Revolut saved my life more than once. While doing a semester abroad, my bank account would have been totally different without Revolut. For those unfamiliar with the app, it identifies as an “All-in-one Finance App for your Money” (Thornhill, 2024). And it has some pretty interesting aspects.
Revolut’s key features provoked a wave of disruptive innovations in the traditional banking industry. Some innovative features are multi-currency accounts, cryptocurrency integration, budgeting and analytics and global ATM access (ProductMonk, n.d.). But the biggest innovation that Revolut brought is their user-centric approach. The application prioritizes user experience, with a focus on a user-friendly mobile app that enables customers to easily handle their finances, monitor spending, and establish budgeting and saving goals (Overload, 2024). From my experience, I find it incredibly easy to understand and use the different features of Revolut. Interestingly, during my semester abroad, I had access to the local currency with no supplementary fees, as if I had just opened a local bank account.
In 2024, Revolut reached over 45 million customers worldwide which was 38 million back in 2023 (Boyle, 2024). On top of that, the fintech firm has been evaluated at $45 billion which makes them the most valuable private company in Europe (Emanuel-Burns, 2024b). In contrast, the number one bank in France is valued at $12.3 billion (Statista, 2024).
Revolut is changing the banking industry and how, we, consumers interact with it. I believe that traditional banks will still be present in the future but will change, adapt and offer more features to remain competitive. Are we witnessing the downfall of an established system or the rebirth of traditional banking in a digital era?
References:
Boyle, M. (2024, August 8). Revolut statistics: Revenue, number of customers and market share. Finder UK. https://www.finder.com/uk/digital-banking/revolut-statistics
Emanuel-Burns, C. (2024b, August 20). Revolut becomes Europe’s most valuable private tech firm after $500m employee share sale. FinTech Futures. https://www.fintechfutures.com/2024/08/revolut-becomes-europes-most-valuable-private-tech-firm-after-500m-employee-share-sale/#:~:text=News-,Revolut%20becomes%20Europe’s%20most%20valuable%20private%20tech,%24500m%20employee%20share%20sale&text=UK%20challenger%20Revolut%20has%20become,provided%20liquidity%20to%20its%20employees
Overload, D. (2024, April 23). Disrupting Finance: A Deep Dive into Revolut and Its Innovative Business Plan. Medium. https://medium.com/@data-overload/disrupting-finance-a-deep-dive-into-revolut-and-its-innovative-business-plan-db67f8705d90#:~:text=Revolut’s%20innovative%20business%20plan%20has,attracted%20millions%20of%20users%20worldwide
ProductMonk. (n.d.). Revolutionizing Finance: Revolut’s impact on the banking industry. Product Monk. https://www.productmonk.io/p/revolutionizing-finance-revoluts-impact-banking-industry
Statista. (2024, May 22). Ranking of BNP Paribas and Société Générale banks in 2015-2024, by brand value. https://www.statista.com/statistics/417133/brand-value-of-leading-french-banks/
Thornhill, J. (2024, September 9). Revolut Review 2024. Forbes Advisor UK. https://www.forbes.com/uk/advisor/banking/revolut-review/
I totally understand where you’re coming from—I had a similar situation when I arrived in Rotterdam back in July. I was here looking for housing and, quickly realized that cash wasn’t an option anymore. Most places only accepted card payments, and I didn’t qualify for a local bank account right away, so I was stuck.
Then Revolut saved me too. A friend told me about it, and I was able to open an account in minutes. Since then, it’s been my go-to for everything. It’s designed in a way that makes managing your finances super simple, whether it’s paying rent, buying groceries, or tracking expenses—all in one place, so intuitive. It’s been such a relief to have a seamless payment option without the hassle of traditional banking. Without Revolut, those first few months would have been a living hell for me.
I think that Revolut is a great example of a rebirth of the traditional banking system and their biggest innovation is the user-centric approach. That’s very clear from their mobile app which is very easy to use and intuitive.
Features such as being able to trade cryptocurrency while staying in my banking app and topping up the account via Apple Pay bring the most value for me. I love their app and hope that more banks will adopt this user-centric approach.
This is a great blog post! I have been using Revolut for a couple of years now and I think their innovative approach could be a big threat to the traditional banking environment. The simplicity and wide array of features make it easy for me to understand and I often find myself using Revolut more than my regular bank account. I think a big part of what sets them apart is the international-friendly usability. I have used it in many countries with different currencies and have never had to worry about exchange rates. On top of that, they have one-time-use digital cards that I love using when making payments online, without the risk of my card information getting stolen. I would agree with your point and think that traditional banks will need to adapt greatly to keep up with digital banks such as Revolut or N26. With their constant upgrades and transformations, I could imagine many people shifting to digital-only banks.