Monzo’s chief executive TS Anil is stepping down after falling out with the fintech’s board over where the company should go next, according to reports.
People familiar with the situation say tensions had been building for months before Monzo’s surprise announcement in October that Anil would hand over the top job early next year. He is set to be replaced in February by Diana Layfield, a former Google executive.
At the centre of the dispute was Monzo’s long-discussed stock market listing. Anil was said to be pushing for an earlier IPO, while several board members wanted to slow things down. Some directors felt the company needed more time to expand overseas and improve its valuation before going public, as progress on both fronts had been slower than they hoped.
There were also concerns about leadership stability. Anil reportedly indicated he might leave Monzo not long after an IPO, which unsettled board members already wary about rushing into a public listing.
Layfield, who previously worked at Google and spent more than a decade at Standard Chartered, had originally been lined up to lead Monzo’s UK business. However, she later emerged as the board’s preferred choice to run the company globally.
Anil joined Monzo in 2020 from Visa, with a brief to drive growth in the US. He became CEO shortly after Monzo’s founder Tom Blomfield stepped down, citing burnout. During Anil’s time in charge, Monzo’s customer numbers tripled to 13 million and the company reported record pre-tax profits of £60.5m on revenues of £1.2bn last year.
Still, almost all of Monzo’s customers remain in the UK, where competition is heating up as traditional banks fight back and US fintech rivals circle the market.
Monzo declined to comment on the reports.
