Monument, a UK challenger bank for the “mass affluent”, has appointed former chief of Barclays Business Banking Ian Rand as its new CEO as it looks to accelerate its UK launch after gaining its full banking licence.
Monument co-founder and outgoing CEO Mintoo Bhandari will transition to the role of global head of corporate development. He will lead new opportunity identification and institutional capital relationship management for the challenger bank.
Founded in 2017, Monument is aiming to carve out a niche in the UK’s competitive challenger bank market. It’s targeting customers it describes as “busy professionals” that are high earners but not quite on the radar of wealth management funds, such as doctors, lawyers, accountants and entrepreneurs.
It believes that the “mass affluent” crowd in the UK aren’t being catered to by the UK’s challenger bank boom, and sees a total addressable market of 4.8 million people.
It gained its Authorisation with Restrictions (AwR) banking licence from UK regulators in 18 months, before being granted a full banking licence in November 2021.
“Monument with its unique proposition is an enticing opportunity to take the next step in my career,” said Rand. “The bank aims to fill a much-needed gap in the market – with its deep understanding of the mass affluent community and ability to serve a group who for too long have been left under-served by the market.”
Monument launched its banking app last month, which lets customers open an account with £25,000 and invest in property with loans of up to £3m.
Other challenger banks operating in the UK include Monzo, Revolut, Starling, Bunq, among others.
“I had formally raised the point of my succession to the board some months ago and I am very happy that, with the beginning of the New Year, the day has arrived for me to confidently hand over the reins to Ian Rand, who I am certain has the experience and skills to scale Monument Bank from the solid foundation we have in place to take it to new heights,” said Bhandari.
The new upper management overhaul comes after the company secured £28m funding for its launch back in February 2021. The last funding round for the startup was led by investors including Eric Zinterhofer, a founding partner of Searchlight Capital, Rakesh Loonkar, one of Goldman Sachs “100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs”, and Harry Handelsman, the figure behind some iconic property developments in London.
The post Monument, a neo-bank for the ‘mass affluent’, hires former Barclays chief as CEO appeared first on UKTN | UK Tech News |.
