Business
Revolut launches in Australia as a beta release
Fintech startup Revolut is expanding beyond Europe for the first time. The service is going live for some users in Australia starting today.
Revolut isn’t opening its doors to all customers at once. The company calls this a beta release and plans to gradually on-board new users every day. There are currently 20,000 people on the waitlist in Australia.
You also don’t get the full Revolut experience for now. Cryptocurrency exchange, metal cards and business accounts aren’t available just yet. But you can open an account, get a card, send and receive money — all the basic stuff.
A new country also means a new group of users with a different currency. Families living on different continents could switch to Revolut to send money back and forth between Australia and the U.K., or Australia and Europe.
Sending money from one Revolut account to another is instant and free. Users can then choose to keep money in a foreign currency or convert it to their local currency from the app.
For instance, converting GBP to AUD is free during weekdays and below £5,000 per month (9,150 AUD, 5,600 EUR, 6,340 USD…). It costs 0.5 percent for bigger amounts (unless you’re a Premium or Metal customer), and you need to add 0.5 percent on top of that if you exchange money on the weekend.
If I try to convert 2,000 GBP in the Revolut app right now, I’d get 3,660.50 AUD. A similar transaction on TransferWise would give me 3,647.27 AUD. Of course, your mileage may vary depending on the day of the week, the amount you’re converting, etc.
Revolut currently has a team in Melbourne but doesn’t exclude putting together teams in Sydney and Perth as well. Eventually, the company plans to hire 30 people in Australia.
The startup has previously announced plans to expand to other countries, such as the U.S., Canada, Singapore, Japan and New Zealand.
-
Business6 days ago
Langdock raises $3M with General Catalyst to help businesses avoid vendor lock-in with LLMs
-
Entertainment6 days ago
What Robert Durst did: Everything to know ahead of ‘The Jinx: Part 2’
-
Entertainment6 days ago
This nova is on the verge of exploding. You could see it any day now.
-
Business5 days ago
India’s election overshadowed by the rise of online misinformation
-
Business5 days ago
This camera trades pictures for AI poetry
-
Business6 days ago
CesiumAstro claims former exec spilled trade secrets to upstart competitor AnySignal
-
Business4 days ago
TikTok Shop expands its secondhand luxury fashion offering to the UK
-
Business7 days ago
Internet users are getting younger; now the UK is weighing up if AI can help protect them