Revolut's revenue nearly doubles, net profit soars in 2023 as customer base grows

SINGAPORE: Global fintech firm Revolut reported a record profit of US$545 million (S$739 million), with revenue almost doubling to US$2.2 billion in 2023, the company announced on Tuesday (Jul 2).

Net profit for last year soared to US$428 million, a whopping 6,000 per cent increase from the US$7 million it made in 2022. 

Revolut operates a multi-currency e-wallet for payments and remittances. Users can also trade stocks, exchange-traded funds, commodities and crypto.

Its chief financial officer Victor Stinga told CNA in an interview on Monday that the three drivers of its revenue were customer growth, strong performances in its products and improved interest income.

In terms of profitability, gross margin – the percentage of a company's revenue that remains after direct expenses are subtracted – increased from 70 per cent to 76 per cent.

"We always exercise what we call a zero-base budgeting philosophy, so we need to justify every single expense," said Mr Stinga.

Excluding the cost of advertising and marketing, expenses increased only by 29 per cent last year – compared with a 95 per cent increase in revenue, he said. 

"We take it as a good sign of the efficiency that this business can scale fast without scaling your expense base," he added.

The boost in travel after the COVID-19 pandemic increased demand for Revolut's services in Singapore, said Mr Matt Baxby, the company's Asia-Pacific CEO.

"Following the pandemic, 2023 saw a strong rebound in travel worldwide. Revolut's cross-border transaction data shows that Singaporeans not only travelled frequently in 2023, but also to many different destinations," he said.

According to the International Air Transport Association, air traffic last year reached 94.1 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.

Last year, another multi-currency e-wallet operator, YouTrip, said travel propelled its growth after the pandemic.

GROWING NUMBER OF CUSTOMERS

Revolut had 45 million customers globally as of June, the company announced. Of these, 7 million started using its products this year.

For the full year of 2023, Revolut added 12 million customers.

"The company is on track to surpass 50 million customers by the end of FY24," it added in a press release.

The number of Revolut customers in Singapore grew by nearly 77 per cent from 2022, with monthly active users increasing as well. 

More than half of Singapore users are between the ages of 18 and 34. The biggest growth in users is among 18- to 24-year-olds.

Revolut declined to give the exact number of customers it has in Singapore, but said that it has "more than hundreds of thousands of users" in the country.

YouTrip said it has more than a million users in Singapore, and that it saw a 68 per cent increase in users aged 60 and above from 2023 to 2024.

Wise, another multi-currency e-wallet operator, said its local customer base grew 30 per cent year-on-year.

SINGAPORE PRESENCE

Annual revenue in Singapore increased by more than 110 per cent from 2022 to 2023, with more customers subscribing to Revolut's paid plans that offer higher limits on currency exchange and better discounts on money transfers.

The number of payments made using a Revolut card increased from 7.07 million in 2022 to 12.95 million last year.

"Many more customers are using their Revolut card not just overseas but also for local transactions," the company said in a press release, adding that it shows that the product is "increasingly becoming an everyday app" for Singapore customers.

E-wallet balances increased by 52 per cent last year. Revolut raised the limit on its e-wallets from S$5,000 to S$20,000 last month.

Revolut said Singapore is "pivotal" to its global expansion strategy, given its position as a leading financial hub in Asia. It plans to increase its headcount by over 50 per cent this year compared with last year.

"We've got very high ambitions for Singapore, it's a really aggressive roadmap in terms of building out the features," said Mr Baxby. The company plans to roll out robo-advisory services and launch joint accounts for users this year.

"As we globally expand across APAC, using Singapore as a hub for talent is a strategy," he added. "It's a pretty well-worn path for lots of companies coming into the region and I think Revolut will follow suit."

Wise, which uses Singapore as its APAC hub, said it has over 450 employees here, and has five local hires in leadership positions.