# Monzo new logo (2016)

> Monzo launched a new logo on 25 Aug 2016. Mondo became Monzo after a trademark challenge. The four-colour folded M stayed exactly as it was; only the last letters of the navy lowercase wordmark changed, from mondo to monzo.

## Key facts

- Brand: Monzo
- Launched: 25 Aug 2016
- What changed: Mondo became Monzo after a trademark challenge. The four-colour folded M stayed exactly as it was; only the last letters of the navy lowercase wordmark changed, from mondo to monzo.
- Industry: Fintech
- Logos: https://rebrandlog.com/logos/monzo-2016/before.svg (before), https://rebrandlog.com/logos/monzo-2016/after.svg (after)

## The rebrand, explained

Mondo, the London startup bank founded by Tom Blomfield, had its name challenged by an undisclosed company with a similar trademark. Rather than spend a startup's money on a fight, it decided to rename, and on 13 June 2016 it asked its users for ideas. It set three rules: the name had to start with M, it had to work across languages and cultures, and "It can't be Banky McBankface".

More than 10,000 people sent 12,560 suggestions. Monzo later published the top of the list: Mybank was the most popular with 332 votes, followed by names such as Moolah, Money, Mundo and Mint. The shortlist went to lawyers, who filed trademarks for Mido, Milo and Monzo under a decoy company so nobody would notice. Mido and Milo ran into problems. Monzo, which co-founder Jason Bates spotted on Slack while on holiday, was clear, and the .com was for sale.

Monzo did not use a branding agency, Bloomberg reported. The M had to stay, the company explained, partly because "we'd already got the t-shirts printed!" So the logo did not change at all: the same four-colour folded M in teal, sage, sand and coral, beside the same navy lowercase wordmark, with a z where the d used to be. The new name was unveiled at a live-streamed event at the London office on 25 August 2016.

The launch did not go entirely to plan. While Blomfield was on stage, someone at rival Starling Bank registered getmonzo.co.uk, one letter away from Mondo's old getmondo.co.uk, and put up a congratulations message from Starling's founder Anne Boden. Blomfield had helped start Starling before leaving. On X, one user said he would have gone with Banky McBankface, and another pointed out that the login email still said Mondo.

It is a near-perfect small rename: one letter, no agency, no new logo, and a story the community helped write. Monzo is also a better name than Mondo, harder to confuse and easier to own, even if it took a lawyer's letter to get there.

In short: One letter changed, the T-shirts stayed.

## Sources

- https://monzo.com/blog/2016/08/25/monzo
- https://monzo.com/blog/2016/08/26/how-we-picked-monzo
- https://monzo.com/blog/2016/06/13/new-mondo-changing-our-name
- https://techcrunch.com/2016/08/26/monzo/
- https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-25/startup-bank-mondo-changes-its-name-by-one-letter-to-monzo

## Cite this

Rebrand Log, "Monzo new logo (2016)", https://rebrandlog.com/rebrand/monzo-2016/, last updated 2026-10-21.