JPMorgan Chase (JPMC) will appoint Kunal Malani as its new head of Chase UK in coming months subject to regulatory approval, according to an internal memo seen by FStech.

Malani will join from UK neobank Monzo, where he currently serves as chief banking officer and group general manager. He joined Monzo in 2020 following a one-year stint at challenger bank Tandem, and previously held senior positions at HSBC, Barclays and General Electric.

In the memo to staff, Chase said it looks forward to “benefitting from Kunal’s leadership and deep consumer banking experience, as we work towards our vision of becoming the leading primary bank and investment partner across Europe.”

Under Malani’s leadership, Monzo grew rapidly, reaching 15 million customers and expanding its product offering to meet a broader set of customer needs, the memo said.
Malani will report to Mark O’Donnovan, JPMC’s international consumer banking chief executive.

Chase UK was launched in 2021 as the first non-US retail banking operation in JPMC’s history. In 2022, it was named the country’s fastest-growing FinTech app, beating out other competitors, including Monzo.

The hire is a further blow to Monzo, which shuttered US operations this month to refocus on the UK market following the departure of its chief executive in February.

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