Monzo director steps down from board

One of Monzo’s directors Phillip Riese has stepped down from the company’s board.

Riese, a former chair of ​​American Express, joined Monzo ahead of its push into the US in July 2019.

He joined the neo bank board as a non-executive director after an 18-year career at American Express. He was previously president of American Express’ consumer cards division as well as chair of its Centurion Bank. 

A serial fintech board member, Riese sits on Betterment, Cross River Bank, Flywire and Remitly’s boards among others.

He was non-executive chairman of former peer-to-peer lender turned neobank Zopa from 2006-2018 also.

“Phillip has a range of interests and positions and after three years on the Monzo Board he is stepping into an advisory role with us - he is still very much part of the Monzo family!,” a Monzo spokesperson told AltFi. 

Monzo, which will soon report in numbers for 2021, has been on a two-year transition away from its early ‘startup’ phase to a move towards profitability spearheaded by its CEO TS Anil. 

Anil, initially the bank's US CEO, took over from its founder Tom Blomfield in 2020. 

This all occurred roughly at the same time Monzo was hit with a down round in June of 2020 where the neobank's valuation was reduced by 40 per cent.

The number has recently rebounded to $4.5bn after a funding round in December 2021 led by investors from the Abu Dhabi Growth Fund.