PTSB finance chief Nicola O’Brien to join UK online bank Monzo

PTSB chief financial officer Nicola O’Brien, who announced on Thursday she is leaving the lender, is poised to join UK online bank Monzo in a senior executive role as it goes about setting up an Irish office to access the wider EU market, according to sources.
Monzo revealed in its latest annual report, published in June, that it was in the early stages of setting up an Irish subsidiary. It has been engaging extensively with the Central Bank of Ireland as it seeks the licence needed to operate in the Republic and passport services across the EU.
A spokeswoman for PTSB declined to comment, while Ms O’Brien and representatives for Monzo did not immediately respond to efforts to secure comment.
PTSB said on Thursday that Ms O’Brien, who has been CFO for the past two years and an employee of the bank since early 2017, would be leaving “in the coming months to take on a new role”. She has stepped down from the group’s board with immediate effect, in accordance with existing governance arrangements, as she prepares to exit.
Davy analyst Diarmaid Sheridan said that the exit “is another example of the impact of crisis era pay restrictions on the domestic banking sector”. Executive pay is capped at €500,000 at PTSB and bonuses above €20,000 are effectively banned across banks that were bailed out the State during the financial crisis.
“This will continue periodically for as long as the restrictions remain in place,” he said. A selection process, covering internal and external candidates, will now commence to fill the position.
“Nicola has played an important role in supporting the bank on its journey to grow and diversify its business,” said Eamonn Crowley, chief executive of PTSB, said in the statement. “I wish to acknowledge the commitment she has shown to the bank throughout her tenure and wish her every success in her future career.”
Monzo is one of the highest-profile online banks in the UK, where it is a competitor to the likes of Starling and Revolut. It has about 8.4 million customers and more than 300,000 business customers, according to its own stats.
The mobile bank posted a pretax profit of £15.4 million (€18.3 million) for the 13 months through March compared with a £116 million loss a year earlier, with revenue jumping to £880 million.
The firm lent £1.4 billion to its customers during the year – a rise of 84 per cent – while also increasing its credit loss expenses 75 per cent to £177 million. Overdrafts and its Monzo Flex credit drove the rise.
Monzo raised a total $610 million from investors in May, valuing the UK start-up at $5.2 billion (€4.7 billion). Investors include Alphabet’s independent growth fund CapitalG and Chinese venture capital firm HongShan Capital, as well as new investors such as London-based venture capital firm Hedosophia.