Revolut puts pressure on traditional banks as the business launches a brand-new function for Irish users

With over 20 million retail users, Revolut is a worldwide financial super app. Recently, they introduced a new feature to this app. The quick and easy Revolut Pay offers:

• Excellent safety, including two-factor authentication.
• Reduced fees per trade with no recurring costs.
• Within 24 hours, at no additional cost, Revolut Pay will settle money straight into a Business account.
• Plug-ins small businesses can use to integrate Revolut Pay into their online and mobile checkout processes in minutes.
• Revolut Pay's SDKs (Software Development Kits) and API make it possible for established companies and startups to launch their payment processing systems within days. 
• Irish users get a speedy approval process for credit and the option to set a budget. 

By delivering best-in-class security for Revolut customers, Revolut Pay (Revolut review) seeks to disrupt the payments environment by making online purchasing even simpler by facilitating direct payments using secure technologies like Face ID or fingerprint unlock, and without disclosing any account numbers. 

As a result, customers will have a safer online buying experience and their money will be safer from fraud.

Revolut Pay Introduces Credit for Irish Customers

Revolut, an online bank, recently made headlines when it announced it will begin issuing credit cards to its user base in Ireland, signalling a significant shift in the financial landscape there.

Those who qualify will get instantaneous approval and have the ability to establish a credit spending limit using the Revolut mobile app. According to the firm, customers who make their minimum payments each month for the first quarter will not incur any interest.

As long as customers maintain regular payments, the firm promises no interest for the first quarter. If customers make their minimal payments each month, the firm promises they won't be charged interest for the first three months. The annual percentage rate (APR) after that point is 17.99%.

Before receiving their real cards, customers may set up virtual credit cards that function similarly to the company's debit cards.

After that, you may load the digital cards into your preferred mobile payment system, like Apple Pay or Google Pay.

CEO of Revolut Europe Joe Heneghan made the following statement in response to the news: “We're happy to offer Revolut credit cards in our financial super app, providing our consumers in Ireland greater flexibility and control responsibly over their personal finances.”

Who receives the thousands of Irish who are owed one-time payments of AT LEAST £1,000 in the coming weeks?

He said, “We've built the technology to issue credit cards to qualified clients with limitations based on their capacity to repay the loan at any given time.”

In the last month, Revolut has said it is prepared to provide primary account features to its two million Irish consumers.

Professionals agree this will cause a commotion in the market. The internet operator is only months away from providing its clients a banking solution with bill, direct debits, and salary payment now that it has been permitted using Irish IBANs.

How Revolut Pay Currently Works

This news comes as Monzo (Monzo Bank review), a fintech firm founded in 2015 with a latest value of £4 billion, has received attention from banks, according to sources, which cited three persons familiar with the matter. The neo-banking app is reportedly still in the exploratory pitching stage and has no intentions to go public in late 2024 or Q1, 2025.

Whether making an online or mobile purchase, Revolut Pay provides a quick, easy, and safe payment, trading and credit option. Customers may now make purchases, including stocks, with a single click and receive rewards as they shop. Revolut Pay allows customers to make purchases using their stored cards or their Revolut account balance. 

The convenience of utilising a stored Mastercard or Visa card from a provider other than Revolut for making diverse purchases remains unchanged. And the convenience of utilising a stored Mastercard or Visa card from a provider other than Revolut for making purchases remains unchanged.

With Revolut Pay, both retailers and consumers will have fewer issues. Currently, online stores lose up to 80% of potential revenue owing to abandoned carts.

Customers will abandon a website without making a purchase if the checkout procedure is too complicated, takes too long, or only accepts a few payment types. As a result of Revolut Pay's streamlined purchasing process, fewer customers will leave their carts.

More than 20 different currencies are available for low-cost acceptance by Revolut Pay retailers. After releasing their card reader payment terminal, Revolut Reader, in July, and their payment acceptance platform, Revolut, in 2020, to make it simple for companies to take payments, Revolut has now released their payment app, Revolut Pay.

Increased Public Trust in Online Banking in The United Kingdom

In 2021, we reported that the public's faith in digital banking among British citizens was increasing.

More and more British people are indicating they would consider opening a bank account with a company that doesn't have any physical locations. That's the finding of recent research by Investec and NerdWallet. Similar findings from seemingly unrelated polls indicate growing public readiness for a future of digital banking. 

These figures emerge when more financial institutions lock their doors and more customers turn to internet banking as a result of precautions taken during the COVID-19 epidemic.

Monzo is largely considered to be financially stable as a result of a massive $500 million funding round that concluded in late 2021 and was led by the Abu Dhabi Growth Fund and included investments from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Coatue, and China’s Tencent.

According to two sources speaking to Insider, the fintech is aggressively looking for acquisitions and partnerships in the wealth and trade sectors.

