Top 10 digital banks in 2022
But it’s not just the processes that have improved – so have the services to customers. All-digital banks generally offer cheaper products that are delivered faster than those offered by their existing counterparts. So we take a look at the top 10 digital banks operating today.
One of the newer market entrants, Australia-based Judo Bank, is based in Melbourne and was founded in 2018 by co-CEOs Joseph Healy and David Hornery.
Already serving over 10 thousand customers, Judo Bank is also one of Australia’s newest unicorn fintechs. It serves corporate customers as well as individuals, following the award of its banking license in 2019.
Judo Bank raised $216 million in a funding round in December 2020 – and was valued at $2.6 billion in November 2021. This is a 100% increase over JudoBank’s 2019 valuation.
Headquartered in New York and founded in 2013 by technology experts and Wall Street bankers Dee Choubey, Chee Mun Foong and Pratyush Tiwari, MoneyLion is a rising star in the banking world.
Fintech was originally launched to offer financial services, investment and lending products, and has since moved into the digital banking space, with scaling success quickly following.
In 2021, MoneyLion partnered with Fusion Acquisition Corp and launched its IPO, revealing a combined valuation of $2.9 billion.
With its latest valuation placing it at $1.6 billion, London-based Monzo serves five million customers across the UK and US.
Founders Tom Blomfield, Jonas Huckestein, Jason Bates, Paul Rippon and Gary Dolman launched the bank in 2015. In 2016, the digital banking app set a record when it raised over $1 million on Crowdcube.
Blomfield stepped down as CEO in May 2020. The current CEO, TS Anils, stepped in to hold both UK and US titles until Carol Nelson joined the US management team in 2021.
Launched by banking veteran Anne Boden in January 2014, Starling Bank is a London-based digital challenger specializing in current and business accounts.
In April 2022, Starling completed an internal fundraising round of $152.5 million, with a pre-money valuation of over $2.9 billion. Investors include Goldman Sachs, Fidelity, RPMI Railpen, Qatar Investment Authority and Harold McPike.
Starling bank currently serves 2.7 million customers and saw revenue grow by 600% in its latest set of financial accounts.
Germany’s largest fully digital bank, N26, is led by the young entrepreneur and banker Valentin Stalf. He founded the bank in 2013 in Munich through the Rocket Internet accelerator program and has since seen it grow from a small startup to one of the most impressive neobanks in Europe.
N26 left the UK marketplace citing Brexit as the reason – and is now focusing on Europe. N26’s direct competitors are Revolut and Monzo, and it has seven million customers in 24 countries.
San Francisco-based SoFi was founded in 2011 by famed CEO Anthony Noto.
SoFi, which stands for ‘Social Finance’, originally launched with a US$2 million loan program that could connect newly graduated Stanford students with alumni. The four founders were Mike Cagney, James Finnigan, Ian Brady and Dan Macklin.
In October 2020, SoFi received full-service national bank status and is now valued at $5.26 billion. By early 2021, however, pre-IPO predictions suggested SoFi was worth nearly twice that of $9 billion.
Founded in 2013 by dynamic CEO Chris Britt, Chime is headquartered in San Francisco and was valued at $14.5 billion after a $485 million funding round in the third quarter of 2020.
Chime specializes in retail banking and serves an estimated 12 million customers, making it the most valuable retail-serving fintech startup in the US.
In a surprise move, Britt publicly launched Chime in 2014 on the hugely popular Dr Phil talk show. The host reportedly gave his guests a Chime card, each loaded with $5,000. The bank saw 50% growth during the pandemic as its large customer base became much more dependent on digital channels.
One of the longest established digital banks, Moscow-based Tinkoff, was founded in 2006 by Oleg Tinkov – who then went on to launch fintech by reportedly investing $70 million of his own money into the project.
It is currently led by CEO Oliver Hughes and has 13 million customers. Data from the London Stock Exchange (LSE) listing places Tinkoff at a value of $17 billion. In fact, despite the challenges of recent months, Tinkoff’s total assets have grown year-on-year since 2018. It recently reported total assets worth R1.318 billion – a figure that is growing at 50% a year.
