Revolut

Revolut is a British company that offers a service that helps exchange one currency for another without bank fees, converting funds at the average exchange rate in the market. At the time of this writing, the project supports 23 world currencies.

Performance indicators

2021-2022: Getting rid of annual losses

At the end of the financial year ended December 31, 2021, the fintech company Revolut for the first time showed a net profit of £26.3 million ($31.3 million at the exchange rate as of March 9, 2023). This is stated in the financial report published on March 1, 2023.

Audit firm BDO warned it was unable to independently verify 75% of revenue in Revolut's 2021 statements.

Revenue at the end of 2021 increased approximately threefold, reaching £636 million (about $769 million) against £220 million in 2020. Such explosive growth helped the company founded by Russian Nick Storonsky to reach the level of profitability.

Revolut, worth $33 billion, got rid of annual losses for the first time

The report notes that in 2021 Revolut raised $800 million as part of the Series E funding round. During the year, the company's customer base increased by 5 million customers. The number of users with paid subscriptions increased by 75%, and the size of the weekly audience of active users increased by 50%.

In 2021, we received a full banking licence from the European Central Bank and attracted millions of new customers. We also launched several new products and noted great activity from our client base, - said Storonsky.

At the same time, Revolut CFO Mikko Salovaara disclosed some indicators of the company's activities in 2022. It is reported that compared to 2021, revenue rose by about 30%, exceeding £850 million ($1.01 billion). The company's staff in 2022 doubled to more than 6,000 employees.

Throughout 2022, we continued to focus on growth and intensified marketing and sales efforts for retail and business ecosystems. Our investments brought real returns: the growth in the number of customers accelerated in 2022. Revolut has more than 27 million retail customers, more than twice the figure at the beginning of 2021, Salovaara said.[1]

2020: Revenue growth to £222.1m, losses £201m

Revolut ended 2020 with revenues of £222.1m, a third more than a year earlier. The company's losses almost doubled to £201 million.

The growing cash losses are associated with the costs of business development and staff expansion. The administrative costs of the startup in 2020 rose to £266 million ($369 million) from £125 million ($173 million) in 2019. Of this amount, £170 million ($236 million) accounted for employee costs, which is almost three times more than spending a year ago. In addition, Revolut began to spend more money on areas such as risk management and compliance.

British fintech startup with Russian roots Revolut doubled losses in 2020

According to Bloomberg, citing Revolut's statements, the income data was adjusted for the increase in the fair value of cryptocurrency assets, as Revolut keeps some crypto assets on its balance sheet. The company's revenue from cryptocurrency transactions amounted to $54 million.

By the end of 2020, the number of retail customers year-on-year increased by 45% and amounted to 14.5 million, the number of commercial customers doubled to 500 thousand.

Revolut expects to obtain a banking license in Britain in 2022. In addition, the startup filed a similar application in the United States. Revolut is also working to expand its business and can enter the markets of Latin America, the Philippines, Indonesia, South Korea and India. At the same time, the listing on the stock exchange is not included in the startup's upcoming plans (by June 2021).

Revolut's biggest market is still the UK, TechCrunch noted. More than 88% of the unadjusted revenue of the startup in 2020 was associated with activities in this particular country. The rest of Europe accounted for 10.2% of revenue, and the markets of Japan, Australia and the United States were almost insignificant.

According to Bloomberg, Revolut plans to attract a new portion of investment when evaluating the business at $20 billion.^[2]

2019: 3-fold increase in annual losses

Revolut ended 2019 with revenues of £162.7m (about $212.2m at the exchange rate as of 12 August 2020), 180% above year-old sales of £52.8m.

Net losses of a digital bank with Russian roots in 2019 amounted to 106.5 million pounds sterling ($139.6 million), having tripled in comparison with 2018. Then the cash losses of the startup amounted to 32.9 million pounds.

The significantly increased losses in Revolut were associated with the costs of entering foreign markets and launching new products. In 2019, the company launched a commission-free stock trading service to compete with online brokers, as well as its application in the United States, Singapore and Australia. In addition, Revolut increased staff costs, which increased in size over the year from 633 to 2261 people.

