The digital banking space is constantly changing and rapidly moving forward. We strived to research the latest data on independent challenger banks across the globe to find which ones are the most prominent in the space.
The list was based on valuations, total funds raised, and the number of customers these neobanks have.
The research data was taken from publicly available sources, such as financial institutions, official government bodies, press releases, fintech websites, and reputable magazines.
The top 30 most significant digital banks are a healthy mix of start-ups and companies from four different continents, and all but five were founded in the last 10 years.
The biggest digital bank in the world hails from China. It had rough couple of years and had its valuation slashed by more than 50%. Still, it’s by far the largest digital bank in the world by number of customers and by valuation.
1. Ant Group (CHN)
- Founded in 2014
- Based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
- CEO Eric Xiandong JING
- $70 – $151 billion valuation
- $22 billion raised (last round at $14 billion in June 2018)
- Retail and business
- 1.3B customers
Ant Group, Ant Financial, or Alipay, as it’s mostly known, is a fintech conglomerate from China and an affiliate company of the Alibaba Group. The company had a turbulent 2020 when it was considered to go public in the world’s largest IPO. The IPO would give the fintech giant a massive $313 billion valuation.
However, on the verge of the IPO, the public offering was canceled by the Chinese government and the company was ordered to restructure in 2021.
Its valuation started falling off the cliff from there as it was valued at $144 billion by Fidelity Investments on February 21 and even less than that in September when Fidelity slashed it to $78B.
How much is it actually worth at this point? No one knows for certain until its position gets cleared up in the Chinese establishment.
2. Revolut (UK)
- Founded in 2015
- Based in London, England, UK
- CEO Nikolay Storonsky
- $33 billion valuation
- $1.7 billion raised (last round at $800 million in July 2021)
- Retail and business
- 20 million customers
Fintech startup Revolut was founded in 2015 by Nikolay Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko and was originally based in the world-famous Level39 incubator in Canary Wharf. It is still headquartered in London.
Since its humble beginnings as an app and a prepaid card, Revolut became a household name by enabling people to spend abroad without paying high foreign exchange fees.
This launched them into the digital banking stratosphere as it became the UK’s first digital bank unicorn in April 2018.
It has since expanded all over Europe and further to Australia and Singapore in 2019. Their recent touchdown on US soil in 2020 is yet to make an impact.
Alongside dedicated investing apps like Robinhood, Revolut has popularised investing in stocks, commodities, and cryptocurrencies.
Revolut now has over 20 million global users and is valued at $33 billion. 2020 marked when Revolut “quietly” became profitable after a 40% dip in revenues in the early days of the pandemic.
3. Chime (US)
- Founded in 2013
- Based in San Francisco, USA
- CEO Chris Britt
- $25 billion valuation
- $2.3 billion raised (last round at $750 million in August 2021)
- Retail
- 14 million customers
Chime, the most valuable American fintech start-up serving retail consumers, was founded in San Francisco in 2013 by Chris Britt, who is still the company’s CEO, and Ryan King (CTO).
The company famously launched publicly in 2014 on the Dr. Phil Show when he surprised his guests with a Chime card and $5,000.
Chime came a long way from its early days to become the challenger bank with the most users in the US market, having more than 14 million customers and a 50% growth during the pandemic.
They did this by focusing on Americans who earn between $30,000 and $75,000 a year that have recognized that they can save significant amounts of money with a digital bank that has no fees.
Britt himself said that they’re “more like a consumer software company than a bank,” that mostly makes money when customers swipe their debit and credit cards. This is in stark contrast to big banks that make most of their money on fees, penalties, and loans.
Chime overtook Robinhood as the most valuable U.S. consumer fintech when it raised $485 million in Series F in September 2020 at a $14.5 billion valuation. After that, they raised additional $750 million at around $25 billion valuation.
4. Cash App (US)
- Founded in 2013
- Based in San Francisco, California, USA
- CEO
- $22 billion valuation
- Retail and business
- 70+ million customers
Cash app (before Square Cash) is a digital banking app and a peer-to-peer mobile payments service that is available in the US and the UK. It was launched in 2013 by Square Inc. (now Block, Inc.) and now has an astonishing 70+ million users.
