British fintech Revolut — now launching in India — says cross-border payments remain one of India’s most underserved financial services. By its estimate, Indians spend about $30 billion overseas every year and lose around $600 million in bank charges — fees its India head calls “criminal.”
“It has been the preserve of banks,” Paroma Chatterjee, Revolut India CEO, told TechCrunch. “You go to your bank to take currency, foreign exchange out from your bank, or you take a travel card that is issued by your bank when you’re traveling overseas … there have been humongous charges which have been levied on this.”
Since 2021, Revolut has been working toward its India launch, aiming to fill what it sees as gaps in the country’s foreign exchange and traditional payments spaces. The London-headquartered fintech acquired Arvog Forex in 2022 to obtain a license and offer remittance and multi-currency account services in India. In April this year, it also secured a prepaid payment instrument (PPI) license from the Reserve Bank of India, allowing it to issue prepaid cards, support digital wallets and integrate with the government-backed Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
With these regulatory approvals, Revolut aims to challenge traditional banks in India and compete with existing fintech players. The British startup is targeting more than 150 million “globally aspiring, digitally native” Indians aged between 25 and 45, with plans to onboard about 20 million users by 2030 and process at least $7 billion worth of their transactions.
Chatterjee said that such regulatory approvals — including the PPI license — allows the fintech to offer a more differentiated experience than players that rely on bank partnerships. “We can deliver the kind of customer experience that we want to deliver,” she said.
Revolut will offer Indian consumers a prepaid wallet with UPI support and its own branded UPI handles, along with a domestic Visa card and an international multi-currency Visa card. It will also introduce dedicated kids and teens accounts linked to parents’ profiles, a subscription-based model, and budgeting and analytics tools that provide insights into spending habits.
Notably, the startup has regulatory permissions …