5 ms·
Clydesdale bank has 38m gbp in assets, and they’re a relatively not-heard-of obscure bank operating in the UK. I think monzo could bring want consumers want glo
by wepple 8y ago
Clydesdale bank has 38m gbp in assets, and they’re a relatively not-heard-of obscure bank operating in the UK. I think monzo could bring want consumers want globally.
I was preaching it’s virtues here in the US until they disabled international customers; I really look forward to being allowed back on.
At risk of sounding cliche: the banking sector really needs some serious disruption. It has for too long. There’s not a single conventional bank I’d miss if it were replaced with Monzo.
So I think there is insane prospects. It’s thin margins, but without ever bothering with stores and being tech focused, they can hopefully grow fast and spread wide.
- raesene9 8y agoSmall correction, if you're going via the Wikipedia page Clydesdale has £38B not M in assets :) Interestingly Clydesdale is one of the major old scottish banks and one of three that have the rights to print their own bank notes. Whilst they're not as popular these days as once they were, they're a pretty major operation in Scotland and Glasgow's largest bank. Global banking is extremely complex due to regulatory concerns. Whilst you may be able to re-use an underlying technology platform, which would have benefits, most of the hard work is in complying with regulations and fitting in with the local market place I wouldn't disagree at all that the banking industry is in need of disruption (I worked in banks in the UK for ~10 years so have had some exposure to how their system do or do not operate) what I'm not so sure of is that the kind of returns that can be generated without getting into other areas of banking (e.g. investment) will give the kind of returns VCs expect.
- jackweirdy 8y ago> ...and one of three that have the rights to print their own bank notes. Wow, I've never heard of this before - who are the others?
- raesene9 8y agoBank of Scotland and the Royal Bank of Scotland, fill out the three scottish issuing banks It leads to some "interesting" times if you get money out in Scotland and then go somewhere like London, where they're less used to scottish notes. Merchants outside of Scotland, don't have to take them if they don't want to, but many do.
- toyg 8y agoLondon is actually among the best places to spend Scottish pounds outside Scotland, because they are used to dealing with unsuspecting tourists in many areas. Anywhere else in middle England, though, you will likely get some angry refusals...
- pjc50 8y agoAh, Scottish banknotes. Clydesdale and both of the banks of Scotland (RBS and HBOS) can print their own banknotes, but they must be backed by sterling on deposit at the Bank of England. A similar arrangement is in place for Northern Bank of Northern Ireland, which produced one of my favourite UK banknotes: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-37342948 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-37342948 (Plastic! Portrait format! Space shuttle!) One of the tiny frictions of British society is seeing whether people outwith Scotland will accept Scottish banknotes.
- raesene9 8y agoIsle of Man is the most annoying to receive if you're just visiting, as they're really not accepted in many other places (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manx_pound https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manx_pound) As an aside - Why do I always think I've spotted another scottish person when I see outwith...
- SmellyGeekBoy 8y agoIn my experience when an English shop tries to refuse a Scottish banknote a Scottish person will always appear from nowhere to remedy the situation. ;)
- IanCal 8y agoBank of Scotland and Royal Bank of Scotland: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banknotes_of_Scotland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banknotes_of_Scotland