Revolut
 | A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject. (April 2019) |
 | It has been suggested that Nikolay Storonsky be merged into this article. (Discuss) Proposed since October 2018. |
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | FinTech |
| Founded | 1 July 2015[1] |
| Founder | Nikolay Storonsky, Vlad Yatsenko |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
Key people | Nikolay Storonsky (CEO) |
| Products | current accounts, debit cards, insurance, peer-to-peer lending, remittance |
| Services | peer-to-peer payments, currency exchange |
Number of employees | 630+ (Dec 2018) |
| Website | revolut |
Revolut Ltd is a UK financial technology company that offers banking services including a pre-paid debit card (Mastercard or Visa), currency exchange, cryptocurrency exchange and peer-to-peer payments.[2] The Revolut mobile app supports spending and ATM withdrawals in 120 currencies and sending in 29 currencies directly from the app. It also provides customers access to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and XRP by exchanging to or from 25 fiat currencies; however, cryptocurrencies remain locked in the app and cannot be moved to another cryptocurrency wallet.[3]
Revolut currently charges no fees for the majority of its services (but for a capped usage), and uses interbank exchange rates for its currency exchange on weekdays, and charge a markup from 0.5% to 1.5% on weekends.[4]
The London-based startup was founded by Nikolay Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko. The company originally was based in Level39, a financial technology incubator in Canary Wharf, London.[5]
History
On 26 April 2018, Revolut announced that it had raised a further $250 million in a funding round led by Hong Kong-based DST Global, reaching a total valuation of $1.7 billion and thus becoming a unicorn.[6] DST Global was founded by Yuri Milner, who has been backed by Kremlin in his previous investments.[7]
In December 2018, Revolut secured a Specialised Bank licence from European Central Bank, facilitated by the Bank of Lithuania. Having secured a Specialised Bank licence, Revolut is authorised to accept deposits and offer consumer credits. The main difference between a specialised and a full-range bank is that the former is not authorised to provide investment services. At the same time, an Electronic Money Institution licence was issued by the Bank of Lithuania.[8][9]
As of February 2019, the company claimed to have over 4 million users. That same month, an expose of the company's employment practices and culture was published by Wired. This found evidence of unpaid work, high turnover and employees being ordered to work weekends to meet performance indicators.[10]
In March 2019, it was revealed the company's Chief Financial Officer had quit, following allegations of compliance lapses.[11]
References
- ^ "Revolut company profile". AngelList. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
- ^ Dillet, Romain (2015-07-20). "Revolut Raises $2.3 Million For Its Mobile Foreign Exchange Service". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2016-01-11.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ "Banking App for Travelers – Revolut Converts Currencies Minus the Fees! | Kevin Kyburz". Kevin Kyburz. 2018-01-29. Retrieved 2018-02-11.
- ^ Hawkins, Christian (2016-02-07). "Revolut: Not necessarily cheaper than an(y) other Mastercard". Retrieved 2016-03-13.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ Dan, Enriques (2018-04-29). "Are You Ready To Give Fintech A Try?". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-06-12.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ Munford, Monty (2018-04-26). "Revolut launches current accounts and a chatbot". Retrieved 2018-04-26.
- ^ Drucker, Jesse (2017-11-05). "Kremlin Cash Behind Billionaire's Twitter and Facebook Investments". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-01-31.
- ^ "Revolut granted specialised bank and electronic money institution licences". Bank Of Lithuania. 2018-12-13. Retrieved 2018-12-13.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ Megaw, Nicholas (2018-12-13). "Lithuania licence lets Revolut launch banking products". Financial Times. Retrieved 2018-12-13.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ Mellino, Emiliano (2019-02-28). "Revolut insiders reveal the human cost of a fintech unicorn's wild rise". Wired. Retrieved 2019-03-01.
- ^ Russell, Joe. "Revolut CFO resigns following money laundering controversy". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2019-03-01.
