Barclays boss: Revolut ‘laid gauntlet down’ with $75bn price tag
The boss of Barclays has said traditional lenders could “learn” from the growing success of their challenger rivals after Revolut surpassed its valuation.
CS Venkatkrishnan – known as Venkat – said fintech banks have “laid the gauntlet down,” when asked about Revolut’s new $75bn (£57bn) price tag.
The latest milestone from the fintech juggernaut, which was achieved through private fundraising from the likes of chipmaker Nvidia’s investment arm, sprung the firm ahead of many publicly listed banks.
When the news broke of the new Revolut investment, the firm surpassed Barclays’ value at the time of £55bn. The bank’s stock has since gained over five per cent and has notched back above Revolut at £60bn.
“I think we should learn from them in terms of their user interface, we should learn from them and the kinds of products they offer,” Venkat said.
Revolut’s mission to become the all-in-one “super app” has seen the fintech introduce a holiday bookings’ platform dubbed ‘Stays’ in 2021, crypto in 2024 and most recently an expansion into mobile plans.
Barclays chief raises questions on risk control
During his remarks at the Financial Times’ Global Banking Summit Venkat took a shot at the contrasting regulatory framework the challengers and traditional lenders face.
“They don’t have a banking licence in the UK,” Venkat said, and referenced consumer obligations enshrined in the legislation.
The Barclays’ chief emphasised financial controls and operational controls impact on a lender, adding “I take that very seriously”.
“That is the contract – if you don’t have that contract, then you will have the questions… about how to manage [a bank’s financial controls]”.
In a later session, Natwest chief Paul Thwaite said he didn’t “lose sleep thinking about market capitalisation”.
He added “companies like Revolut have raised the bar in terms of the retail proposition so that is the lens I am looking at it through.”
Responding to the remarks, a spokesperson for Revolut said: “As a UK Payment Service Provider, Revolut abides by the same regulatory and consumer protection standards as any traditional bank or other financial institution.”
In September, data from consumer platform Which? identified Revolut as the bank with the most fraud complaints lodged against them for the year with 1,875 and an uphold rate of 30 per cent.
But Barclays came in second at 1,161, with a whisker higher uphold rate of 31 per cent.
Revolut has faced a tricky path in its pursuit of a UK banking licence. Earlier this year, reports indicated the final stamp of approval was being held up due to concerns over the fintech’s ability to keep at pace its risk controls with global expansion.
A spokesperson for Revolut previously told City PM: “Given Revolut’s global scale, this is the largest and most complex mobilisation ever undertaken in the UK.
“We are looking forward to launching a fully regulated UK bank for our millions of UK customers.”