Metaverse meets Monzo: Meta VP Lizzie Runham joins neobank’s board of directors

Neobank Monzo is expanding its board with the addition of non-executive director Lizzie Runham, the VP of HR for international at social media giant Meta (formerly Facebook).

Runham brings with her a long career of HR expertise, having previously worked across Johnson & Johnson, Standard Chartered and Barclays.

As part of Monzo’s board, Runham will oversee the strategy of Monzo’s business, along with fellow directors including the chair of Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, Fiona McBain, and Passion Capital founding partner Eileen Burbidge.

“We are delighted to welcome Lizzie to the Monzo board,” said Monzo chair Gary Hoffman.

“Lizzie brings terrific international leadership experience, having worked with some of the world’s biggest brands and banks. We think she’ll be a great asset to Monzo.”

As well as her notable experience in human resources, Runham’s appointment will bring Monzo’s board insight on one of the largest up-and-coming trends in technology right now, the metaverse.

Several fintechs are already shifting to position themselves for this nascent technology, described by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg as “an experienced internet” which blends AR, VR and presence.

Last month fintech Sokin repositioned itself as a “leading player” in the metaverse payments space, and several other fintechs are angling to facilitate financial services should the metaverse become the platform that its proponents propose.

For neobanks, the metaverse holds the potential to be a platform reset, in the same way that the smartphone set a new standard for how modern financial services should be delivered.

Then again, it took eight years for neobanks like Monzo and Starling to arrive on the scene following the launch of the iPhone, so any transition to the metaverse will likely be similarly glacial.