British fintech giant Revolut is gearing up to shake up India’s financial landscape as it launches operations in the country, aiming to end what it calls the “criminal” foreign exchange fees charged by traditional banks.

According to Paroma Chatterjee, CEO of Revolut India, cross-border payments remain one of the most underserved segments in the Indian financial ecosystem. By Revolut’s estimates, Indians spend nearly $30 billion overseas every year, losing around $600 million in bank-related charges.

Revolut has been laying the groundwork for its India launch since 2021. The London-based fintech acquired Arvog Forex in 2022 to secure the necessary licenses for remittance and multi-currency services. In April this year, it obtained a Prepaid Payment Instrument (PPI) license from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) — allowing it to issue prepaid cards, offer digital wallets, and integrate seamlessly with Unified Payments Interface (UPI).

With these approvals, Revolut plans to challenge traditional banks and local fintech competitors alike. The company is targeting over 150 million digitally savvy Indians aged 25 to 45, aiming to onboard 20 million users by 2030 and process at least $7 billion in transactions.

Chatterjee emphasized that Revolut’s regulatory independence allows it to deliver a richer, end-to-end experience:
Revolut will soon offer Indian users a prepaid UPI wallet with its own UPI handles, domestic and international Visa cards, and even kids’ and teens’ accounts linked to parents’ profiles. The platform will also feature budgeting tools, spending analytics, and a subscription-based model for premium features.

Notably, Revolut’s license enables it to handle both domestic and international transfers — including same-day remittances through local bank partners. In contrast to many Indian fintech startups that use minimal KYC (Know Your Customer) checks for small transactions, Revolut will implement full KYC verification, including Aadhaar and video verification. The company will also screen new users against global sanctions lists maintained by the United Nations and Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)

The fintech plans to measure its success not by the number of users but by depth of engagement and profitability.

Revolut already has a waitlist of more than 350,000 Indian users, which it expects to onboard by the end of the year before opening registration to new customers. The final rollout will depend on the pace of KYC and anti–money laundering (AML) clearances.

The company is also exploring partnerships beyond Visa, including the government-backed RuPay network, to give customers multiple payment options.

To establish its local operations, Revolut has invested $45 million in India and fully localized its technology stack to comply with data sovereignty laws. The company plans to expand further as it scales operations.

Interestingly, India already hosts 3,500 of Revolut’s 10,000 global employees, making it the fintech’s largest workforce hub — surpassing even its home market in the United Kingdom.

Despite Revolut’s ambitious entry, the company will face stiff competition from established players like Niyo, Scapia, Fi, and BookMyForex, which already dominate parts of India’s remittance and cross-border payments ecosystem.

Still, Chatterjee remains confident that Revolut’s global experience, regulatory readiness, and customer-first approach will set it apart in a market long overdue for fairer, more transparent financial solutions.

Source: Techcrunch