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What now, Monzo?

The week that was

🚨 Deals deals deals

Credit score

Quote of the week

Monzo is courting private equity after talks to sell the British digital bank to Nu broke down over price.

Why it matters: Monzo's search for an investor suggests its board wants help expanding across Europe and taking on Revolut.

State of play: Nu reportedly held talks to buy Monzo at a valuation of up to £10B, but said Wednesday it wasn't pursuing a deal.

The FT reports the two sides couldn't agree on price.

The latest: Monzo has held early talks with CVC and Advent about selling a stake of up to 15%, according to the FT. 

Private equity is now reportedly its preferred option, though a venture round remains possible.

The big picture: Monzo closed its U.S. business to focus on Europe, where it has an Irish banking license and is expanding in Spain. 

The British digital bank has 15 million customers, compared with Revolut, which has roughly 80 million.

What we're watching: Whether a PE firm values Monzo anywhere near the £10B it reportedly sought from Nu.

1 big thing: What now, Monzo?

Illustrated collage of UK and European currency and an open door.

While Monzo's deal talks stalled, Stripe and Monarch made acquisitions, and three software startups raised fresh funding.

💰 Monarch acquired HMBradley and hit $100M in ARR. Go deeper

🤝 Stripe agreed to buy small-business lender Parafin. Go deeper

🏗️ Miter raised $40M for construction payroll software. Go deeper

📋 Daptic raised $15M for compliance software. Go deeper

🔐 Rig Security raised $12M to secure AI-agent identities. Go deeper

2. The week that was

Illustration of a torn hundred dollar bill revealing binary code beneath

👉 GO HERE TO CATCH UP on all the fintech deals this week.

Homeward, an Austin, Texas-based cash-back real estate financing company, raised $120m in Series D funding. Saluda Grade led, joined by Continental General Insurance Co., Citi Ventures, Magnetar, Harmony Partners, Norwest, Adams Street Partners, LiveOak Ventures, Parker89, Era Ventures, and Javelin Venture Partners. Go deeper

Jeeves, an Orlando, Fla.-based stablecoin-native banking platform for enterprises, raised $110m. CoinFund led, joined by AllianceBernstein, Vista Equity Partners, Coinbase Ventures, a16z, and YC. Go deeper

Blockchain.com, a London- and Dallas-based crypto infrastructure company, is targeting a $4b to $6b valuation in an IPO, and is seeking to raise $500m this year. Go deeper

3. 🚨 Deals deals deals

Illustration of a stack of money and a handshake surrounded by abstract shapes and money elements.

📊 Robinhood unveiled AI agents that can trade on users' behalf. (WSJ)

Related: Robinhood also plans weekend stock trading. (CNBC)

⚖️ The CFTC scaled back enforcement under Trump. (NYT)

Also: The agency sent proposed prediction-market rules to the White House. (Law360)

🇮🇷 Senate Democrats said Iran used Tether's USDT to bypass sanctions. (WSJ)

🇪🇺 EU regulators questioned Binance's continued operations without a crypto license. (FT)

Meanwhile: Binance founder CZ is living in the UAE after his pardon. (NYT)

🌎 Nubank CEO David Vélez laid out his U.S. ambitions. (Colossus)

🪙 Open Standard launched its Visa- and Stripe-backed stablecoin. (Bloomberg)

Related: Citi tapped Coinbase to help clients accept stablecoins. (WSJ)

🍎 Apple Pay began rolling out in India with Axis Bank. (TechCrunch)

💸 Checkout.com said annualized net revenue reached $750M. (Tech.eu)

⛽ Toast launched payments for gas stations and convenience stores. (Digital Transactions)

🤖 Barclays expects half its developers to use Claude Code by year-end. (Bloomberg)

Related: HSBC began using AI to check trade-finance documents. (PYMNTS)

Also: Amex added AI-powered expense tracking to its corporate cards. (WSJ)

💳 Mastercard launched a tool to find suppliers likely to accept cards. (PYMNTS)

4. Credit score

Illustration of an exam answer sheet with the words "credit score" hand written in red ink.

 "$792 billion. We're shooting for nothing less than that."

— Sequoia's Doug Leone, after looking up JPMorgan's market cap while discussing how big Nubank could become

5. Quote of the week

A purple-lit display reads “That’s Nu” beside an image of a phone showing a Nu virtual Mastercard.

Photo by John Parra/Getty Images for Nubank

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October 03, 2026

1 big thing: What now, Monzo?