Revolut sees pandemic boost as PayPal tweaks fees

Revolut, a digital banking platform that operates in more than 30 European countries, Australia, Singapore, Switzerland, Japan, and the U.S., reported a £168M ($234M) loss for 2020, up 57% year-over-year, but Revolut’s adjusted annual revenues (which take into account crypto) were also up 57% at £261M ($364M).

Why should we care?
Revolut explains its revenue growth as an effect of “enhanced appetite for digital financial management” during the pandemic, though revenue was growing considerably faster in 2019, when sales were growing threefold. Rising cryptocurrency values resulted in a £39M ($54M) windfall for Revolut. The company’s customer number jumped to 14.5 million at the end of 2020, up 45% year-over-year. Meanwhile, the number of paying customers grew 51%. Administrative expenses, which included new hires for product and compliance teams, more than doubled, contributing to Revolut’s losses. “It’s a translation into numbers of the very good performance that we’ve seen in the year 2020 and basically is ultimately a validation of the business model and the strategy we have set out,” Mikko Salovaara, Revolut’s chief financial officer, said in a recent interview. The company, which makes most of its revenue from interchange fees, is on a path to diversify its revenue sources through offerings that include crypto, stock trading, and business accounts.