Revolut’s South Africa Waitlist Nears 100K 2 Years Before Launch

Revolut’s expansion plans now reportedly include South Africa as interest there in the FinTech grows.

The British company plans to launch in Africa’s largest economy by 2028, an official told Bloomberg News in an interview published Monday (June 22).

“We are already seeing exceptional demand for our product, and our waitlist is fast approaching 100,000 registrations,” said Jacques Meyer, head of Revolut’s South African business.

Revolut aims to introduce what it calls its signature ecosystem in South Africa, with offerings especially designed for the local market, a company spokesperson said. It submitted a license application to the country’s central bank in September and will introduce products like a zero-fee account once regulatory approvals are in hand, the spokesperson added.

According to the report, Revolut views South Africa as a strategic entry to the continent, with plans to expand elsewhere in the region. The company is also in the United Arab Emirates with plans for further expansion in the Middle East and North Africa. Revolut also recently won a full banking license in the U.K., and is seeking a similar charter in the U.S.

The company, which has around 75 million users and is Europe’s most valuable FinTech, has been expanding both its services—offering things like wealth management and crypto—and its footprint, with recent ventures into Latin America.

Bloomberg noted that expanding to South Africa will mean competing with both established lenders and challenger banks, many offering no-fee accounts.

“We aren’t interested in chasing customer acquisition numbers for the sake of a headline; instead, our focus is on delivering a majorly disruptive experience that fundamentally upgrades how people manage their money,” Meyer said.

Writing about Revolut’s position on the FinTech landscape earlier this year, PYMNTS said the company’s results demonstrated the importance of diversification, as its revenue mix covers subscriptions, payments, wealth and interest income. This lowers the need to depend on any one line as the company looks to expand, the report added.

“Firms that lack that breadth may find that a charter adds cost without delivering sufficient returns,” PYMNTS wrote. “For banks and FinTechs, the competitive lines are becoming more clearly drawn, and are no longer between incumbents and apps. The jousting is between institutions that control the balance sheet and those that do not.”