Revolut

In two thousand and fourteen, Nikolay Storonsky moved money from London to America and paid twenty percent 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. Revolut launched in two thousand and fifteen 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 traveling. By month six, fifty thousand users. By year two, a million.