Yet unlike competitors like Revolut, the emerging star Monzo company does not yet provide trade or financial services to its 7 million customers. Last year, the company put up a job posting asking for someone to join its investment management team.

But when it comes to accepting and making payments, controlling expenditure, and empowering teams, Revolut Business is a cross-border superapp for companies of all sizes and stages. Our goal is to make it possible for every firm, from day one, from any location, to do international trade.

Since its launch in 2017, Revolut Business has been the foundation for hundreds of thousands of enterprises worldwide.

Proof from the Numbers Why Going Digital Is a Good Idea

Three out of five UK banking consumers have shown a willingness to do business with a bank that did not have any physical locations but instead provided service only through telephone and the Internet.

Two-fifths of Brits have also indicated that they would be comfortable using a digital-only bank as their primary financial institution, eliminating the requirement for a secondary account with a well-known high street institution.

More than a quarter of respondents said the bank's mobile app was a major factor in their choice, and over a third said they based their choice on the bank's online services.

The Investec study also showed that individuals are spending more time than they did before the epidemic on saving and investing, and that a growing number of them are doing it online. Around ten percent of savers reported installing a banking app for the first time during the shutdown.

Because of the epidemic, 8% of respondents claimed they no longer use any accounts accessible at physical branches.

Image Sells: Revolut’s Efforts Against Bad PR

Nevertheless, unfortunately, Revolut customers have fallen prey to a compelling hoax message. An increase in complaints about problems with using a payments app has been reported to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman.

Users in the Republic are falling for a plausible scam that uses a text message purporting to be from Revolut’s payment app.

The content comprises a link that seems to take readers to a genuine Revolut website, where they are asked to verify their data or have their accounts blocked. This is then used to deceive victims by giving over their Revolut pins.

The funds are subsequently fraudulently transferred to an untraceable cryptocurrency account. Revolut-related complaints have reportedly increased in volume at the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (FSPO). Image sells; Revolut is still struggling to develop positive digital PR. Competing against eToro (eToro review) is difficult without this strong PR stream. 

FSPO Reports Increase in Complaints

A representative for the FSPO stated, “While the FSPO cannot comment on any trends related to complaints received against named providers, the FSPO has noted an increase over time in complaints in which customers have complained about the conduct of their financial service provider in connection with financial transactions in which the complainant alleges that the transaction was related to fraudulent activity or scams.”

The fact that Revolut's Irish business is based out of Lithuania has made it difficult for the FSPO to file a case against the company. It is facing stiff competition from other digital banks like Chase bank (Chase bank review),

The FSPO spokesperson said that an inquiry could not go forward if a client had a financial services contract that was subject to the laws of a foreign country “unless both parties consent to that investigation continuing according to the laws of Ireland”.

Nevertheless, after hearing from consumers about difficulties getting utilities and others to recognise the Lithuanian IBANs, Revolut has announced intentions to issue local Irish IBANs starting next month.

The FSPO acknowledges that Revolut Bank UAB had announced changes to operations, including revisions to the TOCs that would apply to certain goods and services, the spokesperson stated.

In the event that a consumer is not satisfied with the outcome of the internal dispute resolving process provided by their service provider, changing a client's contract making is governed under Irish law means that clients have the agility to complain to the FSPO, said the spokesperson.

Recently, Revolut issued a warning to its Irish clients to be on the lookout for phishing URLs provided by scammers purporting to be legitimate organisations.

“Criminals may claim several reasons to entice clients to hit a link or phone a number”, it stated. “They include links to change your address, instructions to unfreeze your account, and to opt out of an offer.”

Takeaway

Being a revolutionary new player, taking up digital banking market share, in the financial services sector, Revolut claims over two million customers in the Republic since its launch in 2015. As of 2022, the payments app was already distributing loans for individual usage in Ireland, and it has just been revealed that it would also begin issuing credit cards.

Its mobile banking app has been downloaded over 5 million times and has received a 4.1-star rating out of almost 101,000 reviews. 4.6 out of 5 stars in the Apple App Store. Others include Starling (Starling Bank review).

The business warned its clients not to click on links in suspicious messages or emails since doing so might lead them to a website or form asking for personal information that could be exploited by thieves to steal their money.

Scammers are utilising more sophisticated technologies to pose as reliable financial institutions, making it tougher to uncover fraud.

According to Revolut's director of financial crime and fraud, Aaron Elliott-Gross, new fraud schemes are constantly being devised.

Knowledge on how to identify potentially malicious internet behaviour is crucial. He said, “Criminals are sending phishing links to customers, purporting to be legitimate organisations such as energy companies, postal or delivery services, and banks in an effort to get sensitive information.”

These texts frequently look to originate from a real company and include a real phone number. They may show up anywhere, even in ongoing conversations. 

Explore digital banking further with our Monzo vs Starling Bank review.