Revolut nearly triples revenues, while growing customer base from 3.5 to 10 million in 2019

• Revenues increased by 180% from £58.2 million in 2018, to £162.7 million in 2019
• Customer numbers increased by 186%, from 3.5 million in 2018, to 10 million in 2019
• Gross margin increased from 17% at the start of 2019 2018, to 39% at year end
• Operating losses increased to £107.4 million in 2019 to fund future growth

Revolut today released its Annual Report for the year ending 31 December 2019, highlighting its continued efforts to bring fair and innovative financial services to millions of people around the world.

Revenue nearly tripled year on year, to £162.7m by the year end (2018: £58.2m), reflecting continuing growth in our core product offering, customer base and customer activity. Over the same period, customer numbers increased to 10 million, from 3.5 million at the end of 2018. While the operating loss increased, as expected, to £107.4m (2018: £34.1m), reflecting continued investment in growth and product offering, gross margin improved to 39% in the final quarter of 2019, up from 17% at the start of the year. Revolut’s daily active customers (DAC) increased by 231%, while the number of paying customers increased by 139%.

The number of business account customers increased by 260% year on year to 220,000 at year end 2019. The number of weekly active businesses (WAB) increased by 321%.

The principal direct costs of the business continue to be card scheme costs, acquiring costs and customer acquisition costs. As our customer base and transaction volumes have grown we have generated cost efficiencies. General administrative expenses increased from £24m in 2018 to £92m in 2019, primarily driven by staff hires which took our global headcount to 2,261 as at 31 December 2019, compared with 633 at the prior year end. In addition to staff based in our London head office, we now have significant numbers of people in our hubs in Europe and globally, including the United States and Singapore.

In 2019, Revolut launched a host of new products and services, including cryptocurrencies and introduced Google Pay and Apple Pay. The company also commenced the launch of its services in multiple new markets, including the United States, Singapore and Australia.

Nik Storonsky, Founder & CEO of Revolut, said: “While we still have some way to go, we are pleased with our progress in 2019. We tripled our revenues, increased retail customers from 3.5 million to 10 million, increased daily active customers by 231% and the number of paying customers grew by 139%.”

Mr Storonsky continued: “Since the beginning of the year, we have focused on further developing innovative products for our customers, continuing to introduce Revolut to new markets, and increasing our revenue streams across the business, while reducing our operational costs. Despite the current economic challenges, we remain focused on our goal of moving towards profitability.”

Martin Gilbert, Chairman of Revolut, said: “Both 2019 and the first months of 2020 have been periods of significant achievement and expansion for Revolut, putting the company on a clear path to long-term sustainable growth. Our continued growth and expansion during the pandemic has shown the resilience of our strategic plans and we are pleased that these plans are further endorsed by new investors.”

Post year end events

Since the year end, Revolut has not slowed down. In February, the company raised $500 million in Series D funding led by Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV). This round was extended in June to include an $80 million investment from TSG Consumer Partners, bringing the total investment to $580 million. Revolut has launched a host of new services in 2020, including stock trading, commodities, children’s accounts and has begun operationalising its banking license in Europe.

Since the year end, Covid-19 has affected businesses around the globe. Revolut was able to move swiftly to remote working across its business with no disruption to services to customers. While the business experienced a decline in interchange revenue, driven by fewer transactions and a higher portion of low fee domestic transactions, Revolut Ltd benefitted from its increasingly diverse product offering. Customer numbers continued to grow, and are now close to 13 million. Some products, such as crypto trading, were positively impacted by Covid-19 in the short term. The company quickly reduced discretionary spending and reinforced its tight control of operating costs. So while the pandemic slowed growth Revolut has, and will continue to have, a comfortable level of headroom above its regulatory capital and liquidity requirements.

*Crypto is not regulated or protected. Value can go down. Tax may be payable on future gains.

*Accurate and up to date as of 11/08/2020.