Revolut CEO to sell a major stake in secondaries 🤑🏦; RBI joins Project Nexus 🤝🇮🇳; Visa and Mastercard extend EU tourist card fee caps to 2029 👀💳
FinTech is Eating the World, 9 July
Hey Everyone,
Good morning & happy Tuesday! I’m traveling this week, so the latest newsletter is coming in late but it’s absolutely worth the wait 🤌 On today’s radar, we’re looking at Revolut whose CEO is set to sell a major stake in secondaries (+ some more developments & a deep dive into Revolut’s latest financials), RBI which joins Project Nexus (what’s the value add here + a bonus read on Nexus), and Visa & Mastercard that extend EU tourist card fee caps to 2029 (what it’s all about + bonus deep dives in both payments giants). Let’s just jump straight into the fascinating stuff 🌶
Revolut CEO to sell a major stake in secondaries 🤑🏦
The news 🗞️ British FinTech giant Revolut has been making waves in the financial world again with a few significant developments.
Let’s take a quick look at this.
More on this 👉 First, it was reported that CEO Nikolay Storonsky plans to sell a portion of his multibillion-dollar stake as part of a larger $500 million share sale. This sale, which includes employee shares, aims to value the company at a whopping $40 billion+, a substantial increase from its previous $33 billion valuation in 2021. Not too shabby! 😳
ICYMI: HUGE: Revolut aims for a $40 billion valuation in a share sale 😳📈 [what it’s all about & why it’s huge + unpacking the most important numbers and data so we could see the bigger picture here & some bonus reads on Revolut and its biggest competitors]
We already know that the company's financial performance has been beyond impressive, with 2023 seeing record pretax profits of £438 million ($554 million) and revenues reaching $2.2 billion, nearly doubling from the previous year.
On top of that, Revolut's customer base has also grown significantly, adding 12 million new users in 2023 for a total of 45 million globally. Solid!
ICYMI: Revolut’s 2023 financials: a FinTech rocket with astronomical growth, but regulatory asteroids loom 🚀☄️ [breaking down the key facts & figures, uncovering the most important numbers & what’s next for Revolut + bonus deep dives into Starling Bank, Monzo and JPMorgan]
Plans 🔮 Revolut is not resting on its laurels, however.
The company has ambitious plans to enter the mortgage market in Ireland, potentially as early as the first half of 2025. This move could shake up the Irish mortgage landscape, currently dominated by three major banks.
However, regulatory hurdles may delay these plans, as the Central Bank of Ireland is likely to impose oversight despite Revolut's Lithuanian banking license.
The company continues to expand its product offerings, which already include current accounts, loans, insurance, investments, and buy-now-pay-later services. It's also targeting growth in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly in Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore.
✈️ THE TAKEAWAY
What’s next? 🤔 Looking forward, Revolut's actions clearly signal a company preparing for significant growth and more importantly - an initial public offering (IPO) sometime soon. Zooming out, the share sale and potential entry into the mortgage market demonstrate Revolut's ambition to become a full-service financial institution, challenging traditional banks across multiple product lines. The success of its mortgage offerings in Ireland, if approved, could serve as a template for expansion into other countries' mortgage markets. More importantly, the outcome of Revolut's long-standing application for a UK banking license will be crucial to watch, as it could significantly impact the company's operations in one of its largest markets.