Monzo, the UK’s largest digital bank, remains synonymous with its neon debit card, heavy use of emojis and free spending abroad. But it's no longer just trying to be cool. It attempts to become a major financial institution.

This shift from upstart fintech that millennials love to mature sustainable businesses makes this possible turning point this year. While Monzo is preparing to be publicly released, sit down with the editor and despite some news reports, Monzo CEO TS Anil will not confirm Monzo will be available this year. However, he suggests building building blocks: profitability, product breadth, and the right amount of AI.

These numbers help tell stories. Monzo released its first annual profit last year. In its 2024 annual report, it has 9.3 million personal account holders and more than 400,000 commercial clients. It no longer relies on swap fees and overdrafts. Loans, subscriptions and commercial banking are now meaningful sources of income. All of this happens after a period of regulatory scrutiny and leadership mobility, which forces the company to grow up.

Under Anil - a bank veteran who joined Monzo in 2020 and soon took over as co-founder Tom Blomfield as CEO - Monzo is still glitz-like. These hot coral cards are still a must for many young banking customers. It also became more disciplined about its growing product range. Monzo’s clients, for example, can now invest in mutual funds powered by Blackrock and track their existing mortgages from other lenders in their Monzo app.

They can also use Monzo in the United States, although most Americans have not heard of the brand yet. The question is whether this is a question considering that Monzo began amassing beta customers in the country six years ago. Of course, it seems fair to ask Monzo if he needs to penetrate the U.S. market to become the global power that Anil envisions.

As we sat down, Anil insisted that this was not the case. He said one in five adults in the UK now have Monzo now - in other words, Monzo's remaining market share in their own backyard. (According to Anil, Monzo added 300,000 new users in April alone.)

Anil downplays the challenge when questioning our expansion and competitive landscape. “I think there are some general truths that apply,” he said. “Most people are anxious about their money, and that anxiety is independent of wealth… The second thing is right, the existing industry is built on the leverage of customers and customers who use certain ways. These are insights that help us create the best features. In our opinion, this is what we can make sense for us; it is what we intend to double down.”

In our speech, we also discussed whether Monzo itself could interpret it as an old player in the near future. After all, the company has been 10 years now and AI is changing everything. We wonder if Monzo is concerned about the rise of Ai-Native Banks.

"Oh my goodness, we're not traditional players," Anil said. “We continue to operate on the brink of bleeding in technology,” he continued, worrying him whether he “sees signs of complacency in adopting new technologies, or at least curious about it. These are like bright, flashing red warning signs to me, but that’s the opposite of our company.”

As for the reported IPO, Anil said: "Telling someone in the media doesn't believe everything you read in the media is like a tough move, but yes, please don't believe everything you read in the media. We will one day be a great public company. We have no decisions about when or where and who we decide."

If you want to learn more about how Monzo keeps its marketing fresh, how AI is used and how its engineers handle new technologies, watch our full chat below.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqo3qyug3ja[/embed]