Challenger bank Monese has entered a strategic partnership with Investec Bank following the recent introduction of the former’s banking-as-a-service (BaaS) platform.
According to Monese, as part of this strategic partnership Investec will lead the first close of Monese’s ongoing Series C and bring the total raised so far by the firm to $162m. In addition, Investec global head of digital and technology Lyndon Subroyen will join the Monese board.
The deal will also see Investec adopt Monese’s new platform to enable the bank to accelerate the development of its transactional banking proposition in collaboration with Monese.
Monese remarked that the BaaS platform will bolster Investec’s private client transactional banking service and will be instrumental in the launch of a new business current account offering for private firms. Investec said it also expects that BaaS will enable the bank to consolidate its retail savings products.
The new banking platform is cloud-based, modular and will be configurable across multiple jurisdictions, as well as being fully integrated with leading financial services partners. Furthermore, BaaS users will have access to ‘everything they need’ to deliver current account services including core banking technology, risk engines and mobile app development.
Clients using the platform will be able to use the platform to build end-to-end current account services that can be customised from country-to-country.
Monese noted that itself and Investec are ‘closely aligned in their commitment to opening up the full extent of digital banking possibilities’. Both companies have highlighted that they aim to ensure that banks, marketplaces and FinTechs can meet the accelerating post-pandemic demand for modern digital financial services amongst consumers.
Monese founder and CEO Norris Koppel said, “We’re very excited to launch our BaaS platform and delighted to have such a distinguished partner and investor in Investec, who brings a great deal of experience in delivering exceptional banking services. At Monese we have built a cutting-edge technology platform, one that is tried-and-tested and integrated with some of the best partners in the business.
“In our experience core banking providers only cover a small part of the products and services that are required to meet the demands of modern digital banking and so our BaaS offering is completely end to end – it’s everything you would need to launch a current account from scratch.
“The pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation significantly. There is a huge appetite amongst traditional and non-traditional companies to reduce the transformation time from years to months or even weeks. With this platform, we believe we can help others take their digital banking offering to a totally new level, get them to market as quickly as possible and get them ahead of consumer demand.”
Subroyen added, “We have a longstanding relationship with Monese, having invested in them through Outward VC fund, and smaller investment vehicles in recent years. This strategic partnership will enable us to leverage their scale, expertise, and digital capabilities to deliver Investec’s digital current account offering in the UK. We’re confident that in Monese we’ve found the best partner that will bring enhanced capability for our clients.”
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