British neobank Revolut has started full banking operations in Mexico, introducing a novelty service for the Mexican market: free remittances from and to the United States.
“Today is a very important day,” Revolut’s CEO in Mexico Juan Miguel Guerra Dávila said on a post in his social media channels. “Revolut is now live, helping Mexicans get more out of their money.”
Founded in 2015 in London as an app for travelers, Revolut now operates as a digital bank in 40 countries. In Mexico, it seeks to reduce the cost of remittances and add over 20 million new users to the financial system — a goal supported by the United Kingdom’s ambassador to Mexico Susannah Goshko.
“[Revolut’s] advance is aligned with the Plan México to close gaps, accelerate digitalization and strengthen the household economy,” Goshko said at a press conference.
Revolut began offering services to select users in Mexico in December under its new banking license, as part of beta phase testing.
Now available to the general public, the license allows Revolut to offer a total of 11 products directly through its app, including debit and credit cards, international transfers and joint accounts for couples.
But Revolut’s most anticipated service is free remittances. According to Guerra, this service will potentially return US $3 billion a year to its clients.
“If we receive US $60 billion a year from our fellow citizens [in the U.S.] and the average cost of the operation is 5%, and we are able to migrate all of that to Revolut and move it for free and instantly, we would be returning US $3 billion a year to the people who need it most in the country,” Guerra stated.
In addition to this service, Guerra said they’ll be releasing new features to the app every two weeks, including accounts for children “very soon.”
The bank aims to reach some 2 million customers across the country in their first year of operations. Globally, they have 70 million.
Guerra described Mexico as a gateway to the rest of Latin America, saying as it will serve as a platform to test user experiences in the region.
To date, Revolut has invested some US $100 million in Mexico, and Guerra anticipated they’ll invest another US $100 million in the next year.
With reports from La Jornada, GBM and El Universal