According to the music database Genius, around 200 hip-hop artists name Cash App in their lyrics. Because the app is associated with crypto and stimulus checks, it is now the country’s fourth-largest consumer application in the US.
It’s hard to put a finger on the company’s valuation but some analysts attribute Cash App is worth 65% of Block, Inc., which is currently around $35 billion at $59 per share. That gives Cash App a $22 billion market cap.
5. Nubank (BRA)
- Founded in 2013
- Based in Sao Paulo, Brazil
- CEO David Vélez
- $21 billion valuation ($41B at IPO)
- $3.9 billion raised (last round at $650 million in April 2022)
- Retail and business
- 70 million customers
Dubbed the largest fintech in Latin America, the Brazil-based Nubank was founded in 2013 by Colombian David Vélez, Brazilian Cristina Junqueira, and American Edward Wible.
The biggest neobank in Latin America rolled out its first product, a credit card, in 2014. It was the only financial product that they could launch at that time as they couldn’t acquire a banking license in Brazil because of the law barring foreign bank ownership.
In 2016, Nubank already had 1 million credit card customers with hardly any money spent on marketing. May 2017 was a big date for the company as it received its full Brazilian banking license by presidential decree.
Many digital banks and e-commerce stores saw a big surge in applications and sales during the pandemic, and Nubank was no exception as its revenue nearly doubled to $963 million in 2020 and skyrocketed to $1.69B in 2021.
The São Paulo–based Nubank now has around 70 million customers and has raised a total of $3.9 billion, of which $1.65 B in 2022 alone.
Of course, Nubank isn’t sleeping on piles of cash as it expanded across Latin America starting in 2019 with Argentina and Mexico and moving into Vélez’s home country of Colombia in 2020.
6. WeBank (CHN)
- Founded in 2014
- Based in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
- CEO David Ku
- $21+ billion valuation
- $165 million raised (last round at $165 million in May 2016)
- Retail and business
- 340+ million customers
WeBank was the foremost digital bank in China. It was established in 2014 by Tencent, its largest shareholder with 30% of shares, Liye Group, Baiyeyuan, and other institutions.
Even though other companies are funding WeBank, the neobank is viewed as a Tencent company and brainchild.
The Chinese neobank is unique in that it doesn’t demand property guarantees but counts on big data, credit ratings, and face recognition tech to endow loans to individual and company clients.
WeBank is an apparent leader in the digital banking industry in China. It has the most assets under management, the biggest net profit, most loans, the best return on equity, and the least non-performing loans.
7. Brex (US)
- Founded in 2017
- Based in San Francisco, USA
- CEO Henrique Dubugras
- $12 billion valuation
- $1.5 billion raised (last round at $300 million in October 2021)
- Business
- 3.8 million customers
Brex is another fintech that’s coming out of San Francisco, and that was founded as recently as 2017. Still, its business bank accounts and credit cards have helped the challenger bank to grow at an unbelievable pace.
In fact, as of October 2021, the fintech company is valued at $12.3B, having completed a $300 million funding round led by Tiger Global, Greenoaks Capital, TCV, and others.
As of 2022, the fintech startup has 1,100+ employees and 50,000 customers and saw year-on-year growth of 100%. It incorporated FDIC insurance, instant payouts, and a software platform for businesses to manage their finances and credit lines.
8. Rakuten (JAP)
- Founded in 2000
- Based in Tokyo, Japan
- CEO Hiroyuki Nagai
- $11.7 billion valuation
- $2.3 billion raised (last round at ¥242B in March 2021)
- Retail and business
- 12+ million customers
Rakuten is the largest digital bank in Japan by the number of accounts, having recently surpassed 12 million accounts.
The fintech behemoth opened its digital banking component in 2001, and the Japanese people quickly identified it for its 24/7 banking.
Today, more than ever, people are making their Rakuten bank account their main bank account, which is why the company is offering more and better services.
Its banking app got a facelift and has integrated instant payment service from Rakuten Bank accounts.
There are many other reasons for choosing Rakuten Bank:
- You can deposit and withdraw cash at convenience stores,
- Have free ATM withdrawals up to seven times per month,
- Get cashback rewards and mortgages, and
- Have access to Forex trading.
