Revolut partners with Visa as main card issuer to accelerate global expansion

Cristina Blanaru Business, Finances

Visa and Revolut, the leading fintech in Europe, today announced a new agreement that will help Revolut expand its business globally. Leveraging Visa’s brand, scale and global acceptance footprint, Revolut will be able to bring its product offerings to five new regions, reaching 24 new markets, for a total of 56 markets globally. Under the terms of the agreement, Revolut will primarily issue Visa-branded cards in the global expansion.

Revolut offers consumers a range of digital financial services via a mobile application, including currency exchange, budgeting and person-to-person (P2P) payments, all linked to a Visa card. Building on the success of its existing agreement in Europe, Visa will enable Revolut to launch initially in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore and the United States, followed by Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Ukraine and Vietnam.

“We are excited to build upon our existing collaboration with Visa, the world’s leader in digital payments, which will bring to life our shared vision for seamless, innovative payment experiences,” said Nikolay Storonsky, founder and chief executive officer, Revolut. “The new global agreement with Visa is timely for Revolut as we move into a number of new markets to offer even more consumers the control, flexibility and innovative features that our European customers have been benefiting from for years.”

“Revolut has made great strides in delivering innovative and unique experiences to consumers in Europe. We are thrilled to extend our relationship as Revolut looks to achieve their global growth ambitions and collectively drive increased volume on the Visa network,” said Jack Forestell, chief product officer, Visa. “With Visa being accepted at nearly 54 million merchant locations across more than 200 countries, we have the scale, experience and expertise to help fintechs like Revolut go global.”

Visa and Revolut have built a strong partnership over the last four years. The digital banking alternative first began issuing Visa cards to its customers across Europe in July 2017. Since that time, Revolut has been able to leverage Visa’s global network and capabilities to help drive their rapid global expansion, including issuing Visa-branded cards in every major European market today.

Over the last four years, Revolut has been at the forefront of global financial innovation. In an effort to enable consumers to better manage their money digitally, Revolut and Visa will allow for:

  • Flexible, Customized and Seamless Banking Services: Revolut customers can receive instant spending notifications, monthly spending breakouts and budgets by individual categories. The option to complement the existing Revolut app with Visa APIs, including Visa Token Service and Payments Attribute Account Inquiry, and Visa prepaid and debit cards, will offer the security and speed consumers expect when they use their Visa.
  • Seamless, Low Cost Currency Exchange: As one of the most affordable options, Revolut customers can spend globally in over 150 currencies and hold and exchange up to 29 currencies and cryptocurrencies – including bitcoin, the Canadian Dollar, U.S Dollar, Mexican Peso, British Pounds and Euros – directly in the app using the interbank exchange rate.
  • P2P Payments: With the tap of a button, consumers can instantly send and request money for free and split the bill at restaurants and bars with any Revolut customer globally.

The Visa and Revolut global deal builds on Visa’s long-term commitment to fintechs and bolsters the company’s strategic business priorities, including:

  • Visa Direct, Visa’s platform that enables faster payments to over a billion financial accounts worldwide
  • Visa’s suite of B2B payments solutions for small and medium businesses and global enterprises
  • Visa’s ongoing commitment to bringing digital payment options to the unbanked via social impact programs