Research: Challenger bank account growth numbers
- Challenger banks are closing large investment rounds as they capitalize themselves for growth.
- The race to acquire new customer accounts is heating up.
As challenger banks attract bigger rounds of venture capital, the race for new account growth is heating up. Earlier in 2019, Tearsheet hosted a webinar with executives from some of the fastest growing challenger and a common theme was scaling growth.
Of course, the industry is beginning to take these numbers with some salt. As challenger banks have made onboarding silky smooth for their customers, people signup up for multiple bank accounts and don't really using them. Nearly half (47 percent) of UK new account have less than £1,000 in them.
Challengers are trying to figure out how to get customers to use their apps as their primary bank accounts.
Here's how the top challengers break down in terms of account growth numbers:
Revolut: One of the oldest challengers, Revolut's early growth was influenced by its crowdfunding campaigns. Investors became users and vice versa. Now, as more money flows towards account acquisition across Europe, the firm believes it can 5x its daily acquisition rate by the end of 2019.
N26: Revolut and N26 kind of go together in the challenger bank playbook. They were started around the same time and both are embarking on a global expansion. N26 was first to launch in the US.
Aspiration: Many of the challenger banks promote doing well by doing good. Aspiration has made values-based marketing part of its brand. The company recently crossed the 1M user mark and seems to be growing exponentially.
Monzo: Until recently, Monzo was really focused on the UK. That's changing now as the firm embarks on a European expansion. It also has the US in its sights. And the firm is ramping most metrics, including losses.
Chime: As a brand domiciled in the US, Chime appears content with domestic growth and it's putting up big numbers. Though it has a single market, it appears to be keeping pace with N26 and Revolut.
There are other emerging brands that we'll add to this chart. Many had a start as something else -- like a PFM or investing app -- as they evolve into banks. Companies like Dave, Stash, CARD, and Robinhood may eventually make their way on to this list.