Digital bank Revolut has tripled annual losses

The founder of the company, a native of Russia Nikolai Storonsky said that he was "pleased" with last year's success of the company - despite the high costs, the dynamics of the stratap did not slow down.

According to CNBC, Revolut bypassed its competitors in terms of the number of users - TransferWise and Monzo. According to the company, the total audience of the Revolut service by the end of 2019 tripled to 10 million users from 3.5 million a year earlier. The number of active customers per day increased by 231%, and the number of paying customers - by 139%, Storonsky emphasized. By August 2020, Revolut's audience exceeded 13 million customers.

Revolut said that despite the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the dynamics of the company's business development has not slowed down.

Both 2019 and the early months of 2020 were periods of significant gains and expansion for Revolut, putting the company on a clear path to long-term sustainable growth, Revolut Chairman Martin Gilbert said commenting on the financial results.[3]

History

2023

Theft of $20m due to a system error

In early July 2023, it became known that more than $20 million was stolen from the fintech startup Revolut, founded by Nikolai Storonsky, a native of Russia.

According to the Financial Times, citing knowledgeable sources, the problem is related to "holes" in the Revolut payment system. Due to differences between European and American payment systems, the platform erroneously reimbursed transfers when certain transactions were rejected, giving users their own money.

Revolut fintech platform stolen $20 million in a year due to a system error

The problem, as noted, first manifested itself at the end of 2021. According to persons familiar with the situation, several organized criminal cyber groups took advantage of the vulnerability in early 2022. They forced people to make expensive purchases, for which refusals were subsequently issued. The funds could then be cashed out through ATMs.

Revolut's systems failed to identify massive fraud, and the problem came to light when the partner bank USA in notified the fintech company that it had fewer funds in its accounts than expected. At the same time, as noted, fraud affected Revolut's own corporate funds, and not customer accounts. After that, there were requests from Revolut's subsidiary USA for multi-million dollar cash injections. The startup itself was able to fix the problem by the spring of 2022.

Although Revolut recovered some of the approximately $23 million in stolen funds, the net loss was about $20 million. That's equivalent to nearly two-thirds of the startup's 2021 profit. Britain's Financial Conduct Authority has ordered an independent review of Revolut's policies to prevent and detect financial crime. Revolut itself, as noted by the Financial Times, refuses to comment on the situation.^[4]

Bank of England plans to reject Revolut's application for bank licence

The Bank of England plans to reject the application of Revolut Nikolai Storonsky for a bank license, wrote The Telegraph in May 2023.     Audit companies said they were unable to verify the "completeness and reliability" of the revenues of Revolut's three business units totalling £477 million, 75% of the company's total revenues.

Hiring psychologists to normalize relations in the team

Nikolai Storonsky's Revolut fintech service will hire psychologists due to criticism of corporate culture. This could help get a banking license in the UK, The Guardian concluded in January 2023.

Nikolai Revolut will recruit a team of experts in the field of behavioral sciences - this is how the company is trying to create a more "human approach" to its corporate culture. The new division should encourage employees to treat each other more "humanly," meet halfway and show respect "at any time." The company also plans to change the description of corporate culture on its own website - now it says that the company has a "very high bar," and employees will receive a sick pendel if they cannot "achieve perfection."

Former Revolut employees told the Financial Times in late 2022 that there was "fierce competition" at the company that "makes people - usually quite pleasant - very combative about each other." According to them, the corporate tone is set by Storonsky, but it is not "toxic" or "bad," rather - "a machine without emotional intelligence."

2022

The fintech platform was hacked by hackers. Customer data merged

In mid-September 2022, the fintech platform Revolut, founded by the Russian, was subjected to a cyber attack, as a result of which an unauthorized third party gained access to the personal information of tens of thousands of customers. Some customers at the time of the incident also noted that the support chat displayed inappropriate expressions for visitors.

