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Revolut raises $500M at a $5.5B valuation

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Re: Revolut raises $500M at a $5.5B valuation

#111

Post by ValentineC »

khweroii wrote: post #82
luckylion wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did they give any explanation as to why they think that's legal, freezing accounts and blocking payments on a whim, without some court's decision?

AML/KYC laws require you to freeze accounts if you suspect anything. Traditional banks blocked my transfers a few times and required proof of source.

When Revolut first launched in Singapore, it was almost common knowledge that depositing more than $5,000 SGD (approximately $3,500 USD) would more or less cause one's account to be limited for weeks (until one tweets at them to hurry up), because they've triggered the Source of Funds check.

Re: Revolut raises $500M at a $5.5B valuation

#112

Post by jermaustin1 »

cosmodisk wrote: post #101

Revolut is where WeWork was a few years ago. Eventually a few guys will make some nice money and the whole thing will go down the drain. VC money is nice, however at some point you need to start making your own money and how they are planning to do so is a question nobody has an answer to.

It feels like they are going the traditional bank route, give away a basic product and charge fees for everything over a threshold.

Looking at their business pricing page, it looks like they are going to get into commercial lending, which could prove profitable. I don't know if it is VC-scale, though.

Most big, successful banks that have withstood the test of time have grown VERY slowly over nearly 200 years and acquired a lot of local banks along the way.

I don't recall all of the numbers but my brother (a small-town-bank vp) told me not that long ago that most small town banks will profit between $1M and $5M per year (5-10% return on equity). A small bank will usually have a few thousand customers.

So if Revolut has 10M customers (2000x bigger than a small town bank), and the customers are using Revolut like they would their small town banks, they should be profitable at some point.

Re: Revolut raises $500M at a $5.5B valuation

#113

Post by throwaway3157 »

juskrey wrote: post #18
thesimon wrote: post #6

Quite impressed with the valuation. Transferwise Borderless seems to have a better business model with sane prices and not "everything free". And Revolut still uses their e-money license instead of their proper Lithuanian banking license. Quite surprising.

Transferwise has real human phone support, which so far was great for my business account. +1 for prices - I am paying Transferwise fees with pleasure, knowing all those money are returning back to me via great services.

I haven't used Borderless, but Transferwise in general has been fantastic. I looked at Revolut, but have been too happy with Transferwise to even truly consider it

Re: Revolut raises $500M at a $5.5B valuation

#114

Post by sailfast »

thefounder wrote: post #39
sschueller wrote: post #4

Revolut is predatory and walking on the line of legality. I would stay as far away as I can from them. - Unfair/illegal employment practices. [1] - Dubios crypto service (you can buy and sell but there is no way to transfer in or out) [2] - Keeping a firewall between customers and company by only allowing communication via app chatbot [3] - Accusations of money laundry. [4] - Many people have had their accounts froze…

>> Revolut is predatory and walking on the line of legality. Like most of the banks, right? [0] I find their chat communication quite great. After all you can't send documents over a phone call. >> Many people have had their accounts frozen or even money stolen. Is there a bank that doesn't do that? If you want to own your money use cash or digital/crypto https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hsbc-usa/hsbc-draws-line-..…

No? There's a legal definition of predatory for most regulators that is a pretty clear line. The fact that they are regulated means that you have some ability to pursue your case / complaint outside of arbitration with the company.

Part of me wonders if part of this cash stash is for them to create a regulated institution of their own to start doing some more things in regulated markets - $850M is a lot of money!

Re: Revolut raises $500M at a $5.5B valuation

#115

Post by ValentineC »

jermaustin1 wrote: post #108
ValentineC wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I only use it when traveling, but no FX fees, and no ATM fees. Do they reimburse your ATM fees if you were to use a third-party ATM in the US, or just not charge you an additional fee to withdraw at third-party ATMs?

I actually have never tested that theory out. I probably have $30 on it currently (haven't gone out of country in a few months, so haven't needed to fill it), I'll try to pull money out at the next ATM I come across and reply here.

I just searched up the webpage [1], but there's nothing on it suggesting that Capital One would reimburse your fee.

I'm not based in the US, but I've heard that Schwab and SoFi are the popular ones that would do that.

[1] https://www.capitalone.com/bank/debit-card/

Re: Revolut raises $500M at a $5.5B valuation

#116

Post by CaptainZapp »

peteretep wrote: post #97
CaptainZapp wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and the UK has pretty decent worker protection Really? What about zero-hour contracts? I don't know of any other rich country, which allows such scam contracts. I wouldn't call that decent worker protection.

Isn’t a zero hour contract just casual work where you’re Not guaranteed hours? Sounds like every bar job I’ve ever had.

I think a comparison with hustling for Fiverr -, or Task Rabbit "jobs" is more apt.

Re: Revolut raises $500M at a $5.5B valuation

#118

Post by thefounder »

netcan wrote: post #51
thefounder wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> Revolut is predatory and walking on the line of legality. Like most of the banks, right? [0] I find their chat communication quite great. After all you can't send documents over a phone call. >> Many people have had their accounts frozen or even money stolen. Is there a bank that doesn't do that? If you want to own your money use cash or digital/crypto https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hsbc-usa/hsbc-draws-line-..…

>>Like most of the banks, right? Yes and no. "Predatory" can mean different things. Most banks are super-cautious, day-to-day. They can be predatory in certain way, taking advantage of customers with things like outrageous overdraft fees, exchange rates and such. They can be feckless, accumulating long-tail, systemic risk with Heads-I-Win-Tails-You-Lose games.^ The old banks are bad in lots of ways, but actually very…

>> They're also prone to the start-upy customer service "minimalism" math.

I have found their customer service to be very good. They respond within 2-3 minutes so I don't know what you could ask more. It's nothing like Paypal.

Re: Revolut raises $500M at a $5.5B valuation

#119

Post by chx »

mantap wrote: post #105
cosmodisk wrote: post #101

Revolut is where WeWork was a few years ago. Eventually a few guys will make some nice money and the whole thing will go down the drain. VC money is nice, however at some point you need to start making your own money and how they are planning to do so is a question nobody has an answer to.

You could say the same about Transferwise. Revolut is setting themselves up as a bank for millenials/gen Z. It is light years ahead of traditional banks in terms of user experience. Banks are a proven way of making money.

Transferwise though is not playing the free game. They charge you fees and they have been profitable for three years now. https://transferwise.com/gb/blog/annualreport2019

Re: Revolut raises $500M at a $5.5B valuation

#120

Post by StavrosK »

ValentineC wrote: post #106
jermaustin1 wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I cannot tell if you are being sarcastic or not, but here in the US almost ever ATM that isn't at YOUR bank will charge a $2-$5 fee for withdrawal and then the bank will hit you with another $2-$5 fee. So depending on your bank, if you want $20, it could cost you $10. OR (story time) if you are like me, and you end up needing cash in rural Oklahoma to pay an upcoming cash-only toll, and you pull off at the ONLY gas s…

> I only use it when traveling, but no FX fees, and no ATM fees. Do they reimburse your ATM fees if you were to use a third-party ATM in the US, or just not charge you an additional fee to withdraw at third-party ATMs?

Chase Sapphire reimburses me third-party ATM fees.
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