Revolut: A retail banking success story

Profits at Revolut, which is Europe's most valuable startup, grew 129 per cent to £790 million (€922 million), as profits from crypto trading helped the bank to more than double its overall profits since last year.

The biggest contributor was £594 million of net interest income, as the bank drank in deposits, and crypto trading brought in £506 million after a surge of trading late last year. Overall revenue grew to £3.1 billion and the bank added 15 million customers last year.

Chief executive Nik Storonsky said the bank is targeting 100 million daily active customers across 100 countries, a feat that would drive huge synergies for personal and business cross-border transfers.

"Card payment revenues – including fees on international money transfers, merchant fees for transaction processing, and charges on cash withdrawals outside customer plans – rose 43 per cent to £694 million," writes the Irish Times.

Revolut now has three million customers in Ireland, or three-quarters of the adult population, though people use it mainly as a secondary account. Its payments service is so popular that it's common for people to say "I'll revolut you the money".

"Revenues from foreign exchange increased 58 per cent and those from wealth products rose 298 per cent to £422 million, driven by crypto and equities trading.

Subscription revenues for its various plans – which are as expensive as €55 a month, for its Revolut Ultra card – advanced 74 per cent to £423 million."

Revolut's lending is still in its infancy, with a loan to deposit ratio of about 4 per cent.