Revolut is a fintech firm which offers more than 50 products to 30 million customers worldwide. Photo: AFP
One of the UK's most valuable fintech firms is launching in New Zealand, promising to slash foreign currency exchange rates for customers.
Revolut, which launched as a pre-paid card firm in 2015 offering free currency exchange, has since ballooned to a company offering more than 50 products to more than 30 million customers worldwide.
Chief executive of the company's Australia and New Zealand arm, Matt Baxby, said more than 26,000 New Zealanders had already signed up to join the platform's waitlist following a 12-month test period.
"We are incredibly excited to be launching Revolut in New Zealand to enable Kiwis a seamless and affordable global money management experience, secure budgeting and analytics features and advanced physical and digital card control capabilities, in one seamless location," he said.
"We are excited to not only empower Kiwis with greater financial well-being, control, convenience, and transparency, but also increase consumer choice and drive competition across the financial services sector in New Zealand which has traditionally been underserved."
Baxby said major banks charged on average between 3 percent and 4 percent on individual remittance transactions.
"In 2022, Kiwis spent $1.4 billion on personal remittances, amounting to $43.2 million in fees which could be saved by using Revolut," he said.
As the company did not hold a banking licence, customers' funds will be held in an ANZ account.
Baxby said the Revolut app also offered budgeting tools to help customers keep track of their spending habits.