Revolut posts US$1.7b in net profit for 2025; targets growth in Southeast Asia from Singapore base

The company announced in February that it plans to triple its Singapore workforce to over 300 employees in the next three years.

“We’re going to invest in Singapore a lot, not only in terms of headcount hiring, but also in making sure that we have a good environment for our colleagues to work in,” he said.

The team also wants to build brand awareness in Singapore and is in negotiations about the possibility of having a logo on the building that it moves into.

Mr Ng said he hopes the plans can be finalised in the next one to two months.

The company intends to use Singapore as a base for growth into Southeast Asia and Asia.

It declined to comment on ongoing licence applications, but said it is exploring opportunities for growth in new markets.

“Southeast Asia is a key growth region for us. As we expand in a phased way, we see the opportunity to serve a few million users over time, with Singapore as our base for regional growth,” said Mr Ng.

BANK AMBITIONS

Revolut has been public about its goal to be a bank in every market that it operates in, with the ambition of being a “truly global bank”.

Asked where the company is in the process of getting a banking license in Singapore, Mr Ng said Revolut is looking to bring more products and services to its app, and a digital banking license is one way to proceed.

But it is not the only way, and “our ambition is not dependent on it”, he said.

“We are always looking for mutually beneficial collaborations and are working with local partners to bring greater value and increased app functionality to our customers,” he added.

Revolut was granted a full banking license in the UK this month after a years-long wait.

The company told CNA that the process was more complex than for other businesses because Revolut already had many customers in the UK and around the world.

“We weren’t just building a bank – we were transitioning a global, systemically important institution into a new regulatory framework,” the company said.

As for whether Singapore customers would be confident about using Revolut as a bank in future, Mr Ng said the users in Singapore are sophisticated and would be willing to use products and services that bring good value.

He also pointed to an increase in domestic transactions and peer-to-peer payments in Singapore.

“We’re seeing a clear shift from Revolut being used primarily for travel to becoming an everyday financial app,” he said, adding that this was an important indicator for the business.