The incident occurred in early September 2022, and was described as very targeted. In a statement to BleepingComputer, a company spokesman said that the unauthorized party gained access to only 0.16% of its customers for a short period of time.

Revolut fintech platform hit by cyber attack

According to the violation information provided by the State Data Protection Inspectorate in Lithuania, where Revolut has a banking license, 50,150 customers were affected. Based on information received from Revolut, the agency reported that the number of affected customers in the European Economic Area is 20,687, and only 379 Lithuanian citizens are potentially affected by this incident.

Details about how the attacker gained access to the database were not disclosed, but, apparently, he used social engineering methods. The Lithuanian Data Protection Agency notes that likely open information includes:

• E-mail addresses;
• Full names;
• Postal addresses;
• Telephone numbers;
• Limited payment card data;
• Account data.

However, in a message to affected customers, Revolut says the type of compromised personal data is different for different customers. No cards, PINs, or passwords were accessed. The company's management emphasizes that the attacker did not gain access to user funds. The company quickly responded to the intrusion and significantly limited the risk to its customers by isolating the attack. As a precaution, Revolut has formed a dedicated team tasked with monitoring customer accounts to ensure both money and data are safe.

Users should be extremely wary of any messages asking them to provide personal data or passwords. Revolut will not call customers about the incident and will never ask for confidential information.^[5]

Obtaining a work permit throughout the European Union

In August 2022, Revolut received permission from the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CYSEC), which allows a fintech company founded by Russians to offer crypto services in the European Economic Area (EEA), which includes 27 European Union countries, as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

Revolut became the first organization to receive the approval of the Cypriot regulator as a provider of crypto assets services. In addition to Cyprus, the company also received permission to work with cryptocurrency assets from the Central Bank of Spain and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

Earlier, the company also received To Lithuania a banking license, EU which allowed it to accept deposits and offer retail and business lending. Before obtaining a license, it was easier to open an account with Revolut than with any other bank, since users do not need to go through many KYC processes, notes. TechCrunch

Revolut, valued at $33 billion, is the first entity to win Cyprus regulator approval as a crypto asset service provider

Lithuania was the best option for Revolut. The Lithuanian government has simplified the procedures for obtaining licenses for transactions with electronic money and payment services. Start-ups could get an e-money licence or payment licence in as little as three months (four if the preparation phase is included), two to three times faster than other EU jurisdictions. In addition, the government passed laws governing peer-to-peer lending platforms and crowdfunding. Initial capital requirements for bank licences are also five times lower than in other EU countries.

Having been licensed, the company plans to introduce new features in the UK, France, Germany and Poland. Users in these countries will be able to receive a real payment account and debit card without prepayment in a few months.

After transferring money to Revolut's own infrastructure, funds will be insured for up to 100,000 euros under the European Deposit Insurance System. This should persuade more users to switch to Revolut for wages and large amounts of money.^[6]

Difficulties with obtaining a banking license in Britain and closing an office in Moscow

Fintech startup Revolut of the Russian billionaire Storonsky faced difficulties in obtaining a banking license in one Britain of the key markets for the company, Storonsky said on May 6, 2022. Storonsky Bloomberg expected to issue a license at the beginning of the year, but so far this has not happened. The focus of the authorities is the Revolut service for trading cryptocurrencies and the founder's connection with, the Russia agency writes.

The company also decided to close its office in Moscow.

As of February 2023, Revolut is never able to obtain a banking license in Britain. Among the reasons ― the Russian origin of the owner of the British passport Nikolai Storonsky, notes The Guardian. The second owner is a native of Ukraine.

Blocking operations related to Russia and Belarus amid conflict in Ukraine

On April 27, 2022, against the background of Russia's special operation in Ukraine, the Revolut banking service blocked operations related to Russia. To work in the West, a native of Moscow Storonsky must show himself even tougher on the Russians than the rest.

2021

Obtaining a bank license in Lithuania

In mid-December 2021, by order of the Central Bank of the Republic of Lithuania, the license of the specialized bank Revolut Technologies UAB was replaced by the European Central Bank with a banking license.

