Dubai Investments has acquired a 9% equity stake in Monument Bank, a UK-based challenger bank.
Following the investment, Monument, which is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), says it is looking to expand its product suite and services to cater to the mass-affluent both in the UK and globally.
Monument claims to be the first digital bank to cater to the “very large but overlooked” mass-affluent segment in the UK, offering banking and related financial services including lending and savings products via its app.
Operating with a full banking licence from the Bank of England, Monument claims to have acquired assets worth £100 million, deposits of £145 million and approximately 3,000 customers in its first year of operations.
“With this investment and partnership with Dubai Investments, we will accelerate the scale-up of our UK business, launching innovative solutions to our target segment and growing our market share, while also leveraging our best-in-class technology with partners and clients around the world,” says Ian Rand, CEO of Monument.
Khalid Bin Kalban, Dubai Investments’ vice chairman and CEO, says the acquisition of equity stake provides the firm with a “unique opportunity” to move into the digital banking space in “one of the most advanced and regulated markets” at an early stage.
