The chief executive of UK digital banking group Monzo’s EU hub in Dublin has announced plans to step down, just five months after launching in the Republic with a range of current and savings accounts.
Michael Carney, who joined Monzo Bank Europe two years ago from payments group Stripe, where he was chief executive of Stripe Technology Europe, is planning to launch a start-up that will be focused on using artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics to support people living with disabilities.
He will remain in his current position while a search for a successor is undertaken, Monzo said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Since joining as one of the early team members, we’ve grown into a 100-strong team across Dublin, Barcelona, and Madrid – delivering for Irish customers and building momentum in Spain. The incredible experience of building a bank from the ground up inspired me to pursue a personal passion: founding a start-up that uses AI and robotics to support people living with disabilities,” Carney said.
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The Dubliner also previously worked for Twitter, now renamed X, Google, and management consulting firm Bain & Company.
Monzo Europe has received a €96 million capital injection from its parent in the past 12 months, with most of the money being transferred just weeks before the company was granted a full banking licence from the Central Bank of Ireland last December.
Monzo Europe posted a €28.8 million net loss in its financial year to the end of March, according to accounts filed in July with the Companies Registration Office. That followed a €4.06 million shortfall for its first seven months in operation, after being established in late August 2024.
Companies typically record losses as they are being set up. Monzo Europe disclosed that its losses were driven by staff expenses and other operational costs before it started generating meaningful income. The company recorded €437,000 of interest income last year, generated from investing much of the capital injection from its parent into short-term government bonds and other highly rated debt.
The company plans to launch later this year in Spain under the European Union’s passporting regime, which allows authorised financial institutions licensed in one member state to offer services across the bloc. It has established offices in Madrid and Barcelona and is building up a waiting list of customers in that market.
While a Department of Finance survey late last year found that almost 90 per cent of adults in the Republic still use AIB, Bank of Ireland and PTSB as their main financial services provider, a growing number of consumers are using digital challenger banks for various products.
The planned entry of Revolut, which has 3.4 million customers in the Republic, into the Irish mortgage market, the likely expansion of Avant Money’s banking offering, and Goldman Sachs exploring bringing its Marcus deposits brand to the State are likely to increase competition in the market.
