A S A N E X A M P L E O F A N I N N O V AT I V E

C O M PA N Y I N T H E F I E L D O F F I N A N C E

Łukasz Podmostko
AGENDA General
information

History

Services

Controversies
G E N E R A L I N F O R M AT I O N S

• Industry: neobank and financial technology company

• Headquarters: London
• Founded: 1 July 2015
• Founder: Nikolay Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko
• Revenue: 375 million EUR (2022)
• Net income: 26 million EUR (2022)
• Number of employees: 6,000 (2023)
 NEOBANK
Type of bank that operates exclusively using online banking
without traditional physical branch networks (location).
Their services may be accessed by clients through their respective
computers or mobile devices.

The range of services provided by neobanks is not as broad as that

of their traditional counterparts. Unlike traditional banks, a large portion
of the income of neobanks is mainly made up of transaction fees
received when customers pay with their debit card.

Neobanks offer both standard banking services entirely online and

non-traditional ones (peer-to-peer payments, financial advisory
robots, cryptocurrency transactions, and crowdfunding platforms)
HISTORY
• Nik Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko launch Revolut (start-up model)
2015

• Cryptocurrency trading services

• Launches Revolut Business
2017 • Launch of a mobile application which began supporting transactions in PLN

• Granted banking licence by Bank of Lithuania

2018
• Post-funding valuation of US$1.7 bilion – making it a unicorn

• First expansion into Australia and Singapore & 22 other new markets
• Launches Trading: offering fractional shares to millions of customers
• Launches Donations: partnering with international charities to support global causes
2019 • Reaches 10 million customers
 • Launches in USA and Japan
• Reaches 14.5 million customers
2020 • Becoming the United Kingdom's most valuable financial technology startup

• Launched Stays, making it easy to book holidays directly from your Revolut app
• Launched On-Demand Pay to manage expenses when you need to by withdrawing earned pay
2021 early

• Revolut launched as a bank (instead of an e-money institution) in 10 additional European

countries: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg,
2022 Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden

• UK reject Revolut's application for a banking licence

• 30 million customers in 37 countries
• Revolut lost $20 million to organized criminal groups due to a flaw in its payment system
2023
• Company stop offering cryptocurrency trading services to their US customers
SERVICES

transaction peer-to-peer currency

account payments exchange

cryptocurrency
stock trading debit cards
exchange
 Personal Business
• Multi-currency accounts
• Stays & Experiences - booking • Accept payments – via QR code,
of hotels ect. link, Gateway
• Shop – cashback • Invoicing system
• Donations • Payroll tool
• Insurance - emergency medical • Expenses analysis tool
and dental, delayed flights, lost • Business debit cards
luggage. • Transfers and international
payments
CONTROVERSIES
Non-reimbursement of fraud victims

In July 2023, the Financial Times reported that Revolut lost $20 million to
organized criminal groups due to a flaw in its payment system between late
2021 and early 2022.
Revolut is not signed up to the voluntary Contingent Reimbursement
Model Scheme (CRM) and, unlike banks, refused to repay victims of
authorized push payment fraud.
Employment practices

In March 2019, Wired published an exposé of the company's employment

practices and work culture. This found evidence of unpaid work, high staff
turnover and employees being ordered to work weekends to meet
performance indicators.
In June 2020, Wired published a further exposé of Revolut's dismissal of
employees during the COVID-19 pandemic, in which employees, particularly in
Kraków, were given the choice of being terminated for underperformance or a
mutual agreement to leave the company voluntarily.
Automated suspension of accounts

Revolut, in common with traditional financial institutions, uses algorithms to

identify money laundering, fraud and other criminal activity, but unlike the rest
of the banking industry, Revolut's algorithms additionally trigger an automated
suspension of accounts.
It was reported in 2020 that Revolut's algorithms suspended accounts in
error for weeks or months at a time because Revolut did not have sufficient
compliance agents to review the automated suspensions sooner.
RECOVERY ACTION
• Revolut doubles Financial Crime team to fight financial fraud more
effectively
• Company has invested in a mobile financial education platform. The new
course aims to help customers recognize and defend themselves against
fraudsters
• Engage with governments and regulators to help develop policies that
protect customers
• Create and implement policies and procedures and employee handbook
to provide healthy horkplace and uphold the highest ethical and legal
standards