9. Wise (UK)
- Founded in 2011
- Based in London, England, UK
- CEOs Kristo Kaarmann, Taavet Hinrikus
- $9.6 billion valuation ($11B at IPO)
- $1.3 billion raised (last round at £160 million in May 2021)
- Retail and business
- 7+ million customers
Wise is a popular fintech based in London that was founded in 2011 by Taavet Hinrikus and Kristo Käärmann. It specializes in international money transfers and banking services.
It revolutionized the money transfer market with its low fees and seamless service. In July 2021, the company went public by a direct listing on the London Stock Exchange.
At that point, the company was valued at $11 billion, with its shares floating around 800 pence (around $10).
At the time of writing, the stock is at 657 GBX (around $7), giving it a valuation close to $10 billion.
10. Ally Bank (US)
- Founded in 2009
- Based in Detroit, Michigan, USA
- CEO Jeffrey J. Brown
- $9 billion valuation ($12B at IPO)
- Retail
- 2.5 million customers
Ally Bank has a long history that started in 1919 as part of General Motors, helping auto dealers be successful. Afterward, during WWII, they backed the military by supplying tanks, trucks, airplanes, and submarine engines.
In 2009, the company founded Ally Bank and went fully digital. Today, Ally Bank is more than a simple challenger bank. It delivers plenty of options to choose from.
From two savings accounts to three different types of CDs, each comes with benefits that directly help clients get the most out of their money.
RELATED: 10 Types of Fintech Companies (Digital Banks, Insurtech…)
11. N26 (GER)
- Founded in 2013
- Based in Berlin, Germany
- CEO Valentin Stalf
- $9+ billion valuation
- $1.7 billion raised (last round at $900 million in October 2021)
- Retail and business
- 7+ million customers
N26 was founded in 2013 by Valentin Stalf and Maximilian Tayenthal as Number26, referring to the 26-sided Rubik’s Cube. It has since been rebranded as N26 Bank since it received its banking license in 2016.
Before gaining its full banking license, N26, like many of its competitors, launched with only an app and a debit card. That was back in 2015. Fast forward to 2022, and the company just reported their 7 million customer across 25 markets in Europe and the US.
The neobank has successfully raised more than $1.7 billion to date from investors such as Chinese tech giant Tencent and famous billionaires Peter Thiel and Li Ka-Shing.
It left the UK market in 2020, blaming Brexit, but the truth is that the company struggled to acquire a meaningful number of customers there.
12. Robinhood (US)
- Founded in 2015
- Based in Menlo Park, California, United States
- CEOs Baiju Bhatt and Vlad Tenev
- $8 billion valuation ($32B at IPO)
- $6.2 billion raised (last round at $600 million in May 2022)
- Retail
- 2.3M customers (checking account), 17M overall
Robinhood, known for pioneering commission-free stock trades, had a hell of a ride during the pandemic when most of the world was staying at home in lockdown after lockdown and spending their disposable income.
Before going public in July 2021, the fintech was valued at $11.7 billion. At the time of IPO, the HOOD stocks were going for $38 per share, giving the fintech a valuation of $32 billion. At the time of writing this, the Robinhood stock was trading at only $10!
13. KakaoBank (ROK)
- Founded in 2016
- Based in Seongnam, Kyonggi-do, South Korea
- CEO Yoon Ho-young
- $6.8 billion valuation ($34B at IPO)
- $900 million raised (last round at $900 million in November 2020)
- Retail
- 18 million customers
KakaoBank is a South-Korean fintech and digital bank. Since its inception in 2016 by Kakao Corp. and Korea Investment Holdings, the challenger bank attracted amazing 18 million customers. No wonder, since the first 24 hours brought in already 240,000 individuals.
KakaoBank’s services enclose loans, deposits, debit cards, overseas remittances, and other financial services.
Since its spectacular IPO, KakaoBank became South Korea’s biggest lender by market value. Its shares did, however, falter in the last year as the markets plummeted.
The digital bank is a rare example of a challenger bank that’s profitable.
