Revolut is offering Revolut Lite in Latin American countries to make cross-border transactions and transfers more accessible to the unbanked.
Revolut Lite will provide users with free transfers as a taster of the online banking experience until 30th August. This is currently operational in Chile. The payments giant aims to further expand into the region with plans to set up in Argentina and Ecuador through Lite, having already launched in Brazil this May with a cryptocurrency platform. Revolut Lite is also live outside Latin America, in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Moldova, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Armenia, Macao, and Azerbaijan.
Current users in Chile have transferred £1.2 million, with an average transaction amount of £800.
The company’s LATAM expansion will also support the large expat communities that use the app in Spain and Portugal to send money home. Revolut has nearly three million customers in Spain and Portugal, and both have significant South American expat communities that require remittance services, , a substantial opportunity for Revolut.
In addition to this, with an aim of helping those financially excluded in the US, Revolut has also announced that the company will offer accounts to lawful non-US citizens in the US without SSN/ITIN who often struggle to open accounts. This group is around two and a half million, and consists of people on a visa without a SSN/ITIN; one million of which are students.
Revolut will be offering features such as a low fee currency exchange and international transfers, a global debit card, and early salary access.
Money transfers spike around international cultural celebrations, Revolut reported earlier this month, marking a 62% increase in money transfers to and from Muslim countries during Eid al-Adha.