Revolut adds 5,000 Irish businesses to platform in past year

Fintech says rollout of Ibans for corporate clients comes during a period of ‘bumper growth’

Revolut continues to amass customers in Ireland with more than 5,000 Irish businesses joining the payments platform in the past year, a 50 per cent increase on the first quarter of 2022.

The company disclosed data relating to its Irish operation as it announced the rollout of local Ibans (international bank account numbers) for corporate customers.

The new Ibans are part of a “general expansion push” by Revolut’s Irish arm and come on the back of the rollout of Ibans for retail customers here in March. The company said it had “successfully migrated” more than 2 million Irish customers to local Ibans within six weeks.

Until now, Revolut customers may have experienced what the company described as “Iban discrimination” by using the brand’s Lithuanian Iban. Customers can find it difficult to have their salaries paid into their Revolut accounts or set up direct debits without a local Iban.

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“Local Ibans, which are more widely accepted by utility providers and tax authorities, will make it much easier for those Irish businesses to make payments via direct debit and avoid complex paperwork,” the company said.

Existing Revolut business customers will receive the Irish Iban automatically after two months, but a limited number of local Ibans can be requested in advance of this, Revolut said.

The company said the rollout of Irish Ibans for corporate clients comes during a period of “bumper growth” for the group, with the bank welcoming more than 5,000 new businesses in Ireland in the past year.

Growth has been driven by businesses from a range of industries in Ireland, including tech, fashion, marketing and real estate, it said.

“Irish companies are taking advantage of Revolut Business tools that allow you to monitor your team cards, expenses and analytics in one app and do business globally, while saving money with transfers, payments and currency exchange at market-leading rates,” it added.

James Gibson, general manager of Revolut Business, said: “Since the launch of Revolut Business in 2017, we have expanded our product and features portfolio, with the aim of providing our business customers with a comprehensive platform to manage all their finances effectively.”

“We are excited to be able to offer local Ibans to corporate clients in Ireland and to continue expanding our service. Ireland is a really key market for us given the level of adoption we’ve seen there and we will continue to look for ways to support Irish businesses who operate at home and abroad,” he said.

Eoin Burke-Kennedy

Eoin Burke-Kennedy

Eoin Burke-Kennedy is Economics Correspondent of The Irish Times