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MONZO PROFITS SWELL AS BANK CASHES IN ON LOANS AND PAID PLANS

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Monzo today reported a pre-tax profit of £87.3m for the year to the end of March, up 44% on the £60.5m made the previous year

Monzo has reported a 44% leap in its annual profits as the digital bank generated more from lending and cashed in on subscriptions.

The UK bank, which was launched 11 years ago as a challenger to high street banking, said millions more customers joined in the past year.

It reported a pre-tax profit of £87.3m for the year to the end of March, up 44% on the £60.5m made the year before.

Total revenues jumped by 39% to £1.7 billion, partly driven by a 39% year on year increase in lending income.

Monzo offers loans and overdrafts for people and businesses, as well as credit cards.

It also has paid subscription plans for people to upgrade their account and get extra money management tools, or perks with the likes of Greggs and Vue.

Monzo said some 1.6 million customers paid for subscriptions, with the group's fee and commission income increasing by 39% to £459m.

The bank's total customer base has reached 15.2 million, making it the seventh largest in the UK by customer numbers.

It has nonetheless been striving to get more of its customers to switch to using Monzo as their primary bank for day-to-day banking, including receiving their salary, to compete with the traditional banking giants.

It said that around half of its active customers use Monzo as their primary bank - the equivalent of about a third of all its customers.

Meanwhile, the bank's latest annual report revealed that the highest-paid director, understood to be the former chief executive, TS Anil, took home a pay packet worth £3.5m last year.

This was significantly less than the £12m he earned the year before, when profits surged fourfold.

Mr Anil stepped down as chief executive earlier this year and was replaced by former Google executive Diana Layfield.

"Millions of customers are choosing Monzo for more of their financial lives," Ms Layfield said.

"We're building on that momentum by delivering more products for personal and business customers, continuing to grow in the UK and bringing Monzo magic to Europe in a way that feels truly local from day one," she added.