The FT is reporting that leading UK fintech bank Monzo is close to agreeing to a funding deal that will value the company at £1.25b compared to more than £2b in its previous round last June; Monzo is planning to raise between £70m and £80m in this round which is expected to close in the next month, with the majority of the funding coming from existing investors; while it only recently started lending, so there is little risk from customer defaults, the decline in international travel as well as the lockdowns have reduced revenues; the sharp drop in valuation highlights how the pandemic has hit the high flying UK digital banking sector. Financial Times