In Control with Natasha Vernier

Why would anyone build a bank? with David Jarvis, CEO & Founder at Griffin

Cable Episode 1

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0:00 | 51:53

Starting a bank seems like one of the hardest things you could possibly do. David Jarvis, CEO of Griffin, did exactly that and walks me through the WHY and HOW of building a bank from scratch.

Getting a banking license is no joke! I thought I understood this from my Monzo days, but turns out I'd only scratched the surface.

In this episode, we get into:

- How the licensing process actually works - from the first phone call to the Bank of England through 4.5 years of iterative feedback
- Why every bank has a £1M monthly burn rate 
- The reality of raising £50M before you have a single customer or £ of revenue
- What actually happens when you send a payment (there's probably another bank involved)
- Why Revolut, with 70M customers, is still fighting for a banking license

David also shared about the less glamorous bits of startup founder life, but you’ll have to listen to find out!