THE MAN BRINGING DOWN THE BANKS

©Mr Porter

London’s emerging financial technology (short: “fintech”) sector is full of clever people doing things with cash and code. Monzo, Revolut, Tandem and TransferWise are all tackling similar issues. But Mr Blomfield has done something different, which the others have not. He has made banking cool. Monzo is disrupting banking with his little pink cards, which have turned into a must-have for millennials and creatives. Blomfield and his team have somehow made personal finance palatable to millennials. In an interview with Mr Porter, he shared a few very interesting insights about Silicon valley, his business endeavours and fashion preferences.

At the core of Monzo is its app, which allows you to track all your purchases in real time and thus help you budget your income more easily. Mr Blomfield is a firm believer that ideas are “worthless”. It’s how you execute them that counts. Hence, he does not hire from banks because he does not feel they produce particularly responsive workers. “Ask a banker about a human problem and they will come up with a financial product as a solution,” he says.

The card creates a sense of belonging and is specifically designed not to look like any other card. “When you are tapping in at the Tube and you see another glint of hot coral, it is someone who is a part of your tribe,” says Mr Blomfield. Monzo is built around the pain point of this "tribe". People have a highly emotional relationship with their money, but often they feel out of control. Monzo's mission is to give this back by offering a management tool that provides traceability and visibility. To be specific: Monzo aims to "build a financial-control app for one billion people."