Revolut launches in the United States

Yesterday (23 March 2020) we reported that Revolut, one of Europe’s biggest fintech (financial technology) firms, has launched a “money management” product for children, which can be monitored by parents via the app.

Today Fintech Revolut announced that its financial app used by more than 10 million people worldwide, has landed in the United States.  This development is owed to its partnership with Metropolitan Commercial Bank for the banking infrastructure — deposits are FDIC insured up to $250,000.

Revolut is promising Americans that they can open a Revolut account in minutes, directly from their Android or iOS smartphone. Of course, like all those opening accounts, new American customers will need to provide some valid identification documentation. 

In just a few years, Revolut has managed to attract over 10 million customers by building a financial hub that lets you spend, send, receive and manage money from a single app. The company recently raised a $500 million funding round, valuing the company at $5.5 billion.

Tens of thousands of U.S. customers have signed up to the waiting list and they’ll now be able to access all of Revolut’s core features.   One of Revolut’s key features is that customers can convert from one currency to another based on interbank rate with a low fee — sometimes without any markup for popular currencies and small transactions (more details on foreign exchange fees here).  Customers can hold foreign currencies in your Revolut account or send money to another Revolut user or a bank account in another country.

Here's a list of what Revolut is promising:

• Get more from your money:  greater control and freedom, including using the app to split a lunch bill, set budgets for groceries, or exchange currencies.
• Spend and send money overseas: 
• U.S. customers can spend and send money overseas at real exchange rates, with no hidden fees. Plus  they can hold and exchange 28 currencies in the app, including British Pounds (£), Canadian Dollar ($CAD) and the Euro (€).

• Get your salary in advance: U.S. customers will be able to get their salary up to two days in advance via direct deposit at no cost. All deposits for U.S. customers are FDIC insured up to a value of $250,000.
• Built-in budgeting: seeing exactly how much you are spending each month and the ability to set up monthly budgets for individual categories. 
• Round-up your spare change: through Revolut Vaults, U.S. customers can round-up every card payment to the nearest dollar and build-up your spare change. 
• Send and request money from friends: U.S. customers can send money to, and request money from, each other, instantly and for free. You can also send and request money from other Revolut customers around the world, instantly and for free. 
• Instant spending notifications: U.S. customers will receive a notification to their phone, telling them exactly how much they have spent and where.
• Free disposable virtual card: each time you make a payment online, Revolut automatically destroys those card details, then instantly generate new details in the app to protect U.S. customers against online card fraud.

Source: https://blog.revolut.com/revolut-launch-united-states/ and https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/24/revolut-launches-its-neobank-in-the-us/

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Posted by Peter Oakes (www.peteroakes.com / Twitter @oakeslaw @US_Fintech @FintechUK_HQ @FintechIreland)
#FintechUS #USFintech
See also www.UKFintech.com www.FintechIreland.com