Monzo CEO sets no IPO timeframe, says deposits grew 55%

Monzo is raising money in a single process and has no timetable for a stock market listing, its chief executive said on Tuesday. Diana Layfield, Group CEO of the UK digital bank, spoke to Bloomberg’s Charlie Wells on Web Summit’s Centre Stage in Lisbon.Web Summit Lisbon 2026, Centre Stage livestream (Day One). She took over from TS Anil on 1 February 2026.Monzo Annual Report and Accounts 2026 (year to 31 March 2026).

Wells listed what had been reported about Monzo in recent months: takeover talks with Nubank that fell apart, private equity talks that stalled and a possible venture capital round. He said Monzo had not explained the strategy behind them.

Layfield said she could not comment on individual stories, but that Monzo is raising funding and is on “one exercise” to do it. “I’m not responsible for what journalists write,” she said, adding that a fast-growing bank expanding in the UK and Europe should be expected to raise capital, as Monzo has done periodically.

No listing date

Asked whether Monzo would list soon, she said an IPO is attractive for many reasons but “isn’t a goal”, and that Monzo will raise whatever funding suits its plans. Asked whether Monzo had talked to the UK government about listing in London, she said “we have no timeframe for this” and no chosen venue, so there was nothing to discuss. Funding European expansion is one of the things Monzo is very focused on, she said.

What the record shows

Nubank said in a filing with the SEC on 30 September that it “is not pursuing a transaction with Monzo”, American Banker reported.Nubank shuts down rumors it’s buying Monzo (American Banker). Monzo then held early talks with CVC and Advent International about selling a stake, The Paypers reported, after the two sides failed to agree a price with Nubank.Monzo turns to private equity after Nubank (The Paypers). Dealroom reported that those talks, over a stake of up to 15% at an £8bn valuation, have stalled, and that Monzo is exploring a venture round valuing it at about £7.5bn.Monzo eyes $10B valuation in VC round as private equity talks stall (Dealroom).

The growth numbers

Layfield defended Monzo against the charge that it gathers deposits without lending them out. She said customer deposits grew 55% last year and lending grew 42%, which she called far faster than anyone else.

Both figures match Monzo’s annual report for the year to 31 March 2026. Deposits rose 55% to £25.7bn, from £16.6bn. Loan balances grew 42% to £2.6bn. Customers reached 15.2 million; Wells put the figure at 16 million.

She said Monzo now banks more than a million UK small businesses, one in seven. The annual report says one in seven UK businesses bank with Monzo, and counts 905,000 business customers at the end of March, up from 625,000. Her figure of more than a million is not in the report.

On AI, Layfield said Monzo is “catching 30 plus percent more fraud” than a few months ago. The annual report uses a different measure: payment pauses that let customers reconsider helped it stop 25% more scams.

Out of the US, into Spain

Layfield called leaving the US a tough decision. “We didn’t have a banking license in the US,” she said, so Monzo had no tech stack of its own there. Monzo applied for a US national bank charter in April 2020 and withdrew the application in late 2021 after regulators signalled it would not be approved, The Next Web reported.Monzo is shutting down its US operation, and its European banking licence explains why. Monzo announced its exit on 1 April 2026, cutting about 50 US roles, and closed all US accounts as of 8 June.Monzo: We’ve said goodbye to our US customers. Others are taking the charter route Monzo abandoned: RevolutThe S-Curve, Revolut’s Storonsky targets 2028 IPO, US bank launch next year, 11 November 2026. and Mercury both hold conditional approval from the US bank regulator.The S-Curve, Mercury CEO says its own bank will open in 2027 after OCC, FDIC nods, 11 November 2026.

Europe is where the money is meant to go. Monzo entered Spain at the end of October, its first market in continental Europe, with personal, joint, under-18, business and savings accounts,Monzo continues European expansion with Spain launch. through a Spanish branch of its Irish bank.Monzo Spain. Layfield said more European markets will follow in the coming months, without naming the next one.