Banking fintech Revolut could launch here this month

Singapore

LONDON-BASED fintech Revolut has quietly familiarised about 15,000 people in Singapore with the offerings of its digital banking app, suggesting that the official launch of its payments services could be as soon as this month.

The Business Times understands that some interested users who signed up to be on Revolut's waiting list have since been granted access to the app, which operates as a multi-currency e-wallet and is now in beta.

With the e-wallet, users can spend and transfer money abroad at the interbank exchange rate via an FX-linked debit card, similar to another London-based fintech, TransferWise, and homegrown startup YouTrip.

Other features include something called "The Vault", through which users set money aside towards their financial goals; the app also lets users set a monthly budget and track their spending.

Earlier this year, Revolut said it would undertake a beta launch in Singapore in February, but the fintech delayed that to give itself time to gain a deeper understanding of the Singapore market, BT understands.

Dubbed a "challenger bank", the startup looks to gain ground over incumbent financial players here and in the region, with Singapore as its Asia-Pacific headquarters.

However, the current services being rolled out by Revolut will not be the full suite offered to its European customers; those include cash withdrawals in foreign currencies, a crypto currency exchange and peer-to-peer payments.

Revolut was launched in July 2015 by former Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank investment bankers Nik Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko as a digital alternative to big banks. It now has some eight million users on its platform.