Revolut

In 2014, Nikolai Storonsky moved money from London to America and paid 20% in exchange fees. Currency conversion was a commodity, but banks charged as though it was magic. Storonsky built an app that converted at real-time rates instantly. He saved hundreds monthly on his own transfers. He had a tool that could scale. Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko launched Revolut in July 2015 as a free app with perfect exchange rates and zero fees. Banks made money on spreads. Revolut made nothing. But Storonsky understood that fees were not the revenue model. Scale was. Free banking attracted young Europeans to avoid exchange fees when travelling. By month 6, 50,000 users. By year 2, a million.