UK FinTech Monzo’s Carol Nelson Will Head American Expansion

Monzo’s strategic adviser, Carol Nelson, will lead the American expansion for the U.K. FinTech as its first female chief executive officer, TechCrunch reported on Thursday (Feb. 11).

Nelson brings a decade of experience as CEO of Cascade Bank and longtime expertise as senior vice president of Bank of America. She spent the past year working as a strategic advisor to Monzo U.S. and could take the top spot as early as next week.

Monzo Co-founder Tom Blomfield stepped down as CEO in May and moved into the president’s slot before completely leaving Monzo in January, TechCrunch reported. U.K. CEO TS Anil took the U.S. helm, temporarily juggling both positions.

The U.K. challenger bank is still working on its U.S. banking charter and employs about 10 people on the U.S. team. Its post-pandemic U.S. headquarters will be located in San Francisco.

Blomfield’s departure in January was partly spurred by the pandemic, but he told TechCrunch that he had been unhappy for a few years at the FinTech unicorn he co-founded in 2015. Already dealing with the transition from “scrappy startup” to big tech success story, the pandemic was the final stressor, and he said it was all negatively affecting his personal life.

Monzo said on Tuesday (Feb. 8) that despite having a lower valuation, it was looking to top-up its series G round by £50 million ($69 million). The startup has had record-breaking funding success, but the pandemic forced the company to cut 120 jobs and close its Las Vegas office.

Aside from Blomfield, Monzo was co-founded by Gary Dolman, Jason Bates, Jonas Huckestein and Paul Rippon. The neobank is nearing five million customers, has over 60,000 business users, and has a waiting list in the U.S.