After renewing and supplementing the license, the fintech company Revolut Bank UAB, which was founded by Russian Nikolai Storonsky, will supplement its current activities, it has plans to expand services for accepting deposits and issuing loans, card payments, direct debit, credit transfer, cash withdrawals, money transfers, initiating payments, account information services. For December 2021, these services are provided by Revolut Payments UAB, an electronic money institution of the Revolut group, licensed in Lithuania. Permission to reorganize the specialized bank by merging with Revolut Bank UAB was issued by the Bank of Lithuania in early October 2021.

The fintech company Revolut, founded by a Russian, received a banking license in Litv

Storonsky co-founded Revolut in 2015, the company provided a currency card linked to a smartphone app. Storonsky noted that he was annoyed by the high rates charged to users when spending abroad. Since the beginning of 2016, the company has expanded, from various cryptocurrencies and stock trading to insurance, as well as vacation bookings. Thanks to the scaling, Revolut has acquired more than 16 million customers in 35 countries around the world.

As of the end of the third quarter of 2021, Revolut Bank UAB received resident deposits worth €395 million and provided residents with loans worth almost €12 million. Since 2019, Revolut Payments UAB has carried out payment transactions for €100 billion, received almost €170 million in operating income and, according to this indicator, occupies more than 50% of the market for electronic money and payment institutions in Lithuania.^[7]

Purchase of POS developer Nobly

On November 25, 2021, Revolut announced the acquisition of Nobly POS to pursue fintech services for the restaurant and hotel sectors. The company was silent about the value of the transaction. Read more here.

Raising $800 million, estimated at $33 billion

In mid-July 2021, the British fintech company Revolut raised $800 million in a new round of funding led by SoftBank and Tiger Global. At the end of the round, Revolut's valuation reached $33 billion, six times more than $5.5 billion in 2020.

The latest round of funding has allowed Revolut to become the second-largest unicorn in fintech, a private start-up worth more than $1 billion, in Europe after buy-now-pay-later giant Klarna, CB Insights reported. In addition, Revolut is now the largest fintech start-up in the UK, ahead of the payments company Checkout.com.

Fintech startup Revolut raised $800 million at a valuation of $33 billion

The new investment in Revolut came from Vision Fund 2 of Japanese conglomerate SoftBank and US hedge fund Tiger Global, which collectively own less than 5% of the company's shares. The startup will use the money to invest in marketing, product development and international expansion, Revolut CFO Mikko Salovaara said. The startup is largely focused on accelerating growth in the U.S. and India, he said.

Salovaara noted that Revolut has no immediate plans for an initial stock offering, as the startup has just raised a significant amount of funding. He did not rule out the possibility of an IPO in 2021, but suggested that this was unlikely.

Revolut founder Nikolai Storonsky, in an interview with CNBC, noted that the startup is betting on expansion by offering new services, in particular those related to cryptocurrency, stock trading and business accounts. By July 2021, about 15 million private clients and 500 thousand companies use Revolut services, the startup processes over 150 million transactions per month.^[8]

Launch of money transfers to Ukraine, team recruitment in Kyiv

At the end of May 2021, the Revolut service launched money transfers to Ukraine. It also became known about the active recruitment of employees in the Kyiv office of a British company founded by Russian Nikolai Storonsky and Ukrainian Vlad Yatsenko.

Revolut will allow you to transfer funds to Ukraine in more than 30 currencies. In particular, you can make transfers to cards of Ukrainian banks in dollars, Swiss francs and pounds sterling. There are no Ukrainian hryvnias on this list.

British fintech startup with Russian roots Revolut launches remittances to Ukraine

The transfer fee will be from three to five euros. The money will go to the recipient's account from three to five working days. In order to make a transfer using the service, you need to:

• Go to the Payments section
• select Send;
• Create a new payment under (New)
• After that, you need to select Add a bank recipient, and then Ukraine;
• To make a transfer, you must specify the full name of the recipient, as well as his account number and BIC/SWIFT;
• Add a recipient
• click on it, enter the amount of funds to be transferred, and click Continue.

