Digital challenger bank Revolut just sailed past one million customers

Challenger bank Revolut has notched up more than one million customers, charging past the mark after less than three years in business.

Between them, they have made more than 42m transactions worth $6.1bn while it has said that it’s signing up between 3,000 and 3,500 new users per day.

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The milestone comes as the fintech startup seeks to become a fully licensed bank to expand its services to overdrafts and loans.

“Traditional banks spend hundreds of dollars to acquire each customer. Revolut has managed to reach one million card holders purely through word of mouth,” said Martin Mignot, partner at Index Ventures which is a backer of the firm.

Founder and chief executive Nikolay Storonsky hailed “exceptional” organic growth and a rise in transaction value as a “clear indication” of customers using Revolut as their main current account.

The UK is Revolut’s largest market with more than half of users, followed by France with 150,000 and 60,000 in the Baltic regions. It is planning to launch in the US, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand early next year.

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The race for customers is heating up among startups looking to take on the big banks, with 2017 being the year where most have launched to the public.

Rival digital challenger bank Monzo, which is now a fully licensed bank, has said it will have more than half a million current account holders by the end of the year and could even reach 800,000.