Revolut

src: cryptomenow.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), XRP (XRP)) and peer-to-peer payments. 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. The Revolut App gives customers instant access to Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash and XRP by exchanging to/from 25 fiat currencies. However, they remain in the app and cannot be moved to another cryptocurrency wallet.

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.

The company is based in Level39, a financial technology incubator in Canary Wharf, London.

Revolut App is available for Android and iOS users also as a desktop platform for business customers.

Video Revolut

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" by removing hidden fees and offering interbank currency rates. Nikolay Storonsky, a former trader at Credit Suisse and Lehman Brothers, 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.

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

On 8 February 2017, Revolut launched UK current accounts, enabling its customers to get a personal IBAN. 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.

As of June 2018 the company claimed to have over 2 million users.