Who Owns The 27 Biggest Digital Bank? [2025 Biggest Banks]

Updated On: 09/21/2023
Saltmoney.org is reader-supported. When you buy via links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no cost to you.

Are you ever intrigued by who's behind the most dominant players in the digital banking industry? Global financial trends are rapidly shifting towards online banking, and it's essential to understand who owns the 27 biggest digital banks.

This knowledge isn't just insider talk for investors or banking professionals - it might help you decide where to trust your hard-earned savings.

In this age of technology, traditional brick-and-mortar banks are slowly but surely being eclipsed by their digital counterparts.

Banks operating solely online provide a broad range of services without leaving your home's comfort. So, who is leading this dramatic financial revolution? Let's look at the power hierarchy within these empirical digital institutions.

Who Owns The 27 Biggest Digital Banks?

Who Owns The 27 Biggest Digital Banks?

The ownership of the 27 biggest digital banks varies, as they are owned by a combination of traditional banking institutions and fintech companies. Of those 27 Digital Banks, 22 of them are majority-owned by the likes of JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc., Wells Fargo & Company, HSBC Holdings PLC, and others.

To clarify this, we've researched and compiled information about two highly reputed establishments, Chime and Revolut - their origins, their founders, and who holds the reins today.

Also Read: What Is The Largest Bank In The World? [Top 10 Largest Banks]

Chime

Chime is a prominent player in the U.S. digital banking scene. It was founded by Chris Britt, former chief product officer at Green Dot, and Ryan King, earlier employed at tech giants like Hulu and Zynga.

While Chime is privately owned, it boasts robust backing from various investors, including Crosslink Capital, Aspect Ventures, and Forerunner Ventures.

Recently valued at $14.5 billion during its last funding round in 2020, Chime has had an extraordinary growth trajectory.

The primary appeal of Chime is its no-fee account offering that's consumer-oriented rather than focused on revenues from penalties or added fees – an online wallet for everyday Americans wanting to manage their finances without worrying about bank queues or an overdrawn balance slip.

Revolut

Founded in 2015 by former Credit Suisse trader Nikolay Storonsky and software developer Vlad Yatsenko, Revolut is a London-based fin-tech company aiming to "build a fair and frictionless platform to use money globally."

With over 30 million customers worldwide as of 2023 and boasting an estimated valuation close to $33 billion after its recent funding drive, Revolut is making significant strides in shaping its version of banking for tomorrow today.

The ownership pattern revolves around the two founders and an impressively diverse array of investors, including TCV, Ribbit Capital, and Index Ventures, among many others.

With Storonsky owning a considerable chunk of the business, Revolut continues to evolve its digital finance practice.

The company has expanded its offerings over the years, from traditional banking to trading and currency exchange services, even dipping its toes into cryptocurrency.

N26

This German-based digital bank, N26, was initiated by Maximilian Tayenthal and Valentin Stalf in 2013.

N26

Acting on the concept of 'the bank you'll love to use,' it is now one of Europe's largest fintech with over 8 million customers spread across 24 countries.

While the entrepreneurs maintain a significant stake in the company, investors like Alibaba’s Ant Financial, Tencent Holdings, etc., have increased its valuation to $9 billion as of mid-2023.

Also Read: N26 Bank Review 2025 [Tested By Finance Experts]

Monzo

Monzo Bank Ltd is a digital-mobile bank operating in the UK and the U.S. that took off under Tom Blomfield, Gary Dolman, Jonas Huckestein, and others in 2015.

With Blomfield at its capital helm until early 2021, Monzo's unique money management through 'pots' has taken it into over 7 million users' hearts to date.

Though owned mainly by venture capitalists like Thrive Capital and Passion Capital, shares float about amongst individuals from crowdfunding campaigns.

Also Read: Starling Vs Monzo 2025 [Fees, Security, Speed, Rewards & Rates]

Starling Bank

Starling Bank was established in 2014 by banking industry veteran Anne Boden, who saw an opportunity to transform banking through technology.

Today, it enjoys an esteemed reputation in the digital-lending sector with 3.6 million customer accounts.

Mirroring a similar pattern to other popular challenger banks and fintechs, Starling's ownership is split between founder Anne Boden and prominent external investors, including Fidelity Investments International and Qatar Investment Authority.

Marcus by Goldman Sachs

A powerhouse in the investment world, Goldman Sachs launched digital bank Marcus in 2016. Named after one of the company's founders, Marcus Goldman, this digital banking venture helps fill the void left by conventional banking.

With a vision to create something bigger but significantly better for its customers, it focuses on offering unsecured personal loans and high-yield savings accounts.

