Revolut CEO Nik Storonsky Says He Wants To Build a Global Banking Brand Operating in 100 Countries 🇬🇧
We're also covering Robinhood $300M bet on advisors 🇺🇸, Nubank considering a UK move 🇧🇷, Wealthsimple's $3.6B valuation 🇨🇦, Google nuking Forbes Advisors & CNN Underscored Money 🇺🇸 and more.
🇬🇧 Revolut CEO Nik Storonsky Says He Wants To Build a Global Banking Brand Operating in 100 Countries
Revolut CEO Nik Storonsky has set his sights on an ambitious goal: building the world's first truly successful global banking brand. Speaking to investors in Helsinki, Storonsky outlined a vision of reaching 100 million daily active customers across 100 countries, targeting $100 billion in annual revenue.
This announcement comes as the fintech giant celebrates reaching 50 million customers worldwide and achieving a $45 billion valuation. On top of that, Revolut secured a UK banking license in July, expanded its workforce to over 10,000 employees across 38 countries and is now considering applying for a banking license in the US.
Revolut's global ambitions stand in sharp contrast to competitor N26's recent strategy of doubling down on the European market. N26 has indeed recently retreated from Brazil, the US, and the UK to focus on continental Europe. Meanwhile, HSBC is currently reviewing exits from up to a dozen markets to refocus on the Asian market, and already sold its Canadian, Greek, Russian and French subsidiaries.
HSBC's global banking brand, ingeniously plastered on the boarding bridges of most global airports I’ve landed at, did not provide the bank a significant competitive advantage in the multiple markets it is now exiting.
In a recent LinkedIn post, however, Storonsky insisted that he has no plan to slow down: “We’re moving faster than ever, and we’ll keep evolving to become a truly global bank”, he wrote.
While I’m not sure his vision for 100 countries make sense, given the fundamentally local nature of banks and the fact it would probably be cheaper to grow more in a smaller number of countries, I hope he figured out something HSBC and N26 did not. And if he did, I hear there are some prime ad spots available in the boarding bridges of Canadian airports :)
Source: Global Fintech Insider
🇺🇸 Robinhood’s $300 Million Acquisition of TradePMR Sparks Debate Among Industry Insiders
Robinhood’s $300 million acquisition of TradePMR, a custodial platform for Registered Independent Advisors (IRAs) in the U.S., marks its latest step to expand beyond its day-trading roots. The move aims to connect Robinhood’s 24 million funded accounts with TradePMR’s RIAs network. “We believe this acquisition allows us to build a multi-generational platform that will help introduce financial advisors to this next generation” said TradePMR CEO Robb Baldwin, who will join Robinhood once the deal closes. Other synergies includes Robinhood becoming the clearing broker for the firm, which currently outsource the execution of its trades to Wells Fargo. Jason Wenk, whose firm Altruist is a dedicated custodian for RIAs, predicted a rocky transition for TradePMR in a Linkedin post, with up to 40% of TradePMR’s RIAs potentially leaving during the transition.
Source: Global Fintech Insider
🇧🇷 Brazilian Neobank Nubank Eyes UK for New Legal Home
Nubank is weighing a move to shift its legal base from the Cayman Islands to the UK. The bank’s operational headquarters would remain in São Paulo. With its banking app used by around 60% of Brazilian adults and operations in Mexico and Colombia, Nubank has become Latin America's most valuable bank. The potential relocation, discussed during the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, would be a big win for UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s administration, which has been actively trying to convince global fintech firm to move to the UK.
Source: Bloomberg
🇺🇸 Google Removed Forbes Advisors, CNN Underscored Money & Many More From Its Search Results
Google has updated its Site Reputation Abuse policy to crack down on what it calls "parasite SEO" in such a way that all affiliate content could eventually be banned from from Google. Following the update, it appears that Google issued manual penalties to many media-operated financial recommendations sites, including Forbes Advisors and CNN Underscored Money. As of this writing, their content is no longer indexed by Google. The affiliate sections of the aforementioned websites was run in partnership with third-parties, which could be the issue. However, SEO Researcher Lily Ray wrote in a Linkedin post that many sites that did create affiliate content in-house were penalized as well. It’s important to note that Google's crack-down on affiliate businesses is not new. However, the first waves of this crackdown involved tweaks to its search algorithm that ended up tanking many affiliate site (including my own fintech Hardbacon). What is new is that Google is now manually targeting affiliate sites or directories, and literally removing them from their index.