According to the publication "Ain.Ua" with reference to its own informant, by the end of May 2021, Revolut is actively expanding its team in Kyiv. 18 vacancies have been opened on the official website of the company in Kyiv. In particular, they are looking for Android Software Engineer, Front-End Engineer, HR Manager, Head of Tech Recruiting, Java Backend Engineer, Senior Java Backend Engineer, iOS Software Engineer, as well as HR Manager and recruiters.

The press service of Revolut told the publication that the service in Ukraine has not yet been fully launched by the end of May 2021 and there is no news about it yet.

Revolut's entry into the Ukrainian market was planned until the end of 2020, but the company was unable to do so within the specified period. Revolut is looking for employees in the Kyiv office since January 2021.^[9]

2020

Employee strike over bonus conflict

Ex-employee of the British digital bank Revolut Nikolai Storonsky in December 2020 filed a lawsuit against the company, accusing it of illegal coercion to dismiss.

The company promised to pay monthly bonuses to employees with knowledge of foreign languages ​ ​ for their help in translating documents and serving customers from different countries. It is noted that Revolut regularly did not fulfill the promise.

This prompted some workers to go on strike and refuse to translate foreign-language documents required for financial compliance. As a result, several client accounts were frozen for which verification was not completed.

Revolut explained that bonuses were due only to those employees who speak the most popular languages, and not as rare as Greek. At the same time, the temporary delay in frozen accounts, the company said, was caused by rapid customer growth, Brexit planning and the introduction of new recruitment and training measures for staff.

At the same time, the FT found that in 2019, the digital bank was looking for compliance specialists with "impeccable" knowledge of at least 11 languages, including Greek. Some employees also confirmed that Revolut's internal complexities were due to the inability to translate documents.

"Things were piling up because we didn't have a person to help us with the translation... since people could no longer use their language when communicating with the bank, customers became critical of the company on social networks, "comments a Revolut employee.

The lawsuit filed in court was originally planned for consideration in the Krakow court at the beginning of the year. But the case was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Theft of user funds at Robinhood and their transfer to the digital bank Revolut

In mid-October 2020, 2 thousand client records were hacked from the fintech company Robinhood, and user funds were transferred to accounts with the digital bank Revolut. Customers blame the company for reacting too slowly to the situation. This is partly due to the fact that the app does not have an emergency phone and the ability to quickly contact on such issues. Robinhood developers assure that the problem is not in the service, but in the vulnerability of users' e-mail. Read more here.

Entering the Japanese market

In early September 2020, Revolut Digital Bank entered the Japanese market. The service became available to everyone in the country after testing with the participation of 10 thousand local users. At the same time, the company received permission to work in Japan back in 2018.

Revolut offers the Japanese three fares: Standard, Premium and Metal. They differ in the list of included services and the cost of service (0, 980 and 1800 yen per month, respectively).

By September 9, 2020, Revolut does not allow Japanese people to buy cryptocurrency, trade securities, use insurance services or create children's accounts (unlike European clients), they will not be able to. The company says that in the future, buying cryptocurrencies and trading in securities will become available around the world. At the same time, specific dates are not called.

Revolut Digital Bank Enters Japanese Market

When creating a Revolut account in Japan, the client receives an electronic wallet and a debit bank card. Visa You can make a virtual card, connect it to, Apple Pay Google Pay or other systems. Through the app, the Japanese will be able to freeze and defrost the card, send money transfers, including international ones, to other Revolut users or bank accounts, convert currency and send money in other currencies, as well as create vaults and set up recurring payments.

Revolut came to Japan after the country's government stepped up efforts to update the financial sector with digital technology, including a planned overhaul of the outdated interbank transfer system. The Japanese still rely heavily on cash and ATMs, unlike, for example, the Chinese, for whom mobile fintech applications have become mainstream, Nikkei notes.^[10]

Raising $80 million in investments and an estimate of $5.5 billion

At the end of July 2020, Revolut announced the attraction of $80 million in investments. According to the results of the financing round, the digital bank created by Nikolai Storonsky, a native of Russia, was valued at $5.5 billion.

