Revolut has launched as a bank in 10 Western European countries, enabling it to offer its customers in these markets deposit protection.
The financial super-app, which has more than 18 million customers aground the world, has taken advantage of its Lithuania-based European specialised banking licence to become a bank in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden.
The firm's customers in these markets can now upgrade to the bank from within the Revolut app in a matter of minutes to secure deposit protection up to EUR100,000 guaranteed by the Lithuanian State company Deposit and Investment Insurance.
Customers in Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Malta, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia have been able to upgrade since last March.
Revolut says the arrival of bank status could result in big changes in how customers use its service - a survey carried out at the end of 2020 found that, on average, almost 50% of respondents indicated that they would deposit their salary on Revolut and 54% would spend more via the app if they had their deposits insured.
“Launching the bank in ten new European markets will provide an even greater level of security and confidence for our customers, and will enable us to launch a host of new products and services in the near future,” says Joe Heneghan, CEO, Revolut Bank.