Revolut Singapore in the black, targets South-east Asia

[SINGAPORE] Neobank Revolut announced that its Singapore operations turned profitable, amid a continuing streak in the black for the wider company in its annual report released on Thursday (Apr 24).

Its earnings grew to S$1.4 billion for FY2024 ended Dec 31, up from S$587.9 million in FY2023. Interest income rose 58 per cent from S$853.9 million in FY2023 to S$1.4 billion in FY2024.

This was driven by revenue growth of 72 per cent from S$3.1 billion in FY2023 to S$5.3 billion in FY2024. An expanding customer base and increased product utilisation fuelled revenue growth.

“We not only accelerated our customer growth, welcoming nearly 15 million new users globally, but critically, we also saw customers engaging more deeply by adopting a wider range of our services across both our retail offering and Revolut Business,” said Nik Storonsky, chief executive of Revolut.

In Singapore, Revolut hit its first year of profitability, with a net profit margin of 15 per cent. This was lower than the group profit margin of 26 per cent; however, Revolut Singapore does not have a banking licence – unlike Revolut in the UK and Mexico.

Currently, 55 per cent of Revolut Singapore’s customer base is made up of customers aged 18 to 34. The fintech also increased its headcount here by 50 per cent.

Expansion plans

After Singapore, Revolut is setting its sights on the region, with Raymond Ng, CEO of the Singapore and South-east Asia business, leading the charge. It is looking to expand in 10 other markets, and is in the process of securing the requisite licences. Some of these markets are in South-east Asia.

Rather than landing in a new market in the region as a fintech, Revolut will be looking to enter new markets as a bank, leveraging on its banking licence in the UK. For markets such as Indonesia, where the regulator OJK said it will not issue new banking licences, Revolut might have to look to acquire an existing bank to enter the market.

Currently, Revolut is in “conversations” with regulators across the region, said Ng. “We will find ways to enter the market,” he told The Business Times.

Closer to home, Ng will be focused on growing Revolut Business, which launched in July 2024. More features such as an interest-bearing account and becoming a merchant acquirer to facilitate payments for Revolut’s business customers in Singapore are on the cards. It aims to facilitate online payments first, before moving on to physical in-store payments for these customers.

On the retail front, Ng is looking to bring offerings that Revolut has in the UK to Singapore. This includes a higher-tier subscription plan called Ultra, which has perks such as access to airport lounges, travel insurance and eSIMs. Ng is also looking to bring RevPoints, Revolut’s loyalty programme in the UK, to Singapore customers as well.

“While we do not comment on ongoing licence applications, we remain focused on offering our innovative products to customers in markets that are forward-looking and show significant potential for digital financial services,” said Ng.