Whether you need to quickly exchange currencies, to transfer money to your friends or to start investing in crypto, Revolut has it all figured out. In less than 10 years, Revolut and its founders, Nikolay Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko, managed to create an empire in the banking world. That being so, one might wonder how this fintech became so successful and what makes Revolut truly essential nowadays.
- “One app, all things money”
Revolut’s tagline says it all. Founded in 2014, the online bank was quite common in regards to the services offered. Indeed, through Revolut, you could access debit and virtual cards quite easily. This made Revolut well-known since everyone started to appreciate how simple and accessible this bank was.
Revolut is a “fintech”, a financial technology company and a “neobank”, an online bank which operates without any physical branches. This bank works through an app which allows consumers to access all sorts of basic services such as payments or transfers. On that note, Revolut offers free-of-charge payments and transfers, except during weekends where the rate varies from 0.5% to 2%.
Then, Revolut decided to see bigger and offered cryptocurrencies services, especially crypto trading since 2017. Thereafter, Revolut started vaults, trading or even cashbacks where you could earn money by spending money with the app.
Revolut truly wants to become a “super-app” in the neobanking world. They manage to broaden their services to exploit every detail of their consumers’ needs. The variety is huge : payments, currencies exchanges, transfers, trading, savings, etc. There is everything for everyone on the app. One of the newest updates is the “<18 Revolut” where teenagers can also learn how to deal with their pocket money, with end-to-end encryption.
Such a diversification could only end up in Revolut becoming a true benchmark.
- A unicorn ready to take on the world
With its 30 millions consumers in 37 different countries, Revolut is now one of the most famous online banks in Europe. Furthermore, by being valued at 33 billion dollars in 2021, Revolut is among Europe’s most valuable startups.
This qualifies Revolut as a “unicorn”, which is a startup company created less than 10 years ago and valued at more than 1 billion dollars. Such a rapid growth can be easily explained with the numerous services listed above.
However, Nikolay Storonsky, Revolut’s CEO, is quite straightforward on the matter : “there has been a culture shift over the past few years and that has helped us to grow”. What makes Revolut so interesting is that this “super-app” seems always ahead of its time.
Nowadays, people respond to instantaneity, simplicity and most importantly, a free of charge service. Revolut knows that, and aims to offer a simple app where you could access everything you want without having to pay.
Furthermore, the app isn’t planning on stopping now. There is always a new service that people could need. Indeed, Revolut is planning on creating a section in the app to have the possibility to ask and obtain real estate loans.
Also, they have released a new savings account with a very interesting rate of 3.72% after taxes. This truly represents what Revolut is about : diversification. They want to have a service for everyone and accessible to anyone.
- Consumers’ closeness
Revolut understood that in order to become one of the most known banks in the world, they had to create a special bond with their customers. The goal was to make people feel comfortable being that close with a neobank. Thus, they had to try replacing what a physical branch had to offer by a variety of services, accessible directly with a smartphone.
Revolut’s diversification is brilliant and illustrates how much this bank wants to stand out in the banking industry. Revolut being so young, it allows the company to know what people truly want and need.
Therefore, by having set a 10€ gift whenever someone joins, Revolut tells the world that they are here for their users. The British company is willing to gift new joiners, directly creating a nice relationship between the customer and the bank.
On that note, Revolut installed a Visa card machine at Rome’s airport in July 2023. This machine is there to supply a Visa debit card linked to the consumers’ Revolut current account. Ignacio Zunzunegui, Head of Growth Southern Europe, explained that “with this innovation we want to meet the needs of travelers by providing them with relevant products and solutions right when they need them”.
Once again, Revolut showed that they understand people’s needs. They work to offer a “new way of managing money that can be easy and accessible” (Ignacio Zunzunegui) and people are starting to notice.
Revolut will continue on expanding and on building this super-app, competing with traditional banks (for a french version on this topic, see here). Additionally, they are on the verge of obtaining their UK banking license, which would allow Revolut to expand worldwide.
Léonard Simoens
Master 2 Cyberjustice – Promotion 2023/2024
Sources:
- https://www.revolut.com/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolut
- https://startupsmagazine.co.uk/article-revolut-story-lessons-learnt-unicorn
- https://investingreviews.co.uk/reviews/revolut-junior-review/
- https://www.breakinglatest.news/business/revolut-brings-the-visa-card-machine-to-the-airport/
- https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/revolut-strikes-share-deal-with-softbank-remove-barrier-uk-licence-ft-2023-10-03/
