For Revolut, payments to be gateway to digital banking licence in India

British fintech player Revolut, which is valued at $33 billion, is gearing up to launch its services in India in the second half of calendar year 2022 (H2CY22), and aims to get a digital banking licence in the future.

“Revolut is looking at India as one of the key markets in its overall global expansion strategy in line with its admission to become the one true leading global fintech. We have been using all this time to understand the India market as we prepare to bring all the products from Revolut’s suite of products that are customised according to India’s local flavour,” said Paroma Chatterjee, chief executive officer of Revolut India.

Initially, the firm will invest Rs 340 crore in the Indian unit. And in terms of products, Chatterjee said the company will launch its offerings in three or four stages.

In the first phase, it plans to launch an offering in the payments segments such as remittances, which has been the flagship offering of the company globally. Plus, it will have additional features that will cover the entire gamut of the payments segment.

The second phase will see Revolut launch the trading and investment offerings, followed by credit and lending. In the end, it aims to become a digital bank.

“Once you have a presence across payments, investments and lending is when the logical next step is to become a truly digital bank. That is our ambition in India. We are working with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) closely on the digital banking licence paper so that we are close to the thought process. We can also enter the India market through one of the global banks of Revolut,” said Chatterjee.

When asked about the differentiation Revolut brings to India, which has seen a spurt of fintech players looking to disrupt the payments segment, Chatterjee said the firm’s global footprint is its biggest selling point.

“Our first USP is that we are bringing a truly branchless bank, which is truly a digital native to the customers. Second, is our global presence. India has seen many disruptors and evolution in the domestic remittance space, but when it comes to cross-border we do not see such disruption. Most importantly, we bring the consumer an experience that is very unique,” explained Chatterjee. She added that the firm’s app has already been downloaded by 30,000 people even before its launch.

Since all of its suite of products will be customised for the India market, Revolut India is also ramping up its team here, and is looking to hire 300 employees this year.

The company is hiring talent for three segments. First, it will recruit for Revolut India, which will focus on building products and marketing for India, including all other business profiles. Second, it has also set up its first tech hub outside of the UK for which it is hiring engineers, analysts and talent for products and solutions for India and for the rest of the Asia Pacific region. And finally, it is also scouting for talent for Revolut’s GIC. Employees in this division will cater to Revolut’s international operations and where talent is scarce.

Even as Revolut is gearing up for its India foray, Chatterjee is also aware of the challenges in front of her. First, is the fact that India is a very difficult and different country than what the firm has handled so far. “Second, it is also one of the most evolved fintech ecosystems and, hence, the point of differentiation is crucial. Finally, working with the forward looking and controlled regulatory environment,” added Chatterjee.