Monzo Acquires Habito to Bolster Mortgage Offerings

U.K. digital bank Monzo says it is set to acquire British mortgage broker Habito.

The company says the deal, announced Tuesday (Dec. 16), will make Monzo the first U.K. bank to offer a “fully end-to-end mortgage broking experience” within its app. The deal is expected to close in the spring of 2026. Financial terms were not disclosed.

“Monzo has transformed money management for millions and millions of customers, yet we know that mortgages still remain a complex, cumbersome pain point, and one we are looking to solve,” Kunal Malani, Monzo’s chief banking officer, said in a news release provided to PYMNTS.

“This is a huge step in our mission to make money work for everyone, and we’re excited to bring Monzo’s simplicity and transparency to one of life’s biggest financial moments.”

The release notes that Monzo already lets users track their mortgages with its Homeownership feature. With research indicating that a majority of U.K. mortgage seekers used a broker last year, the company says this acquisition brings it closer to becoming the sole app customers use to manage their financial lives.

Monzo’s acquisition of Habito comes at a momentous time for Monzo, which this year surpassed 14 million customers, including 800,000 businesses. The company’s revenue jumped 48% to £1.2 billion ($1.6 billion) for fiscal year 2025, with adjusted profit before tax up to £113.9 million ($151 million) from £13.9 million ($18.6 million).

The company also recently named a new CEO. Diana Layfield, former general manager of search international and growth at Google, is set to become Monzo’s chief executive in February, replacing TS Anil, who will move into an advisory role.

Meanwhile, October saw reports that Monzo was considering a new application for a U.S. banking license as it tries to speed up its expansion in America.

Sources told the Financial Times that the company believes that a new application would be more likely to win approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in the wake of the deregulatory push under the administration of President Donald Trump.

Writing about Monzo’s U.S. interests at the time, PYMNTS noted that the company had also “raised capital in past rounds with explicit reference to U.S. expansion and, in preparation for scaling operations, hired a U.S.-based CEO with deep FinTech experience.”