Can Revolut bring true competition to Irish banking?

As it continues to roll out new services, Emer Walsh examines the digital bank's attempts to offer an alternative to the pillar banks

Revolut chief executive Nik Storonsky has pledged to offer mortgages to Irish customers, describing home loans that are '100% digital', that would be financed by the bank themselves rather than through an intermediary. Picture: Luke MacGregor/Bloomberg

From humble beginnings as a simple, exchange rate-friendly travel card, few could foresee the upward trajectory on which Revolut would venture.

Boasting an Irish customer base of more than 2.7 million in just nine years, the speed of its growth in both a domestic and international context dwarfs the success of its closest neo rivals, and in recent months, has instilled hope of a real, viable alternative to the limited choice offered by Ireland’s two-and-a-half banks.