00:00We are actually the first truly pan-European digital bank.
00:04When we have a problem to crack, we just crack it.
00:07We will do it in a way which is so innovative that everyone will say, wow.
00:19Welcome to The Big Question, the series from Euronews,
00:22where we sit down with some of the biggest names in business.
00:26I'm Elena Butler, and today I'm joined by Beatrice Cossard-Dumergier,
00:32Revolut's Western Europe CEO.
00:34So first of all, thank you for being here, Beatrice, really appreciate it.
00:38Revolut is a neobank, but can you tell us exactly what makes it different from traditional banks?
00:45A neobank is actually a bank that predominantly operates online,
00:50and what differentiates us from traditional banks is this very innovative mindset.
00:56We want to simplify the life of our customers when we provide financial services
01:01in a very innovative manner.
01:04So always providing them with an offer which is convenient and affordable.
01:10And something that differentiates us as well from other neobanks
01:15is that we are truly global, and we are actually the first truly pan-European digital bank.
01:23And last year, Revolut was the number one finance app in 19 European countries in terms of downloads.
01:29Tell me, what is the secret to Revolut's success?
01:32So the secret of the success is very simple.
01:34It's customer focus.
01:36We want to be, we have been, we will be, we are extremely customer focus.
01:41This is our only and single priority.
01:52And Revolut recently hit 65 million customers,
01:55which is incredibly impressive for a bank that's only a decade old.
02:00I wonder, can you tell me what's next?
02:03We want to hit the 100 million customer targets in 2027.
02:08For that, we will be investing 11.5 billion euro in the coming years.
02:13So there is nothing to stop us, actually.
02:16So we operate in 65 countries, and we have been profitable since 2022.
02:23And Europe represents two-thirds of Revolut business.
02:26We serve more than 40 million customers in all European countries.
02:32The strongest market, the largest market in Europe is France,
02:35and it's also the fastest growing market.
02:38So we have decided to set up in France a hub, a second hub,
02:43so based in Paris, to cover all Western European countries.
02:48Besides France, it will be Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Ireland.
02:54And do you believe that being based in those countries
02:57is going to support you in your search for banking licenses,
03:01for example, in France?
03:02We already have one based in Lithuania,
03:05and we have applied for a second banking license
03:08to be able to cover these six Western European countries out of France.
03:14We are in the process of getting this license.
03:16Trust in banking is just key.
03:18So being exposed to very demanding regulators,
03:22the French one is a very demanding regulator,
03:24is actually excellent for us,
03:26because it allows us to strengthen our operations globally.
03:30Some customers may still choose traditional banks over Revolut
03:34because they're worried about the security of their money.
03:38Do you still think that customers are cautious
03:41about putting large savings into Revolut accounts?
03:45Actually, Revolut has started as an e-money business
03:48and deliberately being, you know, the second bank
03:52and not the primary bank.
03:53And what we observe is that more and more
03:56we are becoming the primary bank for our customers
04:00because more and more we are proposing products and services
04:05that simplify their life, addresses their needs,
04:10and we're doing it in a very consistent and innovative manner.
04:15And the growth actually is the result of that success.
04:20How does Revolut maintain its reputation, though,
04:23when there are safety issues that come up?
04:25Because I know that there have been issues of financial fraud with the app.
04:29What is Revolut doing to keep customers safe?
04:33We are investing a lot in fraud-fighting.
04:36This is a top priority for us.
04:39Out of the 13,000 people working for Revolut worldwide,
04:44about a third are working on anti-financial crime measures,
04:50fighting against fin crime, fighting against terrorist financing,
04:54and also fighting against fraud, because all of this is totally interlinked.
04:59And because we are a truly pan-European player,
05:03we also have a unique visibility of some fraud patterns
05:07that happens to be, you know, cross-border,
05:11because fraudsters don't care about borders.
05:13We have probably the best data scientists in the world working for us,
05:17so we are developing machine learning models to identify fraud,
05:22identify fraud patterns,
05:24and be in a position to cut that very upfront,
05:30and to inform customers.
05:31So, for example, we have developed recently a feature, an in-app call,
05:35so when we notice something weird happening,
05:39then there is an in-app call so that the customer can feel safe,
05:42because the call comes from the Revolut app itself,
05:45that says, look, this looks weird,
05:47so you should be maybe careful about, you know,
05:51wiring this money from point A to point B.
05:54So we are developing a lot of awareness features
05:57on top of our own LLM models
06:01that identify fraud patterns
06:03and actually cut them from the very beginning.
06:06And I know that Revolut is looking to expand its services,
06:10for example, by offering mortgages to customers.
06:13What are the challenges for Revolut here?
06:16So mortgages is a way to address the needs of the customer segment,
06:21which is very important for us,
06:23which is 35 years old and plus.
06:26Today, we've been extremely successful
06:28in the customer segment,
06:30which is 18 to 35,
06:33which is about 50% of our customer pool worldwide.
06:38So being able to provide mortgages
06:40is a way to address the needs
06:43of the next, you know, customer segment.
06:45So the challenge here
06:49is definitely that you do not grant a mortgage
06:52the same way in Germany,
06:53in Italy, in France,
06:55or in Spain, for example.
06:57And this is due to the fact that in Europe,
07:00even though there is the willingness
07:02to build a banking union,
07:05you still have some harmonization to do
07:09in terms of regulation,
07:11in terms of product offering.
07:12We have been very successful
07:14in the past 10 years, despite that.
07:16So I don't see any challenge.
07:18It's just, as always,
07:20when we have, you know,
07:21a problem to crack,
07:23we just crack it.
07:24So we go down to the root cause
07:25and then we say,
07:27look, what's the best way
07:28to provide a fantastic customer journey
07:31for a French customer
07:32or for a German customer
07:33when he or she wants to buy a house?
07:36And we will do it.
07:37And we will do it in a way
07:39which is so innovative
07:40that everyone will say, wow.
07:43Sure.
07:44Thank you, Beatrice.
07:45That's all we have time for today,
07:46but it's been a pleasure
07:47having you on The Big Questions.
07:48Definitely.
07:49Thank you very much.
07:50Thank you.
07:53Thank you.
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