Monzo considers office outside UK to maintain passporting rights after Brexit

The digital bank Monzo is considering opening an office outside the UK to maintain its passporting rights post Brexit.

The fintech challenger bank's chief executive, Tom Blomfield, said he had been approached by the local government in Frankfurt on Thursday about opening an office in the German city.

“It is something we are considering, whether it's Dublin or Paris or Germany,” he told the BBC's Today Programme.

“To maintain that passporting right is just so important – we have a UK licence but while we remain in the EU we can 'passport' it into each member state,” he said.

Blomfield said the company was 100 per cent based in the UK but that potential rule changes for financial services post-Brexit could cause problems for future growth.

He said London had an advantage over Europe when it came to fintech and the company would only open a “small subsidiary” to keep passporting rights – the ability to offer cross-border services.

Monzo announced on Wednesday that it had closed a fresh fundraising round at £85m – putting the company's valuation above £1bn and cementing its position among the UK’s so-called unicorn startups.