UK 'social bank' startup Kroo raises £17.7m

So the pre-paid card element is a great place / way to start out, Monzo proved this many years ago. However, lets hope that Kroo learn from those that have gone before and don't try to "build too much" of their own platforms when becoming a bank. If they do, they will soon see just how much they have to build and why even massively successful challengers like Monzo are bogged down and have such high operational costs. The trick here is to deliver your product vision, not get tied up necessarily in the banking world (unless you really need that deposit taking license - which you don't)...

Very true Andrew, though early players like Monzo and Starling did not have to many choices if they wanted a cloud native banking system when they started.

They had one option ;)

The product vision of Fincumbents is aligned to the different zeitgeist of Universal Banking. Even if they had a cloud native platform, I seriously doubt if they'd fit the founding philosophy of Fintechs, which is unbundling of banking i.e. the exact opposite of universal banking.

Today there are new-age BaaS platforms like Amount etc.that resonate with the unbundling product vision of Fintechs but, when many Neobanks were founded 5+ years ago, I doubt if they had a choice but to build their technology inhouse.

Fintechs are just learning that, whether you're a 100 year old Bank or a 5 year old Neobank, age has its advantages and disadvantages. An old Neobank has as much chance of being upended by a new Neobank as a traditional Bank, by the old Neobank - and, for more or less, the same headline reasons.