which also recognises that there is more to wealth than money. Today marks an important step for us towards achieving that goal as we launch for clients as a fully-licensed bank”.
Savings and property investment lending
At launch, the Bank is offering clients buy-to-let and bridging loans to support experienced and busy landlords to manage and grow their portfolios. Clients will be able to borrow up to £3m for buy-to-let property investments, supported by specialist relationship managers with deep experience of the market and understanding of client needs.
Monument will also offer easy access and various fixed term savings products very shortly, providing competitive rates which offer fair and flexible savings opportunities for individuals looking to save upwards of £25,000. Monument’s approach to client loyalty is fundamentally different as well: if an existing saver deposits money for a subsequent fixed term, they will get a better rate than a new customer. And an existing borrower who renews their loan, or takes an additional loan, will also be offered a favourable rate.
In addition, the Bank is developing a further suite of ancillary services specifically for the mass-affluent which will be launched in due course, which we refer to as ‘Member Services’.
Bhandari continued: “We have assembled a team that really understands the clients we will be serving. Nowhere is this more evident than with our lending specialists, with their many years of dealing with clients’ borrowing needs, who will truly bring a better experience to experienced landlords”.
Technology and client service
Monument’s proposition marries exceptional client service with modern technology and as part of this it has developed an app which sits at the heart of its service. The app, shortly to be available on the App and Play store, will allow clients to open savings accounts in minutes, making the process one of the quickest in the market. Monument is continuing to develop its cloud-based, micro-services SaaS architecture, to set a new standard of experience for its clients.
Bhandari explained: “We are proud to bring to market an App that provides intuitive and highly efficient client onboarding and an immersive service experience. Through the App our clients will be able to interact with us by live chat, phone, video and email, and to switch between those channels at the touch of a finger.
“We believe we are the first bank in the UK, and possibly one of the first in the world, to offer simultaneous “video and co-browsing” capabilities, enabling our relationship team to interact with clients almost as if they were “in the same room”, saving time by addressing questions “live” so their applications can be completed and processed as quickly as possible.
“We are focused on using technology innovatively to deliver great experiences to our mass affluent clients, and on establishing the standard that other financial institutions will aspire to match”.
Monument is designed to make the most of modern cloud and microservices technology – which enables a plug and play approach to new tech innovations as they are developed and as client requirements evolve – to deliver unparalleled speed, efficiency, convenience, and transparency.
The Bank – whose executives and board have held senior roles in HSBC, Barclays, McKinsey & Co, UBS, Goldman Sachs, Apollo Global Management, PWC, Coutts and the UK regulators, amongst others – received its “authorisation with restriction” license in October 2020. The removal of all restrictions today marks the successful completion of the last stage of the licensing journey – mobilisation – whereby Monument finished building the infrastructure and processes, expanded its team, and demonstrated to the regulators that it is ready for launch.