14. Airwallex (AUS)
- Founded in 2015
- Based in Melbourne, Australia
- CEO Jack Zhang
- $5.5 billion valuation
- $802 million raised (last round at $100 million in November 2021)
- Retail
- 20,000+ customers
Airwallex is an Australian fintech founded in 2015 by four Chinese friends, Jack Zhang, Jacob Dai, Lucy Yueting Liu, and Max Li. Jack and Max.
This Australian fintech unicorn raised $800 million in the last 6 years, with $600 million in the last two years, and it still has $600 million in the bank right now, according to the bank’s CEO.
Airwallex offers an international business account that’s fee-free and supports payments in 23 currencies to 130 countries.
15. Paytm (IND)
- Founded in 2010
- Based in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
- CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma
- $5 billion valuation ($19B at IPO)
- Retail and business
- 350 million customers
Paytm is a mobile payments platform from India that’s owned by One97, a mobile content and commerce service.
With hundreds of millions of users, the app is often referred to as the smaller version of Ant, its top backer.
The company’s valuation has dropped off a clif since its IPO, however, it’s still worth around $5 billion at the time of writing.
16. Sofi (US)
- Founded in 2011
- Based in San Francisco, USA
- CEO Anthony Noto
- $4.7 billion valuation ($8.6B at IPO)
- $3+ billion raised (last round at $369.8 million in January 2021)
- Retail and business
- 3.8 million customers
Sofi, which stands for Social Finance, was founded in San Francisco in 2016 by four Stanford business school students; Mike Cagney, Dan Macklin, James Finnigan, and Ian Brady.
Their first product was a loan program – a two million dollar pilot at Stanford that was all about connecting recent grad students with alumni.
Fast forward to now, and Sofi has its fingers in everything from mortgages to credit cards to trading fractional shares and cryptocurrencies on its platform. And in October 2020, SoFi secured conditional approval to establish a full-service national bank.
17. C6 Bank (Brazil)
- Founded in 2018
- Based in Sao Paulo, Brazil
- CEO Marcelo Kalim
- $4+ billion valuation
- $2.3 billion raised (last round at $2 billion in June 2021)
- Retail and business
- 20 million customers
This unicorn from Brazil was founded only in 2018 by Marcelo Kalim, Leandro Torres, and Carlos Fonseca, former BTG executives. Their goal is to get a slice of the Brazilian pie that Nubank heavily bit into already.
C6 already had three rounds of investments for a total of $2.3 billion raised. C6 hit the ground running by acquiring the payment company PayGo and the exchange platform Besser Partners in 2018, as well as the payment solution provider Setis and insurance distributor Som.us in 2019.
C6 Bank has headquarters in São Paulo, a bank in the Cayman Islands, a brokerage in New York, and another one in São Paulo. It is set to expand its 1,400 employees and 325 business consultants.
In June 2021, JPMorgan Chase took a 40% stake in the bank that marked its debut in the Brazilian retail banking space.
18. Monzo (UK)
- Founded in 2015
- Based in London, England
- CEO TS Anil (UK), Carol Nelson (US)
- $4.5 billion valuation
- $1.1 million raised (last round at $475 million in February 2022)
- Retail and business
- 6 million customers
One of the earliest digital banks to hit the UK, Monzo was founded in 2015 by Tom Blomfield, Jonas Huckestein, Jason Bates, Paul Rippon, and Gary Dolman under the name Mondo.
The group of founders were all former Starling Bank executives, and Tom Blomfield was even its CTO.
The digital banking app set a record in 2016 when it raised £1 million on the equity crowd-funding platform, Crowdcube. Already in 2018, Monzo had reached one million customers, with the total number of customers now reaching almost 5 million.
Monzo didn’t navigate the pandemic smoothly, as they reported that the annual post-tax loss was roughly £113.8 million in 2020. They also had to furlough and lay off staff, and even close their Las Vegas office.
Still, Monzo is a force to reckon with on both sides of the pond as it’s raising a lot of money and is seeing its valuation rise once again.
