Fast growing fintech Revolut is not wasting time in taking on traditional banking activities after securing a long-awaited bank licence in its founding market this year.
Late last week the company hosted its ‘Revolutionaries’ event in London, its founding city, functioning as a celebration of the firm reaching its milestone of 50 million customers.
Nik Storonsky, Revolut’s CEO and Co-Founder, said: “2024 has been a significant year for Revolut, with millions of new accounts opened and innovative products launched across our markets. 2025 will be bigger and better. We want to revolutionise banking for the better and we’re on the right path to achieve this.”
Amidst the festivities, the company’s senior leadership unveiled some of its core ambitions for 2025. These include greater use of AI, an unsurprising development given how much the tech has taken the payments and finance worlds by storm this year.
More interestingly was the company’s stated ambition to ‘shake up traditional finance service offerings’ by launching mortgages in Lithuania, Ireland and France in 2025, in that order. The company has a goal of launching a ‘digital mortgage product that is the fastest on the market’.
These ambitions have hardly been a secret. Earlier this year, The Irish Times reported that the company had been holding talks with Irish mortgage brokers and was debating whether to issue mortgages through these brokers or directly to its customers.
The latest update has not confirmed which route Revolut settled on, though it may pursue different options in different markets. It has confirmed though that it is looking to build up a more comprehensive credit offering, which could potentially include overdrafts.
Revolut’s ambitions are not entirely limited to digital offerings, however, despite its origins as a digital fintech and neobank. The company plans to roll out branded ATMs, starting in Spain in early 2025.
The ATMs will dispense cash and cards and will eventually be modified to take cash deposits. In a move showcasing the impact facial recognition technology is having in the ID realm of payments, all Revolut ATMs will feature the tech.
These cash ambitions are an interesting development, as it appears that even digitally-driven firms like Revolut are seeing value in continuing to provide cash services.
Though most consumers are increasingly making use of digital and contactless payment methods, traditional banks like NatWest and Nationwide have noted this year that cash remains a popular means of payment.
Lastly, as mentioned above the company is also looking to up its game in the field of AI, an ambition shared by others in finance from the likes of fellow fintechs like Klarna to traditional banking leaders like JP Morgan.
Revolut’s main area of focus is customer support, with the firm announcing an AI-powered customer assistant. The ‘financial companion’ will help guide towards smarter money habits, enhanced financial decision-making and streamlined admin, with a gradual rollout planned next year.
“Revolut continues to change the face of finance,” said Antoine Le Nel, Chief Growth and Marketing Officer at Revolut. “We’ve grown to over 50 million customers in less than a decade, a tremendous achievement, and proof that consumers want more from their money.
“Our ‘The Revolutionaries’ event is a fitting celebration, but we aren’t stopping there. We are already on the road to 100 million customers, and to becoming the world’s first truly global bank.“
