Financial services firm Revolut, which was set up in 2015 by former bank employees has one goal in mind and that is to become Amazon of Fin-tech industry. Startup with the vision of eliminating fees in foreign exchange transactions, the firm gained popularity and tractions as it let users spend money abroad as per actual exchange rate. Its CEO, Nik Stornonsky says that when they started the business they did not have much idea about payments but they wanted to do it for free and began their idea. As a former employee of Lehman Brothers and Credit Suisse Storonsky knew that there were several middlemen in equity derivatives trading.
To manage this problem they decided to bring all relevant infrastructures within the house and then try to make the business profitable. Though the firm is not profitable as yet since its annual results showed losses of $ 19 million for 2017, its boss Storonsky has developed a strategy for the firm to make profits. He stated that main idea was to provide their product for free and then cross sell services to quickly enhance their customer base. They added several new features to their app in recent years like crypto-currency based trading and business accounts.
Revolut’s founders say their main priority is not to become profitable but to expand operations across the globe. The firm is one of several new era banks in the world that are likely to shake up the financial markets with just an app and a bank card. This phenomenon has helped push several established banks to develop new retail banking platforms which can help users manage their funds better. Revolut has doubled its total number of users that have joined its platform since last June and has amassed around $336 million in venture capital funding. When last valued by investor it was worth $ 1.7 billion and labeled a unicorn but the path was not without challenges.