Revolut has launched personal loans in the UK, intensifying its challenge to established high-street lenders as the digital banking group seeks to expand into a broader consumer finance business.
The fintech is offering unsecured loans of between £2,000 and £25,000, with annual percentage rates ranging from 6.9 per cent to 29.3 per cent. Approved customers can typically receive funds within minutes, while applications and repayments are managed through the Revolut app.
The launch marks the company’s first credit product in the UK since securing a full banking licence, following a lengthy regulatory process after it first applied five years ago.
Revolut has about 14mn customers in Britain, its home market, and has been seeking to expand beyond its core digital accounts into a wider range of financial services. Although the company already offers loans in some other countries, the UK launch brings the product to one of its most important customer bases.
The service will initially be available to a select group of customers, with a phased rollout planned over several months.
Francesca Carlesi, Revolut’s UK chief executive, said borrowers could face “unnecessary friction and complex fee structures” when seeking credit.
“We’ve built a transparent and simple loan process with near-instant funds on approval, no fee for early repayment and competitive rates,” she said.
Carlesi added that integrating credit into the Revolut app would let customers view repayments alongside their everyday budgeting, spending, and investing.
The move opens a new front in Revolut’s competition with traditional banks, which have long relied on personal lending as part of their consumer banking businesses. The company’s app-based model lets it combine borrowing, payments, and account management in a single interface, although rates offered to individual customers will vary.
Revolut is also planning to launch a credit card in the UK soon and has longer-term ambitions to enter the mortgage market, according to Reuters.
The expansion signals a broader push to establish Revolut as more than a payments and digital banking platform, with lending potentially becoming another part of its relationship with millions of British customers.
Leave a Comment