How an entrepreneur built a bank | Tom Blomfield, CEO of Mondo

The Balderton Podcast: Tech Investment | Venture Capital | Startup Funding

Tom Blomfield becomes the second of GoCardless' original cofounding team to join Ben for a podcast in the last couple of weeks. Tom is building Mondo, a bank that is challenging the high street incumbents. In this episode, Tom talks about the challenges of applying for a banking licence, shares some tips for first time entrepreneurs, and explains why opening banking APIS are - at the moment - rubbish. 0030 It's Mondo's first birthday next month! Feel free to send them a cake in the post. 0130 So far, the reaction to Mondo has been overwhelmingly positive. Why do you think this is? It used to be difficult to get people excited about banking! 0230 Tom explains why most high street current accounts are rubbish, and why Mondo is better. 0340 According to Tom, your current account should be a 'home screen app'; and users should feel as comfortable using it as they do on Google, Facebook or Twitter. 0415 How does Mondo attract consumers? 0612 Tom compares to cost of customer acquisition between high street banks and Mondo... 0700 Last year it was reported that Mondo were applying for a banking licence - when are you due to get your hands on one? 0825 Why are Mondo applying for a banking licence? Lots of so-called 'challenger banks' aren't actually banks... why is Mondo going through all of this effort? 1000 What is a 'bank in a box'? 1050 Tom tells the story of how and why he got involved with Hiroki and Matt at GoCardless 1350 Experience is very important, and Tom now has three businesses under his belt. In light of his previous successes, Tom shares some tips for first time founders... 1630 Why do Mondo run hackathons? And should more banks run hacks? 1800 Tom explains that most banking APIs lead to dummy data... he also explains why this is rubbish, and why Mondo's API provides access to real data. 2300 How can I get a Mondo card?