Revolut launches new premium plan ‘Ultra’: could initial disappointment become a hit? 🤔; Freetrade gets a 65% valuation cut 😳; What Klarna is doing to maintain growth 📈
FinTech is Eating the World, 19 June
Hey Everyone,
Good morning! We’re starting a new week on Tuesday but it’s definitely worth the wait 👏 Today we’re going to look at Revolut which just launched a new premium plan ‘Ultra’ (could initial disappointment become a hit?), Freetrade that gets a 65% valuation cut (what does this tell us about retail brokerage apps + lessons to learn from Robinhood), and see what Klarna is doing to maintain growth (it’s both risky and huge move at the same time + a deeper dive into Klarna). Let’s jump straight into the hot stuff 🌶
Revolut launches new premium plan ‘Ultra’: could initial disappointment become a hit? 🤔
The launch 🚀 Struggling British FinTech giant Revolut is launching its new “ultimate” membership card, Ultra, that will replace Metal as its top-tier plan.
More on this 👉 At £540 a year, Revolut says the card offers up to £4,100 benefits in return, including subscription bundles with partners for offers on newspapers, exercise classes, VPNs, and co-working spaces worth more than £2,000.
But there’s more. One of the more interesting perks is Tinder Gold. And I’m not joking here 👀
Customers that joined the waitlist will get a 5% cashback on all purchases in their first month (capped at a monthly price plan).
There are reportedly more than 430,000 people on the waitlist in the UK and Europe for the platinum-plated card, which Revolut is positioning as a card of luxury and lifestyle.
✈️ THE TAKEAWAY
Difficult to justify… 🤔 In short, the new Ultra plan seems to make sense for a very niche section of Revolut’s customer base. If you use a lounge more than 10 times per year, use WeWork once a week, and have an FT subscription, then it's a very good deal. If you won't use more than one of those high-end perks, the value simply isn't there. When you look closely at this, the new plan seems almost the same as Metal. No improved cashback is probably the most disappointing thing. Given the weekend charges and the fact that for Lounges you can just buy Priority Pass or get a premium credit card with more benefits, it’s very hard to justify such a high price for Ultra. Maybe Revolut is about to massively downgrade Metal features? Zooming out, it’s also hard to justify the point of fancy cards in the first place (whether metal or platinum) when most people will simply use Apple Pay or Google Pay via mobile…. Sure, some people prefer luxury and like to show off, but it’s hard to expect this to get significant interest.
Someone from Reddit summed it all up elegantly - a tasty cherry on top 🍒:
Revolut product management reminds me of the early 20th-century Russian art movement Suprematism. The feeling of the product manager enjoys supremacy over any sort of user feature, thus a product consisting of purely nothing (see White on White by Kazimir Malevich) is just as legitimate as any other product.
ICYMI: Chaos grips Revolut's fate 😳 [+3 more dives into Revolut]