The American fund TSG Consumer Partners has invested in Revolut. According to Storonsky, Revolut was not actively looking for investments, but "TSG made an interesting offer to work together."

The company will spend the raised funds on the development of new features for the service in the United States and credit products in Europe. In addition, Revolut will direct some of the money to a subscription management tool that allows the user to see all of their active subscriptions, cancel them from Revolut and receive notifications when the free trial period ends.

Revolut founder Nikolai Storonsky

According to the Financial Times (FT), the new investment will help Revolut maintain its position despite the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic and a sharp drop in revenue. Revolut card transactions fell 45% due to the suspension of international tourism. Revolut's advantage is precisely in currency conversions from one to another and money transfers between countries, the newspaper notes.

According to Nikolai Storonsky, the sharp decrease in the volume of card transactions was partially offset by an increase in revenues from a number of other services, including cryptocurrency trading. In this regard, the startup still expects to become profitable at the end of 2020.

The FT's publication notes that Revolut has been accused of the company's rapid growth leading to poor customer service and alleged legal violations. But the startup itself rejects criticism. To improve its reputation, the company attracted several veterans of the financial industry, including Chairman Martin Gilbert.^[11]

Ban on withdrawing cryptocurrencies into cash

In June 2020, it became known that Revolut was abandoning its important chip - cryptocurrencies. It will transfer ownership of cryptocurrencies to customers, but will not allow them to be put into cash. Now users cannot transfer cryptocurrency to a person who is not a Revolut client. Cryptocurrency is blocked inside the service.

In addition, Revolut is suspending the possibility of spending cryptocurrencies from cards. Previously, the service supported bitcoins, Bitcoin Cash, XRP, Ethereum and Litecoin.

Entering the American market

At the end of March 2020, the digital bank with Russian roots Revolut entered the American market, launching applications in 50 states. The company's partner was the American Metropolitan Commercial Bank, which provided its financial infrastructure for the deployment of the platform.

USA Revolut offices are located New York in and, San Francisco but the fintech platform itself will be available everywhere on and. operating systems iOS Android Starting March 24, US users will be able to create an in-app account and issue a regular or virtual Revolut debit card. As soon as their personal data is approved, they will receive new account information that can be used to make payments and pay salaries. Applications have already been submitted by several tens of thousands of people.

Digital bank with Russian roots Revolut entered the American market by launching applications in 50 states

So far, the functionality available to American Revolut users is limited compared to Europeans. In the future, expansion of options is allowed, including the possibility of acquiring cryptocurrencies and investments in the stock market. However, American users can already receive salaries two days in advance if they share Revolut's bank details with their employer. Another of the available advantages of the application was the low commission when transferring from one currency to another. U.S. customers will also receive spending notices and offers of budget assistance.

Thanks to the fintech platform, US customers will be able to spend and transfer money around the world at the interbank exchange rate. Users can also withdraw cash from more than 55,000 ATMs in the US and around the world without fees from Revolut's premium account or with a set fee when using a standard Revolut account.^[12]

Revolut is Britain's most expensive fintech startup

At the end of February 2020, the digital bank Revolut became the most expensive British fintech startup. The company was valued at $5.5 billion following an investment round.

The former record holder was fintech company Monzo, whose market value in 2019 was £2bn. Also at one time, OakNorth, a small business lending service, cost £2.2 billion. Analysts from CB Insights, a venture capital market research company, call Revolut the most expensive European fintech startup along with Klarna.

Revolut, a digital bank with Russian roots, has become the most expensive British fintech startup. Its cost is $5.5 billion

The $500 million that Revolut raised in February 2020 was the largest for the European fintech market. British authorities have hailed attracting investment as a vote of confidence in the financial sector amid Brexit concerns.

