Revolut – an app providing currency exchange with no fees

Revolut – an app providing currency exchange with no fees – is launching in APAC next year, and there are already 50,000 people on the wait list

Revolut, a fintech firm valued at US$1.7 billion, is launching a version of its popular app in the US, Canada, and Asia Pacific. Facebook/Revolut

Revolut, a London-based fintech company, will launch its app in Asia Pacific in early 2019.

The app lets users hold and change currency at market rates, and doesn’t charge exchange fees.

The wait list already has over 50,000 people, with about 10,000 people from Singapore.

Singaporeans’ love for queuing now extends beyond food and free gifts – some 10,000 names are already on the wait list for a finance app that’s launching next year.

The app, made by London-based fintech company Revolut, is promising zero fees when users change money or make overseas payments.

The firm has been valued at US$1.7 billion (S$2.33 billion, RM7.12 billion).

“The opportunity to disrupt markets in APAC is extremely attractive due to long-running customer frustrations with high fees levied by major retail banks… Asian consumers face some of the highest fees in the world when spending and sending money abroad,” Revolut said in a statement.

The company announced on Friday (Nov 30) that it is setting up APAC headquarters in Singapore, and has already obtained operating licences for the republic and Japan (whose wait list numbers about 3,000 people). The total APAC wait list has over 50,000 names.

Revolut has over 3.2 million users in Europe.

The app’s expected launch date for APAC markets is scheduled for the first quarter of 2019, while a US and Canada launch is expected in the coming weeks.

To get fee-free currency exchange, users must first set up an app-based current account, which stores 24 currencies, including the Singapore dollar, British pound, Euro, US dollar, Thai baht, and Japanese yen.

This means currency can be exchanged when rates are favourable and saved for future use.

Users can also exchange their chosen in-app “main currency” to 150 other currencies. But these currencies cannot be stored, and are meant for immediate payment.

All exchanges are done at interbank – or market value – rates. This is in contrast to banks, which charge marked-up rates, a Revolut spokesman said.

The company also absorbs all exchange and commission fees up to a certain limit, which is determined by the customer’s subscription plan.

Currently, available plans are targeted at the Europe market, with new plans to be announced for APAC.

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Those on the free option can withdraw up to €200 (S$312, RM953) and exchange currencies up to €5,000 per month. Subsequently, withdrawals will attract a 2 per cent fee.

For paid plans, the “premium plan” costs €7.99 (S$12.5, RM38.1) and the “metal plan” costs €13.99 (S$21.8, RM 66.7) per month.