The British multinational 'neobank' Revolut will step up its business in Belgium from next month, as new arrivals will be directly assigned a Belgian account to become the "everyday bank" for its local customers and quickly offer them its savings products.
Revolut was founded in 2015 by a British-Russian businessman and a British-Ukrainian software engineer, and was granted a banking licence (a European banking passport) by the Bank of Lithuania. This means that clients' IBAN numbers are based in Lithuania, with the "LT" country code.
However, it will now start migrating its Lithuanian accounts to "local" ones, meaning clients in Belgium will be able to have an account number preceded by a "BE".
"We currently have around 700,000 customers in Belgium," Francesco Aghemio, general manager of Revolut Bank in Belgium, told Le Soir. "Given current figures, we are aiming for one million by the end of the year." Last August, Revolut planned to reach this goal by 2027.
IBAN discrimination
Discriminating against non-Belgian IBANs is illegal, but it is still a reality: many payment systems in Belgium, especially public ones, exclude foreign accounts. "And some employers are not comfortable with paying into them," said Aghemio.
"With Belgian accounts, we want our customers to deposit their salaries with us or pay them into Revolut if they have a loan elsewhere. We want to become their number one bank," he added.
In practice, starting 1 May, some of the new clients will be directly assigned a Belgian account. The others – such as those who already have an open account – will be gradually enrolled in the following weeks.
"Clients will not have to do anything. Everyone will be informed, and we will take care of transferring all the information from one account number to the other, without any loss of data," he said. "We have already carried out such migrations in seven European branches, the process is perfectly mastered."
Revolut bank card. Credit: Sophie Dupau/Unsplash
To further increase its visibility, the bank, which appeals to a broad demographic "from 18 to 45 years old" and has become known for its competitive foreign exchange rates and its pro-cryptocurrency policy, will launch its first real marketing campaign at the end of April.
An "unregulated" savings offer will follow. "This is obviously a key product in Belgium. We cannot disclose the rate yet, but the goal is to have a 'top-of-the-line' product in this segment as well. This is what we have done elsewhere, and it has worked very well. The principle will be a single rate very close to that of the European Central Bank, with interest paid every day and total transparency," said Aghemio.
The return will also increase with the price of the offer the customer has subscribed to; Revolut's packages range from free to €50 per month for the most comprehensive option, which includes trip cancellation "valid for any reason" and airport lounge access.
For a little over ten years, Revolut has steadily been nibbling away at the market share of the banking sector's heavyweights. In the United Kingdom, with 10 million customers, it ranks alongside the biggest names. In France, it has just passed the five million account opening mark, and globally, the number has climbed to 50 million.
"Our strength is that we are very user-friendly and competitive, but also non-traditional. Our included lifestyle subscriptions are a hit, from Tinder Gold to UberOne to NordVPN."
