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Revolut

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Revolut Ltd
Company typePrivate
IndustryFinTech
Founded1 July 2015; 9 years ago (2015-07-01)[1]
FounderNikolay Storonsky, Vlad Yatsenko
HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
Key people
Nikolay Storonsky (CEO)
Productscurrent accounts, debit cards, insurance, peer-to-peer lending, remittance
Servicespeer-to-peer payments, currency exchange
Number of employees
400 (2018[2])
Websitewww.revolut.com

Revolut Ltd is a digital banking alternative that includes a pre-paid debit card (MasterCard or VISA), currency exchange, cryptocurrency exchange (Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ripple (XRP) and peer-to-peer payments.[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][5][6] The Revolut App gives customers instant access to Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash and Ripple by exchanging to/from 25 fiat currencies. However, cryptocurrencies remain locked in the app and cannot be moved to another cryptocurrency wallet.[7]

The London-based startup was founded by Nikolay Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko and currently supports spending and ATM withdrawals in 120 currencies and sending in 26 currencies directly from the mobile app.[8]

The company originally was based in Level39, a financial technology incubator in Canary Wharf, London.[9]

History

Revolut launched to the public in July 2015 with the aim of "building a fair and frictionless platform to use and manage money around the world"[10] by removing hidden fees and offering interbank currency rates. Nikolay Storonsky, a former trader at Credit Suisse and Lehman Brothers,[11] said in an interview with Forbes that:

I thought of the business three years ago. I was travelling a lot and wasting hundreds of pounds on foreign transaction fees and exchange rate commissions which just didn’t feel right. As someone with a financial background I knew exactly the rates I should be getting. As a solution, I tried to find a multi-currency card and was later told it wasn’t possible. But I was determined to make it work.[12]

Alongside Vladyslav Yatsenko, former Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank developer, Storonsky set up Revolut and raised around $3.5 million.[12]

On 8 February 2017, Revolut launched UK current accounts, enabling its customers to get a personal IBAN.[13] In July 2017, Revolut started doing the same for personal EUR IBANs.

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.[14]

As of June 2018 the company claimed to have over 2 million users.[15][16]

References

  1. ^ "Revolut company profile". AngelList. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
  2. ^ "British fintech startup Revolut to seek U.S. banking license: CEO". Reuters. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  3. ^ Dillet, Romain (20 July 2015). "Revolut Raises $2.3 Million For Its Mobile Foreign Exchange Service". TechCrunch. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
  4. ^ "Revolut on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2016-06-19.
  5. ^ "Revolut: Not necessarily cheaper than an(y) other Mastercard". Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  6. ^ "Weekend exchange-rate surcharge clarification". Retrieved 2017-12-05.
  7. ^ "Banking App for Travelers – Revolut Converts Currencies Minus the Fees! | Kevin Kyburz". Kevin Kyburz. 2018-01-29. Retrieved 2018-02-11.
  8. ^ "Revolut FAQ". Revolut. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
  9. ^ "Are You Ready To Give Fintech A Try?". Forbes. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  10. ^ "About Revolut". Retrieved 2016-09-11.
  11. ^ "Revolut Deck". SlideShare. 2015-01-14. Retrieved 2016-09-11.
  12. ^ a b Salter, Philip. "London Fintech Entrepreneur Talking About A Revolution". Forbes.
  13. ^ Dillet, Romain (8 February 2017). "Revolut launches current accounts and a chatbot". Retrieved 8 February 2017.
  14. ^ Munford, Monty (26 April 2018). "Revolut launches current accounts and a chatbot". Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  15. ^ "Fintech start-up Revolut grabs 2 million users and plans to launch commission-free trading service". CNBC. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  16. ^ "UK fintech start-up Revolut reaches 2 million users". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
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