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!

The In Control podcast explores the finance of everything, through conversations with people who’ve done it, built it, or experienced it firsthand. Join host Natasha Vernier, Founder of Cable, as she sits down with leaders, innovators, and experts across the financial industry to explore how it all really works. The focus is on learning aloud and making complex topics accessible.