Monzo is shutting down its business in the US after struggling to push into the market, and says it will be doubling down on its growth in Europe.

The digital bank said it was making a “deliberate” and “strategic” decision to leave the US, which will result in about 50 job losses.

Monzo will stop bringing in new customers in the region. Existing customers can continue to use their accounts until June.

A spokeswoman said: “With a fast-growing customer base of 15 million in the UK and the growth opportunity our European banking licence creates, we’re making a deliberate, strategic decision to focus on scaling in our home market and Europe and to step away from the US.”

The neobank secured an EU banking licence last year and has started opening up to consumers in Ireland as its first European market.

“We’re very grateful to our US colleagues and customers for their support and love for Monzo.”

Monzo has expanded rapidly the UK since launching in 2015 as a digital-only bank and emerging as a challenger to high street lenders and traditional banking. Its customer base recently topped 15 million, making it the UK’s largest digital bank and the seventh-largest in the country by customer numbers.

But it has struggled to get a foothold in the US and abandoned an application for a banking licence in 2021 when it was told it was unlikely to be approved.

The digital bank hired a new leadership team in 2023 in the hope of getting another shot of expansion in the market.

It has run a relatively small operation in the US including debit cards and savings tools and features on its app.

The decision to ditch the US marks a big strategic move under new chief executive Diana Layfield, who stepped into the top job in February. The former Google general manager replaced TS Anil who left after a five-year tenure at the helm, saying he believes that “great leaders make way for others”. – PA