Digital banking app Revolut has revealed that over 16,000 businesses have signed up to its business account during the past three months .
Revolut launched its business account three months ago with the aim of bringing such accounts into the 21st century.
“Instead of spending thousands of pounds on marketing initiatives, we went directly to businesses of all shapes and sizes so that we could build a product with them in mind,” said Revolut.
“If we could solve their issues, while also saving them time and money, signing them up to our platform would be simple.”
The mobile banking app organised a number of focus groups with SMEs across the UK and Europe and assessed the positive and negative feedback regarding business banks with five key areas highlighted.
The main cause for concern was the slow and clunky banking platforms that were on offer, which motivated Revolut to build a platform from the ground up with design, functionality and speed at its core as it would be a crucial selling point for businesses.
A few months later, Revolut had built a platform that was visually attractive, fast and user-friendly.
Another reoccurring problem highlighted was the time taken for finance teams to process employee expenses, so Revolut launched corporate cards with no ongoing fees that could be directly issued and managed via the platform.
Revolut slashed the excessive fees for business accounts – just as it did for its retail accounts – as well as giving businesses access to the interbank exchange rate for international payments.
Revolut also introduced multi-currency options to its business accounts.
This allowed customers to open a business account in the UK and Europe with the option of adding up to 25 individual currencies, which can all be easily managed via the platform.
The final key area for Revolut was to eliminate the hidden fees for customers that banks usually charge, including marked-up exchange rates, transfer fees, handling fees and maintenance fees.
As a result, Revolut for Business has no hidden charges associated with international money transfers, exchange rates and corporate cards.
“We are at the very start of a journey,” said Revolut.
“Our rapid growth has been exhilarating but has not been without its challenges, so we are constantly engaging with our business community to improve and upgrade our service.”
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