Revolut announced Tuesday (Nov. 17) that, in collaboration with TrueLayer, it will expand into Germany. Earlier this year, the European digital bank had taken on Ireland, France and Italy.
In a press release, Revolut said the latest expansion would bring open banking to its users in Germany. “With the new feature, German customers can now connect their accounts at Comdirect, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, ING-DiBa and Sparkasse with the Revolut app and view all their finances in one place — directly from their smartphones,” according to the release.
Open banking lets third-party financial service companies to have access to a consumer’s banking transactions and other financial data from financial institutions (FIs).
Revolut said its new open banking offer was developed with TrueLayer, a London-based financial technology (FinTech) company. “The use of the TrueLayer platform ensures that account information from major German banks is securely integrated and updated in real time in the Revolut app,” the release said.
Joshua Fernandes, an open banking executive at Revolut, said the company’s offering in Germany will be “user-friendly, fast and accessible.”
Francesco Simoneschi, co-founder and CEO of TrueLayer, said the “collaboration with Revolut is continuing apace — and this is just the beginning of what will be a fruitful partnership bringing further innovation to the German market.”
The new setup would also allow users to transfer money between Revolut and other bank accounts, the release said. The digital bank’s German customers will now, using the Revolut app, be able to make some money transfers — such as with family and friends — without logging into the online banking systems of other FIs.
Revolut said the open banking service is free of charge for all Revolut users.
Meanwhile, Revolut is close to applying for a U.S. banking license. According to a report by CNBC, Revolut is likely to seek a charter with the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and California’s Division of Financial Institutions.