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The new CEO of Monzo is a “huge advocate” of Monzo’s business bank, according to its general manager, who hailed hitting one million business customers as “really big”.
Last month, the UK digital bank, which has over 16 million customers across retail and business banking, said Monzo Business, which launched in 2020, had hit one million business customers. Monzo said it was the first UK digital bank to achieve the milestone, saying that one in six UK businesses now banked with Monzo.
By comparison, Monzo’s key challenger bank rivals in the UK, Revolut and Starling, have around 800,000 and 500,000 business customers respectively.
Jordan Shwide, general manager, Monzo Business, said that Monzo CEO Diana Layfield, appointed in October last year, and Monzo staff were shown a video when it hit the 1m mark, featuring interviews with its business customers.
Shwide said: “And that is the thing that Diana has really loved about it. At the core, it has really aligned with our mission to make money work for everyone. She’s been a huge advocate of it.”
Monzo launched Monzo Business following a warning from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) that big incumbent banks did not compete hard enough for SMEs. Monzo Business targets SMEs, which make up over 99 per cent of the 5.7m UK businesses, according to UK government statistics. However, it does have some multi-million-pound revenue customers, with over 200 employees, says Shwide.
Monzo Business offers three plans, one free and two paid. Monzo Lite (basic business account) is free for customers, while Pro (accounting integrations, tax management) costs £9 a month, and Team (expense cards, bulk payments) is £25 a month. Monzo does not break down the customer numbers for each plan.
In its 2026 annual report, Monzo says that Monzo Business makes up 14 per cent of Monzo’s £1.7bn 2026 revenues, up from 12 per cent the year previous.
Monzo says it added 280,000 business customers in 2026 and that 47 per cent of its monthly active business customers were paid subscribers.
Most of its growth comes through word of mouth, says Shwide, with business owners telling other business owners about it, with a heavy focus on startups. Around a quarter of new account sign-ups started their business in the last five years. However, Monzo does not break down the number of Monzo Business’s primary customers as, like in retail banking, companies maintain multiple accounts across different banks.
Monzo Business makes money through subscription fees, interchange fees, interest on deposits and lending. Monzo Business will soon launch in Spain, having launched in Ireland earlier this year, as it looks to ramp up international expansion.
Ahead of its Ireland launch, Shwide hosted a customer forum in Monzo’s European headquarters in Dublin, with around 15 business customers, including a fintech business, a cybersecurity consultant and a self-employed photographer, to gauge customer feedback.
On international expansion, he says: “They are unique markets. They all have unique needs. What has been true across each market is the way we approach building products. Every step of the journey, we work with business owners to co-build something together.”
But Shwide, an American who has worked at Monzo for eight years and previously consulted for big banks, said there are common threads across Monzo’s international customers.
He pointed to them wanting speedy account openings, ease of payment, cash flow management, and a desire to stay compliant.
Given the strength of Monzo as a retail bank brand, with its famed coral-coloured card, Shwide said Monzo had not considered giving Monzo Business a separate identity, like NatWest’s digital bank, which is called Mettle. But there was a discussion pre-launch about calling it Monzo for Business, instead of Monzo Business. However, the colouring of Monzo Business differs slightly from Monzo’s retail offering, with more blues and navy in its branding.
On the agenda for the rest of the year, says Shwide, is finessing its offering in Spain and building and enhancing its product offering.