Revolut to offer more banking services through new licence

Revolut has attracted nearly 2m customers in Ireland, and has more than 18m customers worldwide.

Revolut has launched a deposit account offering to its customers as the company tries to move further into the retail banking market with its new Revolut Bank arm.

The global financial platform is using its Irish banking licence to give customers deposit protection for up to €100,000 through a scheme guaranteed by the Lithuanian State company Deposit and Investment Insurance.

“Launching the bank in Ireland will provide a greater level of security and confidence for our customers, and will enable us to launch a host of new products and services in the future,” said chief executive Joe Heneghan.

Although two retail banks have exited the Irish market, Revolut Bank can not at this time fill the gap that KBC and Ulster Bank have left behind — primarily because it currently does provide mortgages, a key offering of any bank.

However, Revolut Bank recently started providing its Irish customers with the option to take out personal loans.

The company states that in most cases, loan offers are being made within a minute of the application being submitted.

These loans range from €2,000 to €30,000 with interest rates from 5.99%.

It is unclear if they are planning to introduce any other banking services in the near future.

According to a survey carried out by Revolut, 41% of Irish customers would deposit their salary into Revolut and 70% of customers said they would spend more via the app if they had their deposits insured.

“Revolut is one of the fastest-growing fintech companies in Europe because we put the customer at the heart of everything that we do”, said Mr Heneghan.

Our customer experience is second to none, we have no hidden fees, and we are constantly building new and innovative financial products."

To date, Revolut has attracted nearly 2m customers in Ireland, and has more than 18m customers worldwide.

Approximately 150m transactions a month are made through the company.

Through using the Revolut app, customers can see exactly how much they are spending each month and can set monthly spending budgets for categories such as restaurants and groceries.

Customers can also manage fees for subscription services, send and request money from friends, and receive it instantly.

Revolut customers can also spend and transfer money globally with no hidden fees, and hold and exchange more than 30 currencies in the app.

To avail of Revolut Bank services, customers need to go through an upgrade process that can be done through the Revolut app. Revolut Bank is now live in 29 EEA markets.

As Revolut pushes into the banking market, banks are trying to get into the fintech space. AIB, Bank of Ireland, and Permanent TSB are three banks that planned to create a banking payments app designed to compete with financial services competitors like Revolut.

However, the competition regulator halted the development of the app and is currently investigating it.

Moving into the banking market is not the only recent ambition for Revolut.

The company also wants to provide investment services to its customers.

Earlier this year, Revolut Securities Inc launched a trading platform in the US, the latest app-based broker to court a generation of younger investors.

The app allows trading in listed stocks and exchange-traded funds.