Revolut to debut 'lite' app as it trumpets 25 million users

London-based fintech firm Revolut is set to launch a streamlined version of its app after amassing more than 25 million customers. 

Taking a page out from Meta's book, which launched Facebook Lite in 2014 to target lower-income countries, Revolut said it is launching its 'Lite' service in Latin America, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East, in an announcement. The lightweight app will allow instant cross-border transfers for free. 

“Our mission is to unlock the power of a borderless economy, for everyone, by bringing the world’s first financial super-app to all corners of the globe," said Revolut's head of international expansion André Silva. "This year we have made important steps in achieving this, building our teams on the ground in India, Mexico and Brazil." 

The SoftBank-backed company claimed that it is now processing over 330 million transactions monthly. Founded in 2015 in the UK, Revolut began as a foreign exchange service that has since morphed into a financial super-app, after adding features such as remittances, insurance, and crypto trading tools. 

The company is still in the process of obtaining a banking license in its native UK. In a Sunday Times interview in September, CEO Nikolay Storonsky said that operating without a UK license hasn't helped its efforts to procure licenses in other jurisdictions. “They look to your home regulator,” he said in the interview. “Their license is subject to your home regulator’s license.”

He added that the company is awaiting licensing rulings in Australia, Mexico, and Brazil. Still, it did manage to secure a place on the Financial Conduct Authority's register for crypto companies in September, allowing it to carry out crypto asset activities.