Revolut Chooses Visa as Lead Issuing Partner to Drive Rapid Global Expansion

SINGAPORE, Sept. 30, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Visa (NYSE:V) and Revolut, the leading fintech in Europe, today announced a new agreement that will help Revolut expand its business globally. Leveraging Visa's brand, scale and global acceptance footprint, Revolut will be able to bring its product offerings to five new regions, reaching 24 new markets, for a total of 56 markets globally. Under the terms of the agreement, Revolut will primarily issue Visa-branded cards in the global expansion.

Revolut offers consumers a range of digital financial services via a mobile application, including currency exchange, budgeting and person-to-person (P2P) payments, all linked to a Visa card. Building on the success of its existing agreement in Europe, Visa will enable Revolut to launch initially in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore and the United States, followed by Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Ukraine and Vietnam.

"We are excited to build upon our existing collaboration with Visa, the world's leader in digital payments, which will bring to life our shared vision for seamless, innovative payment experiences," said Nikolay Storonsky, founder and chief executive officer, Revolut. "The new global agreement with Visa is timely for Revolut as we move into a number of new markets to offer even more consumers the control, flexibility and innovative features that our European customers have been benefiting from for years."

"We are excited to extend Visa's partnership with Revolut to Asia Pacific," said Chris Clark, Regional President, Asia Pacific, Visa. "Working together, we will bring new financial services experiences to consumers across the region. Payments is evolving rapidly in our region and it's great to have an innovative fintech partner like Revolut expanding here. We are looking forward to leveraging the power of Visa's global network to support Revolut as they grow their business in Asia Pacific."

Visa and Revolut have built a strong partnership over the last four years. The digital banking alternative first began issuing Visa cards to its customers across Europe in July 2017. Since that time, Revolut has been able to leverage Visa's global network and capabilities to help drive their rapid global expansion, including issuing Visa-branded cards in every major European market today.

Over the last four years, Revolut has been at the forefront of global financial innovation. In an effort to enable consumers to better manage their money digitally, Revolut and Visa will allow for:

• Flexible, Customised and Seamless Banking Services: Revolut customers can receive instant spending notifications, monthly spending breakouts and budgets by individual categories. The option to complement the existing Revolut app with Visa APIs, including Visa Token Service and Payments Attribute Account Inquiry, and Visa prepaid and debit cards, will offer the security and speed consumers expect when they use their Visa.
• Seamless, Low Cost Currency Exchange: As one of the most affordable options, Revolut customers can spend globally in over 150 currencies and hold and exchange up to 29 currencies and cryptocurrencies - including bitcoin, the Canadian Dollar, U.S Dollar, Mexican Peso, British Pounds and Euros - directly in the app using the interbank exchange rate.
• P2P Payments: With the tap of a button, consumers can instantly send and request money for free and split the bill at restaurants and bars with any Revolut customer globally.

The Visa and Revolut global deal builds on Visa's long-term commitment to fintechs and bolsters the company's strategic business priorities, including:

• Visa Direct, Visa's platform that enables faster payments to over a billion financial accounts worldwide
• Visa's suite of B2B payments solutions for small and medium businesses and global enterprises
• Visa's ongoing commitment to bringing digital payment options to the unbanked via social impact programs

About Visa Inc.

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) is the world's leader in digital payments. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, reliable and secure payment network - enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. Our advanced global processing network, VisaNet, provides secure and reliable payments around the world, and is capable of handling more than 65,000 transaction messages a second. The company's relentless focus on innovation is a catalyst for the rapid growth of digital commerce on any device, for everyone, everywhere. As the world moves from analog to digital, Visa is applying our brand, products, people, network and scale to reshape the future of commerce. For more information, visit About Visa, visa.com/blog and @VisaNews.

About Revolut

Revolut was launched in July 2015 by former Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank investment bankers, Nik Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko, as a digital alternative to the big banks. While the fintech initially drew in customers by letting them spend and transfer money abroad with the interbank exchange rate, the company has since attracted over 7 million customers in Europe with its spending overviews, budgeting controls, savings features and cryptocurrency exchange.

To date, Revolut has raised approximately $340 million in investments, from notable venture capital firms including Index Ventures, Ribbit Capital, Balderton Capital and DST Global.