Revolut served more customers than HSBC Holdings last year, helping the British fintech to boost revenue 72% to 3.1 billion pounds ($4 billion) and grow earnings.
The company's customer base grew 38% globally last year to reach 52.5 million by the end of 2024, Revolut said Thursday. This meant it overtook HSBC, which had 41 million customers last year according to the bank's annual report.
London-based Revolut said interest income grew to £790 million last year from £500 million in 2023, as more customers used the platform for savings and deposits. The company also offers foreign exchange, crypto and other trading services.
"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," Chief Executive Officer Nik Storonsky said in the statement.
The company aims to expand further in the coming year as it prepares to complete its mobilization phase to become a fully fledged bank in the U.K. The firm expects to have 200 U.K. bank staff by year end, Bloomberg News previously reported.
Revolut will launch its Mexican bank in the coming months, recently received its Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPI) license from India's central bank, and has 10 other license applications underway around the world.
"We're making strong progress towards 100 million daily active customers across 100 countries," Storonsky said.
The fintech was recently fined 3.5 million euros ($4 million) in Lithuania, where it holds
Revolut usage had picked up across Europe beyond the U.K. and Ireland, including in Southern Europe and the Nordics, Chief Financial Officer Victor Stinga said in an interview with Bloomberg. The firm also has its eye on growth in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, he said.
Revolut's revenue mix broadened last year, with wealth revenues rising 298% due to a surge in crypto trading, while FX income increased 58%. "In the current moment you haven't seen much softening," Stinga said of the tariff chaos that's sent the dollar plunging. "For now, we are monitoring the situation quite closely and not directly impacted as other industries."
The firm's accounts confirmed 2,200 current and former employees participated in the company's secondary share sale last year, allowing them to liquidate a portion of their vested equity. The event gave the firm a $45 billion valuation.
Revolut confirmed its new backers include Coatue, Baillie Gifford, Goldman Sachs Alternatives, Mubadala and Affinity Partners.
Auditor BDO signed off the accounts, without any of the caveats that had dogged Revolut in previous years. Revolut reported a record pretax profit of £1.1 billion, climbing from £438 million. Combined credit losses in lending and non-lending products grew slightly to £51 million from £46.6 million.
Other insights:
- The loan book jumped to £979 million from £528 million.
- Total administrative costs rose to £1.4 billion from £932 million; spending on marketing and advertising was £359 million.
- Total staff costs rose to £794 million from £498 million.
- Headcount increased to 10,133 by the end of the year from 8,152.
