The UK Fintech firm Pockit and the pan-European fintech Monese announce that they have agreed terms for Pockit to acquire Monese,a deal that’s currently subject to Change in Control approval by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), creating the fintech for the “financially underserved” and “lower-middle-income” consumers across the UK and Europe.
Pockit and its shareholders, led by Puma Growth Partners (previously known as and doing business as Puma Private Equity), will make reportedly a significant injection of up to £15 million in equity capital to fund the integration and future growth of the business.
Further financial terms of the deal have not be disclosed at the time of writing.
The group will serve c.3 million customers and generate “almost £30 million in annualised run-rate revenue.”
In addition to this expansion, Pockit will aim to benefit from Monese’s regulatory infrastructure (including electronic money and consumer credit licenses)and the operational synergies arising “from the two businesses’ closely aligned customer bases, as well as their complementary product offerings and geographic footprints.”
The transaction willallow Pockit to accelerate the roll-out of new services, such as Monese’s multi-currency accounts, on top of an existing product suite that “includes digital accounts, salary advance and credit-building.”
As confirmed in the announcement, there will be no impact on customers of either Pockit or Monese upon completion of the deal, with the two separate services continuing to run independently “until a careful review and integration process has been completed.”
In the longer term, both Pockit and Monese customers will benefit from an expanded product offering and greater investment in “customer services and the technology stack.”
Following the acquisition, Pockit founder and CEO Virraj Jatania will lead the enlarged business. Norris Koppel, founder and CEO of Monese, will remain involved “with the combined company post-completion to help ensure a smooth transition.”
Virraj Jatania, CEO and founder of Pockit, said that this is a “transformational” acquisition for Pockit.
They added that it propels them to a size where they can support financial inclusion for a critical mass of people who would otherwise be locked out of mainstream finance. While nothing will change for our 3 million customers in the short term, over time this deal will result in new products and an enhanced in-app money management experience.
Norris Koppel, CEO and founder of Monese, said that this new era with Pockit is a fantastic way to build on our success and to scale our offering to more customers, and comes at a time when we are approaching profitability.
They added that these two businesses have closely aligned customer bases and missions, and are highly complementary in terms of products and geographic footprint.
Rupert West, MD of Puma Growth Partners, said that they were always believers in Pockit’s mission to address financial exclusion and help low-income customers access high-quality digital financial infrastructure.
West added that this acquisition “materially propels” Pockit forwards along its planned growth strategy, adding scale.
Pockit is a UK-headquartered financial tech firm, established back in 2014 by Virraj Jatania.
It provides financial services to 900,000 customers in the United Kingdom whose needs are not being addressed by the traditional banking system.
The company offers a digital account which is mean to offer clients with a range of essential financial services.