Source: Global Fintech Insider
🇨🇦 Wealthsimple Is Now Worth $3.6 Billion Following Investment From Mark Zuckerberg & Jack Dorsey’s Family Office
Wealthsimple, Canada’s most valuable fintech, has restored its 5 billion CAD (3.6 billion USD) valuation following a $100 million CAD (72 million USD) secondary financing. The fintech was valued at this amount in a 2021 round, but the company's value was cut by more than half in 2022, on the books of its largest investor, the insurance holding company Power Corporation. Iconiq Capital, the family office managing assets for many tech billionaires including Mark Zuckerberg (CEO of Facebook) and Jack Dorsey (CEO of Block), along with other investors, acquired shares from current and past employees. CEO Michael Katchen told the Globe & Mail that most of the company’s 1000 employees did not sold any share in the secondary. Originally a robo-advisor, Wealthsimple has expanded its offerings to include credit cards, trading, crypto, savings and mortgages. Since late 2022, it has doubled its assets under administration to $58 billion CAD (41.6 billions USD).
Source: Globe & Mail
🇬🇧 More Than 1M Brits Turned to Personal Finance Management (PFM) Apps in 2024
In 2024, over 1 million new users in the UK adopted personal finance management (PFM) apps, a trend spurred by the rising cost of living. This represents a 25% year-on-year growth in the sector. Leading apps driving this growth include Plum (318,000 new downloads), Moneybox (264,000 new downloads), Snoop (157,000 new downloads), HyperJar (123,000 new downloads), Emma (74,000 new downloads), and Chip (63,000 new downloads). The popularity of these apps in the UK could be explained by the country’s open banking regulations, which makes app that relies on users’ banking data more reliable.
Source: IBS Intelligence
🇷🇺 Electricity Shortages Force Russia to Restrict Crypto Mining in Many Regions
Russia has introduced restrictions on cryptocurrency mining in over a dozen regions due to growing concerns about electricity shortages, which have been exacerbated by the country's expanding military manufacturing and extreme weather conditions. A government commission approved a ban on mining until 2031 in six regions, including parts of the Caucasus and Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine, as well as a six-year ban during peak winter periods in three southeastern Siberian areas. These regions are home to major cryptomining operations, which consume about 16 billion kilowatt-hours annually—nearly 1.5% of Russia’s total electricity use.
Source: Bloomberg
🇮🇳 India’s SWIFT Alternative Takes the Form of a Central Bank Digital Currency
India’s Reserve Bank (RBI) is collaborating with central banks across the ASEAN region to develop a cross-border payments platform that would enable instant transactions, unlike traditional systems like SWIFT. The RBI views central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) as the future of money and the most cost-effective solution for cross-border payments. While India has launched a pilot for its CBDC, there is no immediate timeline for its full rollout as the RBI continues to study its security aspects and potential impacts on the economy.
Source: Bloomberg
Upcoming Fintech Events
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🇳🇱 Banking Renaissance will take place in Amsterdam on February 19-20, 2025 (€1000), with speakers such as Giorgi Shagidze, CEO of maib & Ivar Lammers, Global Head of Financial Crime at ING Bank.
🇬🇧 Finovate Europe will be held in London on February 25-25, 2025 (£1,899), with speakers such as Joris Hensen, co-lead of co-lead Deutsche Bank API Program & Joanne Phillips, managing director for Aviva Direct Wealth.
🇺🇸 The Bank Automation Summit will be held in Austin on March 3-4, 2025 ($632.50), with speakers such as Michael Lehmbeck, CTO at BankUnited and Koren Picariello, head of generative AI strategy for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.
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