While owned and operated by Goldman Sachs, the business's expansion into digital banking exhibits a modern focus on accessibility and customer satisfaction.

Ally Bank

Ally Bank started as an auto financing company 1919 named GMAC (General Motors Acceptance Corporation).

Having rebranded in 2009 after financial turmoil, it is now a successful, fully online bank. Ally Financial Inc., its parent company with CEO Jeffrey J. Brown at its helm, runs Ally Bank.

Its success comes from smart investing, real estate loans, and comprehensive digital banking services that match traditional banks in every way - minus the physical branch.

Wise

Wise (formerly TransferWise) was born out of frustration with expensive international money transfers.

Wise

Founders Taavet Hinrikus (Skype's first employee) and Kristo Käärmann started Wise in London in 2011 to offer low-cost foreign exchanges using a peer-to-peer system.

Now publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker ‘WISE,’ it's governed by an executive team including its founders and members like Chief Financial Officer Matt Briers.

Also Read: Wise Multi-Currency Account Review 2025 [Start Saving Today]

Varo

Varo was founded by Colin Walsh, a banking industry veteran with a vision to reshape the American banking scene by bringing it fully into the digital era.

This San Francisco-based fintech startup holds the distinction of being the first digital-only bank in the U.S. to receive a national bank charter, an accomplishment that solidifies its aim to stimulate financial inclusion.

Walsh is still at the helm of Varo, supported financially by several high-profile investors, including Warburg Pincus and The Rise Fund.

With its mission to improve financial health, Varo offers fee-free banking and automatically tailored savings plans.

Nubank

Based in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Nubank has quickly grown into one of the world's largest fintech companies since its inception in 2013.

David Velez, previously a Sequoia Capital partner, Cristina Junqueira, former consultant at Boston Consulting Group, and Edward Wible from Capital One are Nubank’s original masterminds aimed at revolutionizing access to financial services across Latin America.

With a valuation surpassing $45 billion as of 2021, the ownership remains with these founders and a series of high-profile investors such as Tencent Holdings Ltd., DST Global, and Sequoia Capital.

Cash App (Square Financial Services)

Cash App is a Square Financial Services Inc. arm founded by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey in 2009.

Square’s Cash App started as Square Wallet, designed for customers to make mobile payments directly from their devices while skipping banks altogether.

Today, Cash App is loved for its sleek user interface that enables everything from peer-to-peer payments to receiving paychecks or investing in stocks or Bitcoin.

As a subsidiary of publicly traded Square Inc., Cash App's ownership comes directly under this parent company led by Jack Dorsey himself.

Also Read: What Bank Does Cash App Use In 2025? [Set Up Direct Deposit]

Aspiration

Aspiration, a California-based digital bank founded by Andrei Cherny and Joseph Sanberg in 2013, is reinventing the landscape of online banking with a green twist.

They cater to more socially conscious consumers by ensuring their deposits never go towards funding fossil fuel projects. This commitment has caught the eye of some high-profile investors like actor Leonardo DiCaprio.

Ownership is diversified among its founders, and an array of investors includes Renren Inc. and individual stakeholders like Alex Rodriguez.

Aspiration is not just a digital bank but also offers investment products focused on sustainability and charitable giving, making it an ethical choice for your finances.

SoFi Money

SoFi Money

SoFi Money was launched by Social Finance Inc., popularly known as SoFi. The company was conceived in 2011 by Mike Cagney, Dan Macklin, James Finnigan, and Ian Brady, with the initial aim of refinancing student loans.

SoFi transformed the banking scenario with its unique business model to favor borrowers. This model has earned them hefty funding from key investors such as SoftBank Group Corp and Silver Lake Partners.

This shift has allowed SoFi to offer competitive savings rates through SoFi Money alongside its lending services.

Today, the firm has expanded well beyond its original product offering into areas such as investing and insurance while maintaining a customer-centric focus.

Also Read: SoFi Review 2025 [Covering: Loans, Insurance, Safety & Investments]

Bunq

Founded by Ali Niknam, who financed it out of his pocket initially, Bunq arrived on the scene in 2015 as Europe’s first fully-fledged mobile-only bank in the Netherlands. Bunq's ultra-modern approach to banking makes it stand out, emphasizing freedom and control for users over their financial affairs.

While Niknam remains the majority stakeholder via his holding company ANBI Holdings BV, other minor investors also exist due to various rounds of funding Bunq needed over time.

Bunq’s specialty is giving customers budgeting tools, effortless savings, and instant payment notifications.

With Bunq’s innovative approach to banking and vibrant community, they aim to make everyday banking more accessible and more personal for everyone.

