Digital bank Revolut launches mobile service in Germany

The smartphone bank aims to become a leading direct bank in Germany. In its pursuit of N26 and other competitors, the British are increasingly focusing on services that are not part of a bank's core business.

The British digital bank Revolut is launching its own comprehensive mobile service later this year. The offer includes unlimited data within Germany, as well as a flat rate for calls to all networks and text messages. It also includes 40 gigabytes of roaming data for travel within the European Union and the United Kingdom.

In competition with Berlin-based smartphone bank N26 and other rivals, Revolut plans to initially make its mobile service available to customers in the UK and Germany. The exact launch date has not been announced. It is also currently unclear which of the four mobile providers in Germany (Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, Telefónica, or 1&1) will technically implement the service.

"Revolut wants to offer German customers the best possible service and optimal network coverage," a company spokesperson said. Details on the partners in the individual countries will follow at the product launch. The bank charges €12.50 per month for the mobile service. The "introductory offer" is not time-limited.

Revolut claims to have more than 50 million customers worldwide – over two million of them in Germany. Its main competitor in this country, N26, had almost five million "revenue-relevant customers" at the end of 2024. The Berlin-based neobank is also working on a mobile offering, which is expected to be officially announced this spring.

Neobanks such as Revolut, N26, and Trade Republic generally offer their services without monthly fees. They generate revenue, partly through card and transaction fees. Whenever customers pay with their debit card, the bank receives so-called interchange fees from the merchant. However, both N26 and Revolut also offer paid premium accounts. These generate monthly or annual subscription revenue and offer additional services such as insurance, higher withdrawal limits, or special card designs.

Neobanks such as Revolut and the Brazilian Nubank have also discovered mobile communications as a customer loyalty tool for some time now: At the British smartphone bank, for example, customers of the premium “Ultra” subscription can use a digital SIM card (“eSIM”) for online use while traveling, which includes 3 GB of mobile data volume worldwide per month.

Since the launch of the eSIM offering over a year ago, customers have signed up for millions of data plans and are now using them in more than 100 locations worldwide, said Hadi Nasrallah, General Manager Telco at Revolut. "This makes eSIMs Revolut's most widely used non-banking product."

dpa