Revolut Celebrates Third Profitable Year in a Row as it Continues to Push for UK Banking Licence
Digital banking platform Revolut has revealed it recorded a record profit before tax in 2023, despite difficult financial headwinds across the globe.
According to its Annual Report for 2023, Revolut has now been net profitable for three years in a row. In 2022, the neobank celebrated an annual net profit of £6million. Despite difficult macroeconomic conditions, this figure grew to £344million for the year ending 2023.
Group revenue also increased by 95 per cent from $1.1billion (£0.92billion) in 2022 to $2.2billion (£1.80billion).
“This year, we took our biggest steps yet on our mission to deliver the best product and the best customer experience at great value to customers, everywhere,” explained Nik Storonsky, CEO of Revolut.
“Our customer base is expanding at impressive rates, and our diversified business model continues to fuel exceptional financial performance, delivering revenues of over $2.2billion in 2023 and a record profit before tax of $545million. With a net profit of $428million, 2023 was our third profitable year in a row.”
Storonsky also remains focused on attempting to obtain a UK banking licence, despite Revolut still waiting for approval since 2021: “Every day, our products create value for new customer segments and new global markets. We remain committed to our ongoing UK banking licence application in addition to bringing the Revolut app to new markets and customers around the world. Even as we reached 45 million global retail customers six months into 2024, Revolut remains poised for exponential growth in 2024 and beyond, continuing to redefine the financial services landscape as we’ve known it.”
Huge success despite lack of banking licence
Throughout 2023, Revolut added almost 12 million new customers globally, the highest YoY increase in the company’s history, bringing the total to 38 million in 2023.
Seventy per cent of new retail customers joined organically or were referred by someone they know. Word-of-mouth growth was complemented by further investment into marketing and sales functions, including for Revolut Business which was onboarding 20,000 SMEs (small and medium enterprises) each month by the end of the year.
Revolut’s net profit margin for the year was 19 per cent, reflecting the inherent efficiency and scalability of Revolut’s business model, improved partner unit costs, and continued growth of high-margin revenue streams.
Revolut’s revenue diversification continued to drive sustainable growth with no single product stream or country accounting for more than 30 per cent of total revenue in 2023.
Aggressive growth and expansion
As of June 2024, Revolut is the most downloaded app in the finance category in Europe, ranking first in 17 countries. With a focus on core banking services in Europe, Revolut doubled down on reinvestment to support future growth, including product development and expansion into new markets.
Revolut also developed new local features across key European markets:
- IBAN: The company expanded local IBAN offerings for retail customers in France, Ireland, Spain and the Netherlands.
- Credit: Personal loans were launched in France, Germany, and Spain, as well as credit cards in Ireland and Spain.
- Savings & Funds: Money Market Funds were launched across 22 countries in the EEA with balances reaching nearly $1.9billion (£1.5billion) since launch.
Some of Revolut’s success can also be attributed to its decision to expand into new markets, including Brazil and New Zealand – increasing its global footprint to 38 countries.
Revelling in success
As of June 2024, Revolut reached 45 million customers globally, representing an increase of seven million in the first six months of the year. The company is also on track to surpass 50 million customers by the end of FY24.
The growth of its customer base dwarfs its competitors which have already obtained banking licences; such as Monzo, which boasts around nine million customers, and Starling, which has around 3.6 million.