19. Starling Bank (UK)
- Founded in 2014
- Based in London, England, UK
- CEO Anne Boden
- $3.1 billion valuation
- $1.1 billion raised (last round at $164 million in April 2022)
- Retail and business
- 2.7 million customers
Starling Bank is a digital challenger bank headquartered in London. It’s the brainchild of Anne Boden, a Welsh tech entrepreneur. She founded the award-winning challenger bank in 2014 under Possible Financial Services.
Starling Bank might be the best bank in the UK, period. However, it’s still behind Monzo and Revolut in the number of customers it has and even in its valuation.
Starling had originally mainly focused on retail customers. Nevertheless, during the pandemic, it pivoted to focus on businesses and started growing its loan book with over $2.5 billion of lending via the UK government’s COVID business support programs.
20. OakNorth (UK)
- Founded in 2012
- Based in London, England, UK
- CEO Rishi Khosla
- $2.8 billion valuation
- $1 billion raised (last round at $440 million in February 2019)
- Retail and business
- 160,000 customers
OakNorth is a successful UK fintech company that was founded in 2015 by Rishi Khosla (CEO) and Joel Perlman. They’ve amazingly made a profit within 6 months of launching the bank.
In less than four years, the organization got the coveted unicorn level and is currently valued at nearly $3 billion.
So, how did this neobank achieve this remarkable accomplishment? Primarily by not concentrating on expansion and gaining new clients at all costs. But also, by not expending capital they can’t get back.
In addition, they use an AI program that informs the management if a company will skip repayments or not.
Things are looking promising for OakNorth as customer deposits jumped by 15% year on year and gross new lending increased 60% to £1.8bn in 2021. Their pre-tax profit also climbed to £134 million in 2021.
21. Varo (US)
- Founded in 2015
- Based in San Francisco, California, USA
- CEO Colin Walsh
- $2.5 billion valuation
- $992 million raised (last round at $510 million in September 2021)
- Retail and business
- 7 million customers
Varo is a challenger bank from San Francisco that was founded in 2015 by Assaf Guery, Colin Walsh, Mykola Klymenko, and Roger Van Duinen.
This paid off as they now have millions of customers and are the first digital bank to get a fully-fledged banking license in the United States.
In the first year of having its bank charter, the bank has doubled its number of opened accounts and tripled its revenue.
22. Payoneer (US)
- Founded in 2014
- Based in New York, USA
- CEOs John Caplan and Scott Galit
- $2 billion valuation ($3.3B at IPO)
- $570 million raised (last round at $300 million in June 2022)
- Business
Payoneer is one of the biggest and most well-known online payment providers in the world.
It was founded in 2005 by Yuval Tal, the company CEO, until 2020, when he stepped down to join an Israeli cyber-security think tank.
The company caters solely to businesses and freelancers and has partnered with the top e-commerce marketplaces making it a go-to for payments.
23. Ualá (ARG)
- Founded in 2017
- Based in Buenos Aires, Argentina
- CEO Pierpaolo Barbieri
- $2.1 billion valuation
- $544 million raised (last one at $350 million in August 2021)
- Retail
- 5 million customers
Ualá has been founded by a well-known Buenos Aires native and Harvard University graduate, and historian Pierpaolo Barbieri in 2017. The company has since grown rapidly by delivering an uncomplicated payment account and a prepaid Mastercard.
There are no account opening fees, no monthly fees, no maintenance fees or closure costs, and no fees on your first ATM withdrawal per month. On the other side, there are fast and free transfers between Ualá users.
The fintech startup and unicorn has issued 3.5+ million cards in Argentina and in Mexico. The company asserts that more than 22% of 18 to 25-year-olds in Argentina have a Ualá card.
24. Current (US)
- Founded in 2015
- Based in New York, USA
- CEO Stuart Sopp
- $2 billion valuation
- $402 million raised (last round at $220 million in April 2021)
- Retail
- 5 million customers
Current is a US-based digital bank founded by Stuart Sopp in New York in 2015. As with many other challenger banks, Current also benefited from the pandemic and tripled its valuation during that time.
The company raised more than $400 million from five rounds of funding, with the last Series D round bringing in $220 million in April 2021.
