Revolut losses triple - 2020 Annual report

I suspect you may be right and the cost will be fixing their systems, any retrospective checks needed and potential fines.

It would also go a long way to explain the bad press Monzo has for freezing or closing so many accounts.

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That crossed my mind too.

I’ve only had one incident of fraud on my cards ever and it was Monzo. I was in a chippy and my phone buzzed with a notification that I’d spent some money at an online shop based somewhere in the US. I froze my card, started a chat in the app, and it was sorted within about 45 minutes that evening. Pretty good going. Different issue I know, suspicious activity reporting, to KYC, but I guess easier to do.

Related true story: I once had to go to Canada to test the anti money laundering controls, including suspicious activity reporting, at a client’s operations there and when I tried to pay for my flight back to the UK my credit card was frozen and blocked (before this was an easy thing to sort out) for suspicious activity. The irony! Unfortunately not a good test of the control as my bank wasn’t the client who’s controls I was testing, but hey ho…

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Not quite but they do publish fines regularly and there are some chunky ones for AML controls…

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Source?

I have no insight since this happened after I left.

I have a lot of respect for TS and think he’ll do a great job, but I cannot imagine a single staff member being “delighted” at Tom stepping down as CEO.

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If Monzo adopted some of Revoluts features, not sure how easy that would be, I would gladly pay a larger monthly fee.

Which features would be useful for you?

Foreign bank accounts especially as quite often i watch exchange rates for holidays etc also one time use virtual cards.

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Also, I’d appreciate some of those features vice-versa as an American user. I’m guessing it’s down to the way they operate that both Revolut and TransferWise can give me UK account numbers but Monzo can’t, but I certainly wish there was a way for Monzo to offer the same in both directions- US routing/account number for UK users that want it and UK sort code/account number for US users that want it.

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Unpopular opinion: I’ve found Revolut more agile than Monzo when it comes to optimise the app and the customer offering.

But the lack of UK banking licence for Revolut is a big minus to help them to convey trust.

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As a former employee myself, I’ve got to agree with Simon.

Tom was one of those bosses that you enjoyed working with (not for; there’s a big difference).

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Sorry for the bump, I’m putting back a comment I accidentally deleted:

I’m honestly not that surprised about this, for two reasons:

  1. No obvious marketing efforts. I only knew about Revolut because someone in a frequent-flyer forum mentioned it as a European Chip and PIN based card product available to Americans (back when chips on cards at all was still a new concept for the US, let alone Chip and PIN). That was back when they first launched. Then they had to shrink back to being EU/EEA only, cancelling my card in the process. When they came back to the US, it was with nearly zero fanfare. I got an e-mail about them returning to the US a couple years back, then a long period of silence, then one day on that same frequent-flyer forum someone mentioned that they’d been able to request a card again in the app, and lo and behold, I was able to request a card again. It’s been basically word of mouth, I’ve never seen any advertising for it in the US, not online, not in person. It’s a stark contrast to, say, N26, which went and blasted cities like NYC with advertising for their product.

  2. Their KYC/AML efforts are considered overzealous by US standards. Enough stories of people getting their accounts locked and having to provide payslips or other source of funds of documentation for deposits of more than a couple hundred USD and the average American is going to be quite turned off. Practically no local bank in the US, whether physical or fintech, will ask for such documents unless receiving gargantuan amounts (I’ve even received $50k from an insurance payout before to a fintech bank account without any request for documentation), otherwise they usually only ask as a proof of income when granting credit (for instance, mortgages or loans).

EDIT:

  1. One more thing- Foreign currency transactions. Weekend and infrequently-traded currency markups as well as limits on how much you can withdraw at foreign ATMs are not a thing with most US travel debit cards. With most locally-based banks and fintechs that offer free foreign spending and withdrawals, you’re free to spend and withdraw cash up to your card’s standard ATM or spending limit free of additional charges. TransferWise is the only other one I can think of that does this (varying conversion fee by currency as well as a $300 limit on international withdrawals before an additional fee is assessed).
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EUR (and other) pots and accounts.

Like many of us I have 10s of fintec accounts, including TW and Revolut, Starling EUR and N26 EUR… They all have something others dont and each have a useful service or cheaper part of the system / solution.

If Monzo was more international, had multi currency pots, Good FX features (or a transferwise integration) it would be my primary.

With everyone walking around terrified in case they say something which offends or upsets someone (I’m talking generally, not regarding diversity).

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Could not disagree any stronger.

That is the difference between a “boss” and a “leader” and what ultimately will affect the performance and behaviour of a team that looks up to you and feel (or don’t) that they can voice their opinions or comments in any matter.

Not aimed at Revolut or Monzo or anyone in particular, just in general.

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Not 100% sure what you are disagreeing with, you didn’t seem to disagree in your reply and took a sideways step instead. Maybe it was the language used (boss).

Boss, leader, CEO, whatever you want to call them, they still need to lead from the front and be approachable, but they don’t need to be matey with you for that. Big big difference.

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Productivity is down; double the beatings!

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Not sure what’s happening with this conversation. You can work with someone and still be led by them. :man_shrugging:

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So I don’t disagree that managers and leaders (and indeed employees) need to deliver.

I suppose it depends on the meaning of tough, but by contrasting it with open and friendly, it reads up me that
you think bad, aggressive or bullying behaviour is acceptable in the pursuit of goals.

I’d like to think that the best leaders are tough at staying on mission, but not on people. If under performance needs to be dealt with, being “tough” is, in my experience, rarely the way to get results. Empathy rather than “toughness” is usually the best ways to get the most out of people.

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