This is a bit dishonest.<p>They haven't raised £1m, they've had enough people sign up as "interested to invest" to reach £1m if everyone follows through.<p>I signed up to invest £1000, but I haven't paid yet and have absolutely no obligation to, and as far as I know I also don't have to invest the full £1000, I just can't exceed that.<p>edit: Their crowdcube page shows them having £600k so far
Better software can only get you so far in banking. At the end of the day, they need to borrow and loan profitability and provide services at a low cost. In addition, they need customers, which are not easy to acquire for a new bank. Not having physical branches is definitely a cost saver; however, I’ve seen some surveys that indicate people still want access to some sort of physical branch.<p>According to their previous Techcrunch article [0], they are writing their own full-stack banking software. Writing your own banking core, external facing software, and internal process software is a massive undertaking, especially dealing with all the regulation and certification processes with third parties. You then become not only a bank but a specialized software development shop as well. Something traditionally only the big banks can afford. I’m not sure, given they are a bank and software business, that their cost base is 1% or 2% of a traditional bank, as stated in their article [0].<p>I hope they build something awesome but I think to do something of this size will take more than a few million.<p>Disclaimer: I write banking software.<p>[0] <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2015/06/30/mondo-gets-passionate/" rel="nofollow">http://techcrunch.com/2015/06/30/mondo-gets-passionate/</a>
This news is important for banking in the UK for the following reasons:<p>- UK banks are slow to innovate and people (especially younger generation) are getting annoyed. People want a bank that is digitally strong, Mondo's 30k waiting list proves this.<p>- Banks will become more like platforms. Number26's partnership with TransferWise is an example of this beginning. See Clayton Christensen illustrate this <a href="https://youtu.be/oCKZwrfysbM?t=1h19m28s" rel="nofollow">https://youtu.be/oCKZwrfysbM?t=1h19m28s</a><p>- The UK is trying to make banking more competitive (last 5 years has had applications for more than 5 new banks, before this there was 1 new bank in 150 years). This policy is working.<p>What remains to be seen is whether Mondo will make money in the way a traditional bank does.<p>IMO the biggest challenge for a new banks is customer acquistion, and it looks like Mondo has a pretty good handle on this.
Also, the name on the sample card if you sign up is "Jimmy Fontana".<p>This guy, famous for singing "Il Mondo": <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SGE8H4R9XA" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SGE8H4R9XA</a>
I was ready to go at the time it opened (1 pm), and I actually read a bit of the disclaimer before I put in my information.<p>At finished at 1:02, and was put on the waiting list. Needless to say I was a bit angry I was less than a minute away.
So, I am always surprised by these apps. How do they (or Simple) go and convince Citibank or Bank of America to give them their data? What competitiive pressures would make BoA modernize their UI?