25. Judo Bank (AUS)
- Founded in 2018
- Based in Melbourne, Australia
- CEOs David Hornery and Joseph Healy
- $1.8 billion valuation
- $1.8 billion raised (last one at A$50 million in June 2021)
- Business
- 10k customers
Australian digital challenger and their newest unicorn, Judo Bank, was founded in 2016 by David Hornery and Joseph Healy, who also serve as co-CEOs.
Judo got its banking license in 2019 and started out by focusing on Australia’s SMEs but is now also offering term deposits to regular Australians.
Of all the challenger banks on our list, Judo has the least amount of customers, standing at around 10,000.
That’s because they aren’t focusing on the retail segment for now. But as we know, the business sector is very lucrative, and plenty of investors are lining the pockets of Judo.
In fact, Judo has raised a whopping $1.8 billion to date, with a recent valuation of $1.6 billion. That is an increase of 60% on its valuation following a previous raise almost a year ago.
26. Acorns (US)
- Founded in 2012
- Based in Irvine, California, USA
- CEO Noah Kerner
- $1.6 billion valuation
- $507 million raised (last round at $300 million in March 2022)
- Retail
- 4.6 million customers, 1.8 million banking accounts
Acorns is a fintech startup based in Irvine, California. The business was established in 2012, and the app was launched in 2014.
The people behind the now-popular fintech are father and son duo Walter Wemple Cruttenden III and Jeffrey James Cruttenden. Their company is backed and funded by numerous heavy-hitting investors, consultants, and board members.
Acorns delivers an all-in-one platform for checking, investing, and saving for retirement.
It also delivers investing in their sustainable portfolios that “provide exposure to more sustainable companies, while aiming to perform on par with a traditional portfolio.”
27. WeLab Bank (HK)
- Founded in 2020
- Based in Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
- CEO Simon Loong
- $1+ billion valuation
- $896 million raised (last round at $240 million in December 2021)
- Retail
- 150,000 customers
WeLab is a huge conglomerate with 50 million clients in total. WeLab bank is their Hong Kong virtual bank that was one of the first to get a license to operate in HK.
Apart from Hong Kong, the bank is also available in Mainland China, and Indonesia.
The company is hoping to go public very soon, however, its plans were postponed due to market volatility.
28. Mercury (US)
- Founded in 2017
- Based in San Francisco, California, USA
- CEO Immad Akhund
- $1.6 billion valuation
- $152 million raised (last round at $120 million in July 2021)
- Business
- 80,000 customers
Mercury is a fintech looking to disrupt business banking. It’s focused on startups and has, to date, gathered 80,000 of them.
The company was founded in San Francisco by Immad Akhund (CEO), Jason Zhang, and Max Tagher in 2017.
The start-up managed to raise $120 million in a Series B investment round, mostly from lead investor Coatue Management. This pushed its valuation to unicorn status, making it worth around $1.6 billion.
29. Stash (US)
- Founded in 2015
- Based in New York City, USA
- CEO Brandon Krieg
- $1.4 billion valuation
- $427 million raised (last round at $125 million in February 2021)
- Retail
- 2 million customers
Stash is a fintech company from New York focused on investing and banking services. The start-up was founded in 2015 by Brandon Krieg (CEO), David Ronick, and Ed Robinson.
The app makes it easy to invest on autopilot and discourages day trading. It has a unique cashback program that earns you stocks on every spend. That’s contrary to the usual points, money, or crypto you get back with other digital banks.
Its latest funding round ($125 million) values the company at $1.4 billion.
30. MoneyLion (US)
- Founded in 2013
- Based in New York City, USA
- CEO Diwakar Choubey
- $300 million valuation ($2.4B at IPO)
- $477 million raised (last round at $250 million in September 2021)
- Retail
- 5 million customers
MoneyLion was founded in New York City in 2013 by Wall Street investment bankers and tech specialists Dee Choubey, Chee Mun Foong, and Pratyush Tiwari.
It started off by offering lending and investment services and financial advisory to consumers. It later started offering digital banking services as well.
By 2019, it had an all-inclusive subscription bundle that included a checking account and a Credit Builder Plus membership with managed investing and cash advances priced at $19.99 per month.
Since its launch in 2013, MoneyLion had 3.3 million customers and has earned its members’ trust by building a full-service digital platform to deliver mobile banking, lending, and investment solutions.
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