The chief executive of Nordic challenger bank Lunar has poured cold water on a rumoured merger with British bank Monzo.
Lunar CEO Ken Villum Klausen said the fintech is focused on its Nordic expansion and that speculation over a deal with Monzo in July was “overhyped”.
Speaking to Tech.EU, Klausen said: “We don’t have any intention to merge ourselves.”
A Lunar spokesperson confirmed to UKTN that the Danish fintech has no plans to merge with London-headquartered Monzo.
Klausen suggested that the speculation over a merger, first reported by Bloomberg in the summer, stemmed from communications he had with TS Anil.
“I know the CEOs of most of the challenger banks, we have investors who have other challengers and other really large fintechs in their portfolios,” Klausen told Tech.EU.
“And once in a while we get together, we share notes, we discuss the future outlook for Europe and we have been doing that for many years.”
At the time, neither Monzo or Lunar commented on the merger rumours. A deal would have expanded the reach of both banks across Europe.
Earlier this year, Monzo said it reached monthly profitability for the first time and is expecting full year-profitability before the end of 2024.