Fintech Revolut getting Australian team in place
London-based fintech Revolut has tapped a former BoQ exec to lead its Australian push.
London-based fintech Revolut has tapped former Bank of Queensland finance boss Matt Baxby to lead its Australian push, as part of a string of local appointments.
In a statement on Tuesday, Revolut announced three key hires including Mr Baxby, the former BoQ chief financial officer and head of Virgin Money Australia, to the post of chief executive of Revolut Australia.
Scott Jamieson, the former compliance boss at digital bank 86 400 and Westpac manager, was appointed Revolut’s chief compliance officer for Australia.
The company also hired Michael Hendricks, who formerly held a number of senior leadership roles locally and internationally at ME Bank, Citibank and National Australia Bank, as its local chief risk officer.
Mr Baxby told The Australian he was attracted to the fintech sector due to its speed of execution and its utilisation of technology to deliver for customers.
“It is fundamentally a different approach and customer fit (to the banks),” he said, noting that the beta launch phase for Revolut in Australia had seen the company acquire 30,000 customers.
“I think that has validated for us that there is definitely a market there.”
Revolut — a global financial platform with more than 10 million customers globally — launched in Australia in a limited way last year. The company’s services include transaction accounts, payments, foreign exchange and overseas funds transfers and budgeting tools.
At the time of the launch, Revolut said the group would initially rely on its British e-money licence, but it was applying for an Australian financial services licence.
Mr Baxby said the company was “mid process” and working with regulators to obtain the licence.
The full Revolut launch is expected in the first half of 2020. The company is hoping to capitalise on World Bank analysis which labelled Australia the third most expensive market among the Group of 20 economies for customers and small businesses to transfer money.
The competition regulator released a detailed report last year which showed that during 2017-18, individual consumers who used the big four banks to transfer US dollars and British pounds could have collectively saved $150m if they had used a lower priced supplier.
“The last 12 months have highlighted the lack of transparency and innovation in financial services in Australia. Customers here deserve better,” Mr Baxby said.
“Revolut is focused on solving the problems most important to customers and ensuring they are treated fairly.”
But Revolut’s systems were in the spotlight in 2018 for the wrong reasons, when it identified suspected money laundering on its platform and had to notify law enforcement authorities and regulators.
The local announcement around key appointments comes as Revolut ruled off a $US500m ($756m) Series D funding round, which valued the company at $US5.5bn.
Revolut said it plans to use the capital to “further strengthen product development in existing markets, rollout banking operations in Europe and increase daily engagement”.
The funding round was led by US-based investor TCV, with several existing investors also participating.
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