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A UK-based, application-based banking alternative valued at $ 1.7 billion plans to grow even more. Barely three years old, he strikes the United States at the beginning of next year to continue his rapid expansion.
Revolut, founded in 2015 by a developer, Vlad Yatsenko, and former trader Nikolay Storonsky, already has 3.2 million customers and the company boasts of having long waiting lists outside from Europe. Nicknamed "The Amazon of Banks," Revolut's success would have attracted a potential $ 500 million investment from SoftBank in Japan.
London society allows users to spend money worldwide in 150 currencies at a real-time exchange rate, free of charge, via a debit card. CEO Nikolay Storonsky underlined his ambition to see the bank reach 100 million customers over the next five years and enter the North American and Pacific markets in the coming months.
"We want to be one of the largest financial services companies in the world and continue our expansion," said Storonsky, former trader at Lehman Brothers and Credit Suisse, in an interview with Business Insider. "It's my dream."
The US market has long been on the list of expanding companies in Revolut, he said, but with barriers to entry much higher than Europe, progress has been slow. The company had originally planned to expand into the US by the end of 2018, but its deployment is expected to begin early next year, at the end of March or the end of March. at the beginning of April.
Among the obstacles: US regulation requires debit cards issued in the country to use a different interbank messaging system – essentially the way banks send and receive information such as money transfers – by to the rest of the world. And US debit cards must have at least two networks to comply. Instead of badociating with an American supplier, Storonsky said Revolut chose to create its own US-based processor.
The company will soon decide which bank to partner with in the United States as part of its offer.
"Regulation is key, in the UK it's very fast," said Storonsky, who holds a master's degree in economics from the New Economic School in Moscow. "But as you become a big organization, regulators pay a lot more attention, which can slow things down."
In addition to the United States, Revolut plans to expand into Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan in 2019. Other launches in Asia-Pacific will take place in the first quarter of next year.
Read more: British Fintechs Say Brexit Could Lead to "Lost Generation" of London Firms
The company raised $ 250 million earlier this year, giving it $ 1.7 billion. Earlier this month, Revolut would be in talks with SoftBank for a $ 500 million investment. Storonsky declined to comment on Softbank's discussions and fears the prospect of future funding.
"It depends on the willingness of investors to invest," he said. "We are open to new investors, but their good reputation is important."
The former C Series financing was led by DST Global, the investment vehicle of Russian billionaire Yuri Milner, one of the top investors on Facebook, Twitter and Spotify, among others. Existing investors in Revolut, Index Ventures and Ribbit Capital also participated in the financing.
The success of Revolut is hinged on its multi-currency platform at a low cost. But Storonsky sees in crypto-currencies, already proposed via Revolut, a lasting element of his future. Cryptocurrencies plunged into 2018 with a total market capitalization of $ 130 billion, up from $ 800 billion in January, according to the CoinMarketCap research site.
"Banks still have a lot of fear of cryptographic institutional funds," says Storonsky. "As a result, Wall Street is not really interested – there is no demand from institutional clients."
In terms of products, Revolut offers customers three options: a free account, a premium account and a newly introduced Metal account. The latter offers users unlimited exchanges in 24 fiduciary currencies, as well as five major crypto-currencies: bitcoin cash (BCH), bitcoin core (BTC), ethereum (ETH), litecoin (LTC) and ripple (XRP).
According to Storonsky, Revolut managed to avoid Brexit-related problems that affected a large number of other British fintechs. The company has applied for a European banking license from the Bank of Lithuania and is considering an application for an electronic money license in Luxembourg – but has not yet done so – as part of its project to reduce Brexit problems .
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