Also Read: Bunq Metal Card Review 2025 [Tested By Experts]

Atom Bank

Founded by a team of veteran bankers and entrepreneurs, Atom Bank is one of the U.K.'s first app-based lending institutions. Veterans Anthony Thomson and Mark Mullen, previously connected to Metro Bank and HSBC, respectively, launched Atom in 2014.

The bank's ownership has multiple stakeholders, with Spanish banking giant BBVA holding a significant share. Other investors include Perscitus LLP, Woodford Investment Management, and Toscafund.

What sets Atom apart is its focus on mortgage lending alongside savings accounts – all managed digitally. This keeps costs low for consumers and represents a fresh direction in household financing.

Current

Stuart Sopp founded Current as a tech-based alternative to traditional banks in 2015. Before Current, Sopp worked at Wall Street companies like Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank, making his fintech outlook rooted in firm financial industry knowledge.

Although privately owned, the worth got boosted significantly with big investment partnerships from companies including Tiger Global Management, Sapphire Ventures, Avenir Growth Capital, and QED Investors.

Current delivers banking solutions compatible with modern lifestyles – digitized multi-currency transactions for individuals or families and budgeting tools rolled into an easy-to-use app have made it incredibly popular.

Dave

Dave is an intriguing addition to our list as it started not as a digital bank per se but as an overdraft prevention tool.

Dave

Founded by Jason Wilk, Paras Chitakar, and John Wolanin in 2016, Dave aims to aid average users in avoiding hefty overdraft fees by providing predictive balance alerts about upcoming expenses or low balances.

With the addition of banking services later on, like Dave's Banking account in partnership with Evolve Bank & Trust, Things have quickly escalated, resulting in investors like Section 32 / GV (Google Ventures) and Norwest Venture Partners supporting Dave's cause financially.

Colossal Ventures holds stakes in this Los Angeles-based digital manipulator of traditional banking norms.

Monese

Monese is an innovative digital banking platform designed to offer a seamless banking experience to the world's customers.

It was set up in 2015 by founder Norris Koppel, inspired by his struggle to open a bank account in the UK after migrating from Estonia.

Monese prides itself on its simplicity and accessibility, providing accounts that can be opened within minutes using a smartphone.

While primarily privately owned, Monese’s influential backers include Tencent Holdings Ltd, International Airlines Group, and Anthemis Exponential Ventures.

With its customer-oriented business model, Monese aims to revolutionize the traditional banking infrastructure for ease of use.

Also Read: 18 Best Monese Alternatives In 2025 [Tested By Experts]

WeBank (China)

WeBank is China's first private digital-only bank, making significant waves in the Asian digital banking market.

Launched in late 2014, it's backed by one of the most dominant internet companies globally - Tencent Holdings Limited (the company behind WeChat). The key persons associated with WeBank are Chairman Gu Min and CEO Henry Ma.

WeBank offers an impressive line-up of customer-focused features, including no-fee services for transactions below a specified threshold.

By leveraging blockchain technology, big data, and artificial intelligence, WeBank seeks to chart a new course for digitized financial services across China.

Digibank by DBS (Singapore)

DBS Bank has not been left behind in the march towards digital banking; Digibank is its offering in India in 2016 and back home in Singapore later. DBS Bank - Development Bank of Singapore - has been synonymous with trustworthiness since its establishment in 1968 as Singapore's development finance institution.

With Piyush Gupta at its helm as CEO since 2009 and led by Chairman Peter Seah Lim Huat at DBS, a broad spectrum of investors worldwide back Digibank.

By marrying traditional reputation with the new-age technology of the Digibank app-based platform, DBS aims to be at the forefront of Asia's growing demand for digital banking.

Tangerine (Canada)

Tangerine Bank, previously known as ING Direct Canada, is an innovator in digital banking. Acquired by Scotiabank – one of Canada’s Big Five banks – in 2012 for nearly $3.1 billion, Tangerine has proven itself a powerful player that helps bring financial solutions directly to Canadians' devices.

This online-only bank is recognized for its approach to fee-free banking and high-interest savings accounts.

The CEO of Tangerine Bank is Gillian Riley, and under her leadership, Tangerine continuously develops its internet-based services, providing a user-friendly and accessible banking experience to its customers.

Fidor Bank

Fidor Bank is a digital bank founded in Germany in 2009 by Matthias Kroener. Ever since, it has been setting pioneering standards in the field of digital banking.

Fidor was acquired by France's Groupe BPCE in 2016 but ultimately sold off to Luxembourg-based investment company Ripplewood Advisors LLC in July 2019 due to the non-fulfillment of expected synergies between the companies.

Today, despite ownership changes, Fidor retains its original core proposition - a transparent marketplace that centralizes various financial services for more convenience and better rates.

