Revolt, the global finance superapp with more than 30 million customers worldwide, is on a mission to advance financial inclusionwhich facilitates cross-border transactions and transfers in 41 countries, with the aim of establishing a fintech ecosystem without borders. Following the successful launch of the app in Brazil last May, Revolut is now considering Latin America as one of the key geographies for its expansion.
Revolut’s international expansion has been strong over the past six months, with the launch of the full version of the app in two new countries, Brazil and New Zealand, and the fact that it’s already operational in 41 markets. Now the company wants to accelerate its growth in Latin America, offering its customers the possibility to make a first contact with the Revolut experience through a simplified version of the app, allowing them to send and receive money easily and free of charge, with any type of commission for transfers up to August 30, 2023.
Revolut customers in Chile have already made transfers worth more than £1.2 million, with an average number of transactions (sending and receiving) of £800. 90% of customers receive their money within 24 hours and the three main markets that customers send money to are Spain, the US and the UK. Transferring money between Revolut customers is secure, fast and there are no hidden fees. This makes Revolut one of the first companies to allow you to send and receive money instantly in 41 countries on four continents.
financial inclusion
According to the World Bank in 2021, 122 million people in Latin America said they did not have a bank account. As part of its commitment to financial inclusion and to offer this segment of the population an alternative to manage their finances more easily and securely, the “Lite” version of the Revolut app allows customers to use Revolut’s P2P system for free Send transfers to another Revolut customer, card transfers and international bank transfers. The Lite application is already available in Chile and in other countries worldwide such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Moldova, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Armenia, Macau and Azerbaijan. In addition, Revolut also plans to expand into other Latin American countries such as Argentina and Ecuador.
Revolut’s expansion across Latin America will be particularly important for the expatriate communities in Spain and Portugal, where the superapp already has nearly 3 million customers in both markets. This is of great importance to the LATAM regions as there have traditionally been large expatriate communities sending and receiving a significant amount of money to their families in and out of these countries each year. In fact, eight of the 20 largest expatriate communities in Spain are from Latin American countries. In addition, according to the National Statistics Institute in Spain, more than 880,000 immigrants from Latin American countries send money to their countries of origin at least once a year. It is therefore of crucial importance to be able to offer them a medium that simplifies this process, i.e. makes it faster and cheaper.
On the other hand, according to the Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras (SEF), almost 800,000 expatriates live in Portugal, 30% of them Brazilians. The launch of Revolut in Brazil has been crucial for these communities as it gives them the ability to send money to their country of origin quickly, easily and affordably.
In its quest to build a financially inclusive world for all, Revolut also recently announced that it is now offering bank accounts to non-US citizens who are legally in the US and do not have an SSN/ITIN. There are currently more than 2.5 million people in the US who have visas but do not have an SSN or ITIN; 1 million of them are students. Often ignored by financial institutions, this demographic lacks access to affordable financial services and has limited ability to manage their finances. A clear example of the usefulness of this service is the large remittance corridor between the US and Mexico, with more than $60,000 million a year. Revolut users based in the United States can greatly benefit from Revolut services to send money to the neighboring country. For this reason, Mexico is also one of the most important and upcoming destinations on the list of Revolut’s international expansion.
Revolut changes that by offering a simple solution, including easy account registration and access to many of its everyday money management products. This includes international features such as a global debit card, low-cost international transfers and currency exchange, and early access to payslips (up to 2 days).
To use Revolut you need to download the app from Google Play Store or Apple App Store and sign up by following the instructions. Customers are asked to confirm their identity with a valid ID. Once the account is created, you can easily send money from the “Transfer” section.
