British banking app Revolut finally turned things around last year after years of losses, nearly doubling revenue to 1.8 billion pounds ($2.27 billion) and posting pre-tax profits of 438 million pounds ($553 million).
The news will come as good news to top fintech investors, including Index Ventures, SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Balderton Capital, which have pumped a combined total of more than $2 billion into the company since 2015.
Revolut’s profit surge was driven by a 46% increase in customer numbers, adding 12 million new customers, bringing the total number of customers to 38 million in the 38 countries where Revolut now operates.
“Our customer base is growing at an incredible rate and our diversified business model continues to drive strong financial performance,” said Nick Storonski, co-founder and CEO of Revolut.
This surge in customer numbers led to a 59% increase in card and interchange fees to £486m, while the use of Revolut’s asset platforms, which include FX and cryptocurrency trading, increased by 46% to £395m.
But it’s not all good news. Revolut is working on getting a UK banking license starting in 2021. When first appliedand has repeatedly claimed it would become the official bank.very soon.”
Without a banking licence, Revolut cannot leverage UK customer deposits to offer complex lending products, nor can it boast the same customer deposit protections as public banks.
Today, Storonski briefly addressed the ongoing delays, saying: “We remain focused on delivering the Revolut app to new markets and customers around the world, as well as our ongoing UK banking licence application.”
Revolut chairman Martin Gilbert added: “We continue to work closely with the PRA. [Prudential Regulation Authority] Regarding the UK banking license application.
However, with the UK facing a dramatic general election that could see a Labour government elected by the end of this week with a new political agenda, Revolut said:Coming soon“There may be another delay in obtaining the license.
according to of Financial TimesInstead, the fintech company is working on a secondary stock sale worth $500 million, with existing shareholders, including employees, realizing a share of the proceeds at a valuation expected to exceed $40 billion.
Revolut last completed a funding round in 2021, when it closed an $800 million Series E funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Tiger Global at a valuation of $33 billion.
