Revolut abandoning plan to make Dublin a hub for its…

Revolut abandoning plan to make Dublin a hub for its Western Europe market

Financial technology company Revolut has reportedly abandoned plans to run its western European business from a hub in Dublin.

The Irish Independent report that it's currently in the process of dismantling its Irish operations, but will continue to serve its almost 2 million customers in Ireland, as the products and services are managed from Lithuania.

Revolut Payments Ireland had only one director for most of this year after five other directors were let go, according to reports.

The popular company has also reportedly missed a September deadline to file its annual return with the Companies Registration Office.

The digital payment and banking firm is headquartered in London and licensed through Lithuania, where it was awarded a banking licence last year.

The original plan was to make Lithuania the hub for eastern Europe, and Dublin the hub for western Europe - but after two years and an investment of around €4 million, the strategy has been abandoned, according to reports.

Revolut currently serves its Irish customers using its new European full banking licence.

A spokesperson said: “As was announced and widely reported at the time, in February 2022 Revolut decided to serve its Irish customers using its new European full banking licence, rather than via the Irish e-money licence which had just been approved by the Central Bank of Ireland. This meant we were able to offer customers in Ireland new credit products, including personal loans, as well as a bank account backed by a Deposit Guarantee scheme.

"This decision has been fully vindicated by the take-up of Revolut’s innovative and responsible lending products, including Revolut Personal Loans and Revolut Pay Later; and by the welcome for the Deposit Guarantee.

"As a result, Revolut has more than two million customers in Ireland who now enjoy a bank account with no monthly or quarterly charges, backed by a Deposit Guarantee Scheme and offering all the other brilliant functionality that has made Revolut so popular among Irish people.”

Nearly half a million new bank accounts have been opened with Ireland's main retail banks and credit unions this year, Buzz reports.

The main retail banks and credit unions, as well as An Post Money, have seen 434,000 personal current accounts opened so far this year and this doesn't include people who've switched to FinTech for their current accounts, with companies such as Revolut offering an alternative to more traditional banking.

With Ulster Bank and KBC Bank preparing to exit the Irish banking sector and their customers thus being forced to switch their current accounts, the other banks have seen an uptick in people opening new accounts.

Figures from Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) show that account-opening increased in August, with almost 70,000 personal current accounts being opened in that month alone.