Neobank
A bank that exists only as an app, with no branches, and which often started life without legally being a bank at all.
The word became industry jargon around 2017, but the idea is older. Simple launched in the US in 2009 as a slick interface on top of a partner bank that held the licence; BBVA bought it in 2014 and shut it down in 2021. In the UK, regulators lowered the bar for new banks in 2013, and Starling, Monzo and Atom arrived within a couple of years. Germany's N26 started in the same period. What they shared was the phone as the only channel, a push notification for every card payment and FX fees that the incumbents struggled to justify.
Many began as e-money institutions or on top of a sponsor bank, because a full banking licence takes years. That matters to the customer: without one, balances are not covered by deposit insurance. Revolut waited years for its UK licence. The business model proved harder than the app. Debit interchange doesn't go far in Europe, where it is capped, and most only turned a profit once they started lending money like ordinary banks.