Monzo has made a “deliberate” and “strategic” decision to shut down its business in the US after struggling to push into the market.
The digital bank will stop bringing in new customers in the region, and existing customers can continue to use their accounts until June.
A spokesperson said: “With a fast-growing customer base of 15 million in the UK and the growth opportunity our European banking licence creates, we’re making a deliberate, strategic decision to focus on scaling in our home market and Europe and to step away from the US.
“We’re very grateful to our US colleagues and customers for their support and love for Monzo.”
The decision will result in about 50 job losses.
Monzo has expanded rapidly in the UK since launching in 2015 as a digital-only bank and emerging as a challenger to high street lenders and traditional banking.
Monzo is the UK’s largest digital bank and the seventh-largest in the country by customer numbers after it recently topped 15 million.
It secured an EU banking licence last year and has started opening up to consumers in Ireland as its first European market but has struggled to get a foothold in the US and abandoned an application for a banking licence in 2021 when it was told it was unlikely to be approved.
The digital bank hired a new leadership team in 2023 in the hope of getting another shot of expansion in the market.
It has run a relatively small operation in the US, including debit cards and savings tools and features on its app.
The decision to ditch the US marks a major strategic move under new chief executive Diana Layfield, who stepped into the top job in February.
The former Google general manager replaced TS Anil, who left after a five-year tenure at the helm, saying he believes that “great leaders make way for others”.
