University of Minnesota - UMN Executive Leadership Insights
The Sad Demise Of Europe’s Neobanks
Article

The Sad Demise Of Europe’s Neobanks

David Dawkins
Forbes, 2020
Read the article

Read or listen offline

Amazon Kindle
  • 0.5×
  • 0.75×
  • 1×
  • 1.25×
  • 1.5×
  • 1.75×
1×

Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Background
  • Hot Topic
  • Engaging

Recommendation

Start-ups rise and fall, and disrupters are often disrupted. It is no different for the neobanks in Europe, whose vision of a better, more consumer-centric financial experience seems to have come undone. In this informative analysis, financial journalist David Dawkins looks at how the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown cold water on these upstarts’ aspirations, even if their design would appear to lend itself nicely to post-pandemic norms.

Summary

Europe’s neobanks had lofty ambitions and a fast rise.

Europe’s largest neobank start-ups sought to improve consumer banking with digital wallets handy for making small, on-the-go purchases at shops and eateries. They signed up millions of users in only a few years: Revolut boasted 13 million depositors by 2019. Neobank customers could bypass the old, slow payment methods of traditional bank accounts.

But COVID-19 came along in 2020, before these disruptors could become profitable.

The coronavirus pandemic and regulatory realities are challenging the challenger...

About the Author

David Dawkins is journalist at Forbes magazine.

Comment on this summary