Revolut’s new network of vending machines could soon make their way to the UK after a successful European rollout.
The machines, which offer free debit cards to prospective customers, have already been installed across a host of European airports including in Milan, Rome, Porto, Brussels and Helsinki. Revolut, which gained a provisional UK banking licence in the summer, now hopes to roll out the machines in the UK as soon as 2025, UKTN understands.
Britain’s biggest fintech sees the machines as a means to rapidly expand its customer base for a bank which does not otherwise have a physical retail presence. Revolut says it has already handed out more than 100,000 cards via the machines in Rome alone.
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I must admit, this isn’t doing much to allay my suspicions that this is a truly shifty outfit.
They seem to be pursuing a ‘growth at any cost’ business model, which makes me wonder what it is they’re choosing to skip over. KYC and AML perhaps.
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It really depends if it’s just generating the cards locally like Metro Bank and some branches of Barclays already do - admittedly with human control.
Otherwise, it’s like picking up a giftcard type Visa/Mastercard from a retailer —they have a fairly low value due to no AML & KYC.
I do have a dormant Revolut account and wouldn’t use Revolut in any meaningful capacity.
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Quite. They blew it when, early on, with a significant sum in the newly opened account, I was told my account had been frozen and I would need to submit new ID proof.
It meant me standing in the garden with my passport open and a series of photos before finally regaining access.
Apart from using the card for foreign exchange purposes it was never going to be anything more. Now, with frictionless access to fx with other established banks, there’s no reason to have the card at all.
I predict they’ll never achieve full banking services.
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Ofc they will, they have some massive investors. A couple have the cashflow to absorb them entirely and turn them into a real banking outfit. Revolut is too big to fail, the customers are too valuable.
Having massive investors doesn’t automatically mean they won’t leave with their money when Revolut’s diminishing reputation as a sound business starts to precede them. Revolut: More than 100 customers contact BBC about scams - BBC News
I wouldn’t touch them with someone else’s bargepole.
A common theme amongst neobanks appears to be a considerable understaffing of compliance and fraud, resulting in people waiting - sometimes weeks or even months - for issues to be addressed. As they are non-revenue generating - I would imagine their staffing levels reflects this. And hey - what are you going to do if they don’t do their job? The Finance Ombudsman’s files are full of judgements against them for not dealing with things in a timely fashion…oh, hang on
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