Pockit, a business that provides financial services to the “unbanked”, acquired Monese from HSBC, resulting in a combined company serving three million clients. Monese, supported by UK taxpayers through the Future Fund scheme, was previously valued at £1 billion but was seeking funds to ensure its survival.
Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. However, it is believed that Pockit paid a modest amount to acquire Monese. This company offers current accounts, money transfer services, and other alternatives to traditional banks.
Virraj Jatania said the deal was “transformational” to the business he founded in 2014.
In the UK, there are approximately 17.5 million people who have difficulty accessing financial services.
Monese is Britain’s only mobile banking service. Norris Koppel (47), an Estonian entrepreneur and entrepreneur founded the company in 2013, after his personal experience of trying to open a banking account as a worker migrant. It is a similar service to Pockit. Both are aimed at customers who have difficulty accessing traditional financial products. More than two million users in 30 countries use the service.
Jatania, 36 years old, said that Monese is present in Europe, and they have e-money licences and consumer credit licenses.
Pockit will be able to launch new lending products with the consumer credit license, which will lower its cost per transaction. Jatania stated that he wanted the “huge” problem of illegal loan sharks who prey on low-income households to be tackled.
Monese’s business-to business arm, XYB has been spun-off as a separate business. Pockit acquired its consumer operations. HSBC made a 2022 investment in Monese, but it wrote off the stake this year.
Jatania said that he would “not look at this as a rescue, but rather as an opportunity”. He added: “It propels us immediately to a size that allows us to support financial inclusion for people who otherwise would be locked out from mainstream finance.” The combined entity will process around £5 billion in transactions per year. Around 100 employees will join Pockit, and Jatania confirmed that there are no plans to make redundancies. This is due to the need for additional scale and not cost savings, as well as product development, which will benefit consumers who depend on these products.
Monese will continue to operate independently until a review is completed. Puma Growth Partnership, Pockit’s majority shareholder, will invest up to £15 million to finance the integration. Koppel will remain in the integration process.
Pockit has other supporters, including Sir Alex Ferguson (82), the former Manchester United manager; Jon Moulton (73), the veteran private equity investor, and Future Fund.
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