Revolut - a UK-based fintech success story

Revolut is a UK-based financial technology company offering a range of financial services from cards with instant spending notifications and foreign currency exchange trading at the real exchange rate, to commission free stock trading and charity donations. 

The company, which serves both consumers and small and medium-sized enterprises, is headquartered in London and has recently launched its services in Australia and Singapore. Further launches in the United States and Canada are planned over the coming months. 

We spoke to Nicholas Taylor, Public Affairs Manager, about the company's long-term growth plans and the attractions of the UK market.

What does your company do?

Revolut is a financial platform that allows people to better manage their money. We launched in 2015 with a mission to help customers improve their financial health and promote financial inclusion right across the communities in which we operate. 

The main product on our platform is our cards with instant spending notifications, built-in budgeting & analytics, and foreign exchange at the real exchange rate. Additional products we offer on the platform include commission free stock trading with fractional shares, charity donations, cryptocurrency and insurance. 

Revolut's long-term goal is to build the first truly global bank – where consumers worldwide are serviced via the same app operating on a single technology platform.

Tell us about your firm's UK operations and its UK history.

Revolut was launched in London and remains headquartered there. It is the UK’s fastest growing private tech company and one of Europe’s largest fintechs, employing over 500 people in our global headquarters in London. We are committed to creating hundreds more jobs in the UK within the next year.

We have over 2.5m customers in the UK and our business products support 35,000 small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) located right across the country.

Following launches in Australia and Singapore, we are preparing to roll out our services in the USA and Canada in the coming months - taking the best of British technology to the rest of the world. This will help to ensure that London remains the global fintech leader.

“The UK market’s openness to innovation, and the high rate of fintech adoption makes it the ideal place for us to launch groundbreaking products and services, and continue to grow our userbase.”

What advantages and attractions are there to your company being based in the UK?

The UK holds a long-standing position as a global financial centre. Innovation over the last decade has transformed global financial services, with the emergence and rapid growth of financial technology. The UK market’s openness to innovation, and the high rate of fintech adoption makes it the ideal place for us to launch groundbreaking products and services, and continue to grow our userbase. 

Britain’s success in growing a leading fintech hub is due in no small part to the actions taken by successive governments and regulators over the last few years. Policies such as promoting competition in the banking sector, establishing a new payment systems regulator, Project Innovate and the Financial Conduct Authority’s regulatory sandbox have had a real and tangible impact in promoting London as the best place to start and grow a fintech business. No wonder that London has recently overtaken New York as the number one city for investment in fintech companies, with positive spillover effects felt across the UK.

Another key attraction for being based in the UK is the country’s large (multilingual, skilled and qualified) talent pool. This pipeline helps us to recruit the talent we need to keep pace with our growth plans.

“Another key attraction for being based in the UK is the country’s large (multilingual, skilled and qualified) talent pool. This pipeline helps us to recruit the talent we need to keep pace with our growth plans.”

Outline your company's growth plans and how you see the UK featuring in these.

Revolut’s long term goal is to build the first truly global bank - where consumers worldwide are serviced via the same app operating on a single technology platform.

Revolut’s growth story is something the company is incredibly proud of. The pace and scale of customer and business uptake of Revolut products is evidence of the vast need across the globe for better financial services.