Revolut banking on new investment tool to boost trader customers

The new ‘Robo-Advisor’ service will trade from among 2,200 US-listed securities, over 220 EU-listed securities and 270 Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) through the Revolut app.

The cost of using the service will be an annual portfolio management fee of 0.75pc of portfolio value, while the minimum amount needed to use the new service is €100.

Revolut claims that its Robo-Advisor portfolio will be “fully diversified and customised” based on “inputs” to questions the user will get to identify “risk tolerance and financial goals”.

“Once a customer deposits money into their portfolio, the Robo-Advisor automatically invests it in the market and continually monitors and manages the customer’s portfolio,” the company says.

Revolut says that it is targeting users “who don’t have the time to do extensive research and actively invest, or have limited or no trading experience”.

The service, Revolut says, will automatically rebalance portfolios “based on the performance of the assets within the portfolio” as well as doing periodic reviews.

“Fifty-three percent of customers we surveyed last year said they simply don’t know where to start when it comes to investing,” said Rolandas Juteika, Revolut’s head of wealth and trading.

“We’re working to broaden the range of investment opportunities available through our Robo-Advisor, and to integrate more financial planning tools.”

The move comes after Revolut recently introduced Trading Pro, a subscription for advanced traders with discounted commission fees, higher order limits, advanced portfolio analytics and a desktop trading terminal.

Revolut recently said that it will soon launch in-store payments and more business banking services in Ireland, with some of the features to be tested in Ireland ahead of other countries.

The in-store service is likely to involve Revolut Pay via QR code payments with a ‘next generation’ payment terminal due later in the year.

Revolut has around 2.5 million Irish customers and more than 35 million customers worldwide.

In the United Kingdom, its ‘super app’ ambitions have seen Revolut preparing mobile data services for UK customers travelling abroad, a feature designed to help UK customers who might want to top up or use Revolut abroad but might be caught out by any post-Brexit roaming charges.

For individual users, Revolut recently raised the price of most of its paid plans, with its ‘Plus’ service going from €3 to €4 per month, its ‘Premium’ service going from €8 to €9 per month and its ‘Metal’ service going from €14 to €16 per month.

The price rises were the first that Revolut has imposed since it launched the paid tiers five years ago.

Last month, Revolut announced a deal with Aer Lingus to begin using Revolut Pay on the airline’s booking site. It has also announced plans for insurance and mortgage products as it tries to become a ‘super app’, playing a wider, more central part of customers’ financial lives.