Taking into account this round, the total amount of funds raised by Revolut reached $836 million. The company intends to use these investments to develop new banking products and expand banking operations in Europe.

Moving on, we will focus on deploying banking in Europe, as well as increasing the number of people using Revolut as a daily account, and striving for profitability, "said Nikolai Storonsky, founder of Revolut.

As of February 25, 2020, Revolut has 10 million customers worldwide, 23 offices and 2,000 employees, half of whom work in Krakow (Poland).

According to The Guardian, the press reported on the high turnover of personnel in Revolut, which was associated with unpaid work and too high tasks set by the management. A Revolut spokesman, speaking to Wired, said the company's culture is "changing as quickly as our business," and the personnel turnover is less than 3%.^[13]

Raising $0.5 billion and valuing the business at $4.6 billion

On February 14, 2020, it became known about a closed round of financing, as a result of which Revolut raised approximately $500 million in investments and was valued at $4.6 billion, which is almost three times the value of the company in 2018.

According to The Telegraph , citing materials sent to the regulator, the Technology Crossover Ventures fund became the main investor following the financial transaction. According to the publication, he could invest $150 million. Technology Crossover Ventures is known for investing in Airbnb and Spotify.

Fintech company with Russian roots Revolut raised $0.5 billion and was valued at $6 billion

Revolut also received money from Bond Capital, a fund founded by venture capital investor Mary Meeker. One of the existing investors in the fintech startup - Ribbit Capital - also took part in the round, follows from the Pitchbook data.

According to The Telegraph, Revolut attracted investments through the sale of new shares, and also received a new loan of $1 billion. The newspaper writes that the startup is unprofitable, but chief operating officer Richard Davis said in February 2020 that the company could become profitable "very quickly."

According to Forbes sources, the share of Revolut founder Nikolai Storonsky in the company is 30%, on the basis of which the magazine calls the businessman a new dollar billionaire with a fortune of $1.65 billion.

Forbes previously estimated Storonsky's fortune at $500 million. In the rating of the magazine "200 richest businessmen in Russia" he was put in 199th place. His father, Nikolai Mironovich Storonsky, is a top manager  of Gazprom; since December 2019  , he has been the general director of Gazprom Promgaz JSC. Storonsky Jr. himself denied accusations in connection with Russian government agencies.

A Forbes source in the venture capital market says that Nikolai Storonsky was looking for funding at the end of 2019 and as a result received several offers from venture capital funds.^[14]

2019: Singapore Market Entry

On October 23, 2019, Revolut announced its official market entry in Singapore, where a previously British fintech company with Russian roots (co-founded by former Credit Suiss trader in London Nikolai Storonsky) worked in test mode. During experimental work in the country, the startup was able to attract 30 thousand people who can now open a Revolut account from their phone, get a card and manage money through the application.

The average resident of Singapore travels about seven times a year, and at the same time they transfer up to $7 billion abroad. For the most part, these are ordinary, hardworking people who do not know that their financial service providers charge them fees of up to 5%, "said Eddie Lee, head of Revolut's Asia-Pacific division.

Revolut announced the official entry into the market in Singapore, where previously the British fintech company with Russian roots worked in test mode

Singaporean Revolut users can exchange 14 different currencies in the app, including Australian, American and Singaporean dollars. It is planned to add another 14 currencies, including Indian rupees and Malaysian ringgits.

Revolut previously selected Singapore as a hub for its Asia-Pacific business development. By October 2019, the company's local office employs 20 people. It is planned to triple the number of personnel in a few months.

Entering the Singapore market in Revolut called its international expansion "a breakthrough for cross-border payments."

Revolut, together with the payment system Mastercard , intend to issue debit cards on the USA territory by the end of 2019. As part of the cooperation, Mastercard will issue about 50% of existing and future Revolut cards, which will be intended for the European market (there the company has 7 million customers).

The British mobile bank intends to expand its cooperation with the Visa payment company and enter 24 new markets in 2020, including Ukrainian.^[15]

Notes