Monzo co-founder blasts competition regulators as ‘religious zealots’ 

Monzo co-founder and former CEO Tom Blomfield has blasted competition regulators as “religious zealots” amid proposals to force Google to sell its Chrome browser.   

Last week, the US Department of Justice proposed a major breakup in Google’s business structure that would see the tech giant forced to sell the world’s most popular web browser to end its “monopoly”. 

Blomfield, who co-founded multibillion-dollar neobank Monzo in 2015, responded to the news on social media, claiming that competition regulators are “like a bunch of religious zealots trying to tell the rest of us how to live our lives based on their sacred texts”. 

The fintech founder, who is also a partner at the San Francisco startup accelerator Y Combinator, argued that there was nothing wrong with Google’s ownership of Chrome. 

First released as a beta in 2008, Google Chrome has become by far the most used web browser in the world, with a market share of more than 65% globally.

“I like Google Chrome. I like Google search being the default. If I didn’t, I would change it,” Blomfield wrote.

“The amount of consumer surplus generated by companies like Google (maps, gmail, docs, drive Android) is frankly insane.”

He concluded that “regulators always think more regulation is best. How about we try less regulation this time?”.

Competition regulators are like a bunch of religious zealots trying to tell the rest of us how to live our lives based on their sacred texts.

I like Google Chrome. I like Google search being the default. If I didn’t, I would change it.

The amount of consumer surplus generated…

— Tom Blomfield (@t_blom) November 24, 2024

When asked in the replies if competition regulation was good for startups, he responded: “Until they try to sell”.

The UK’s competition regulator has itself had a handful of recent run-ins with Google. In September, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it was “concerned” that Google was using its dominant position in online advertising to prioritise its own products.

The CMA in October launched a probe into Google’s investment in AI company Anthropic, though it ultimately ruled there was no need for further investigation into the partnership.

Last week, the CMA’s independent inquiry group today called for action against Apple and Google’s anti-competitive app store practices. 

In 2022, Britain’s competition watchdog took aim at Monzo itself, ordering the bank to review its treatment of departing customers, which the CMA said was “simply not good enough”.

The challenger bank was ordered to provide historic financial transaction documents to leaving customers.

The CMA declined a request to comment.

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