UK-based FinTech Revolut, which last month received in-principle approval to launch services in the UAE, is working with the country’s Central Bank to begin operations as it continues its global expansion.
Revolut is “working diligently towards a launch in the UAE” and will provide updates in due course, the company told The National.
The UAE has a significant expatriate population, with many people sending money through international remittances and carrying out forex transactions and so “we think our product can add a lot of value to the local market”, Konstantinos Adamos, group head of legal and non-executive director of Revolut Digital Assets, told The National.
Once operational, the company will be able to issue cards and offer cross-border and domestic remittances, Mr Adamos said on the sidelines of the FinTech Forward event in Bahrain.
“We’re continuously expanding our localisation efforts … offering Arabic language support is something we’re actively exploring for the region to ensure an inclusive experience for all customers,” the company said.
Home to large expat populations from countries such as India, the Philippines, Egypt and Pakistan, the Emirates recorded outward personal remittances worth Dh183 billion ($49.8 billion) in 2024, up from Dh169.2 billion the previous year, UAE Central Bank data showed.
There are currently 67 licensed exchange houses in the UAE, says the UAE Central Bank website, while several banks and FinTech platforms in the country also offer payment solutions.
“It's certainly a fiercely competitive landscape, there's no denying that, and the margins are quite compressed as well,” said Mr Adamos.
“It is a market where people historically do tend to interact in person. However, it is also a market with a big expatriate population. So, I think a product like Revolut that has very low fees will be adding a lot of value to their financial lives. Also … financial inclusion is very important.”
The company’s brand name will also boost its uptake in the country, he said. “It is a highly regulated and trusted name. So I think all of these things will help with the competition.”
Founded in 2015 by Nikolay Storonsky, Revolut started as an all-in-one financial super app by offering a prepaid debit card with no foreign transaction fees. Its services now include multi-currency accounts, international money transfers, cryptocurrency and stock trading, as well as bill-payments and budgeting tools.
The company, which claims to have a $75 billion valuation, announced ambitious expansion plans last month to enter 30 new markets and create 10,000 jobs globally by 2030, with an investment of $13 billion.
It also said it had 65 million customers worldwide, with a goal of reaching 100 million by mid-2027.
Revolut, which has just announced plans to enter India, said it will also look to expand in new markets across Latin America, Asia Pacific and the Middle East.
“The way we approach it is to have local teams that are quite lean but at the same time they have support from the group, and these teams have … expertise in the local market," Mr Adamos said.
"They may have established relationships with the regulators, which obviously helps, because they know who to speak to and they understand the processes, and they understand the local landscape.”
Regulatory clarity
In the UAE, the Central Bank in recent months has been cracking down on financial institutions, particularly exchange houses, for regulatory non-compliance.
Revolut Digital Assets
In July, the regulator imposed a fine of Dh4.1 million on three exchange houses for failing to comply with the law on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CFT). In June, the regulator handed down a Dh100 million penalty on an exchange house for “significant failures” in its AML/CFT framework and the previous month the Central Bank also fined an exchange house Dh200 million for the same offence. A Dh500,000 fine was separately imposed on a branch manager, who was barred from working in any licensed financial institutions in the UAE.
Revolut has all the required measures to ensure compliance, said Mr Adamos. “We have so many people who are responsible for financial crime compliance, it is one of the areas where we have really made heavy investment to ensure that we meet the highest standards,” he said.
"So I'm very confident that there will be no issues in that area. And obviously, we make heavy use of technology. We take the positives that technology can offer – from automations to data analytics – to ensure that we meet the highest standards of compliance.”
Artificial intelligence can improve compliance with AML/CFT and help provide a better customer experience, Mr Adamos said.
“As a company, we've always run towards regulation – we want regulation because that means clarity," he added. "You have very clear rules of what it is that you can do, how it is that you can offer your product to the market. It means that consumers are protected, and consumer protection and trust is … the basis of what we're trying to achieve.”