Up Bank (Australia)

Up Bank is an Australian digital-only bank that was initiated as a collaboration between software development company Ferocia Pty Ltd and Bendigo and Adelaide Bank.

The two founders were Dom Pym and Grant Thomas, who aimed to create technology-led banking services for Australians.

Up Bank launched officially in October 2018. Even though it's a relatively fresh face among Australia's big four banks, It is making noise with its technologically sophisticated propositions like real-time payments and insightful spending categorization.

Still being powered by Bendigo and Adelaide Bank as an ADI (Authorized Deposit-taking Institution), Up reaffirms customers' trust in safety and innovation allowed by this partnership.

Neon (Brazil)

Neon

One of Brazil's trailblazers in the digital banking landscape is Neon. Founded by entrepreneur Pedro Conrade in 2016, Neon was born out of Conrade's frustration with banks' complex systems.

Built on a promise of simplifying financial transactions for its customers, Neon operates based on transparency and seamless user interactions.

The company spun out of Banco Pottencial, later liquidated by the Brazilian Central Bank. Now, it operates primarily through Banco Votorantim, providing various services, including digital savings accounts, debit cards, and credit cards, among many others.

As such, Banco Votorantim owns a considerable stake in Neon, with Conrade still maintaining majority control.

Judo Bank (Australia)

Down under in Australia is Judo Bank - an innovator answering to the needs of small and medium businesses rather than personal banking customers.

Judo Bank was founded in 2016 by Joseph Healy and David Hornery after they noticed an opportunity for a digital bank that understood SMEs at a more granular level.

While being privately owned primarily by its founders and employees – 'judokas,' as they call themselves - Judo Bank also boasts stalwart investors like Abu Dhabi Capital Group and Myer Family Investments.

Judo Bank aims to strengthen the backbone of the Australian economy – SMEs – through tailored business banking solutions, from business loans to deposits and savings products.

It has shown remarkable growth since its first full fiscal year ended in June 2020, with lending climbing steadily despite economic shutdowns due to global spectrum events like COVID-19.

Synchrony Bank (U.S.)

Synchrony Bank, previously known as GE Capital Retail Bank, is a major contender in the online banking world.

It's a subsidiary of Synchrony Financial, a Fortune 200 company founded in 2003 and headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. This financial titan stands on its own; it's not an arm of a traditional bank made digital.

This wholly-owned subsidiary became what it is today after splitting from General Electric Company in 2014 and rebranding itself as Synchrony Financial.

The bank excels with its high-yield savings account, CDs, and money market accounts, which are FDIC-insured and come sans minimum balances or service fees.

Oxygen Bank

Oxygen is one of the newer digital banking platforms to arrive on the scene, launching in early 2020. This San Francisco-based fintech startup was created by Hussein Ahmed, who doubles as CEO.

Oxygen operates on a venture-backed model with investors such as Runa Capital and Digital Horizon Capital powering its growth trajectory.

Pushing boundaries by serving both personal customers and small businesses within the same platform sets them apart from the competition. With no minimum balance requirements, Oxygen provides individuals and entrepreneurs with banking services that are accessible, economical, and convenient.

Its services include fee-free accounts loaded with budgeting tools designed to help save users money – proof that you don't have to be an old-timer to make your mark in online banking.

FAQs about Biggest Digital Bank

Who launched the digital banking service Chime?

Chime was co-founded by Chris Britt and Ryan King, who come from solid technological and financial backgrounds.

What's the origin of the high-profile digital bank Revolut?

Revolut was initiated in London by Nikolay Storonsky, a former trader at Credit Suisse, and software developer Vlad Yatsenko.

Is Synchrony Bank an independent entity?

Yes, Synchrony Bank is an independent entity and fully owned subsidiary of the Fortune 200 company Synchrony Financial.

How did Oxygen's digital banking platform begin?

Oxygen was born in the heart of Silicon Valley in early 2020 under the leadership of its CEO, Hussein Ahmed.

Are all major digital banks like Monzo or Wise independently owned?

Some run as independent entities but have strong investor backing, while others are offshoots or subsidiaries of traditional banking institutions.

Conclusion

In this digital era, banking has broken beyond brick and mortar to become more accessible and customer-oriented, thanks to the major players in online banking.

Many of these globally recognized digital banks are independently owned or backed by prominent investors.

They continue to shape how people interact with their finances, driven by principles of transparency, accessibility, and innovation.

Understanding the ownership of these digital banks widens your financial comprehension but also aids in making informed choices about where you trust your savings.

Michael Restiano

I support product content strategy for Salt Money. Additionally, I’m helping develop content strategy and processes to deliver quality work for our readers.

cross linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram