Digital banking alternative Revolut is the latest fintech to help you turn your spare change into savings gold (or cash, or Bitcoin) …
Revolut has introduced a new tool, Vaults, that enables users to set aside the spare change they get from daily transactions. “Every time you make a card transaction with Revolut, we’ll round up your purchase to the nearest whole number and place your space change into your Vault,” Revolut Chief Blogging Officer Rob Braileanu wrote this morning. “Picture the scene – you buy your morning coffee for £2.70, we round it up to £3.00 and automatically place £0.30 into your Savings Vault.”
Spare funds set aside in Vaults can be withdrawn at any time, and users can adjust the savings setting to have more or less spare change directed to their Vaults. Users of Vaults can save spare change in any of the 25 supported currencies, as well as cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Ether. In addition to turning spare change into savings, the app can be used to set up recurring payments that are set aside in your Vault or make one-off payments.
“We’ve had thousands of people in our community asking for this feature, so we wanted to give something back and ask for their help in naming it,” Revolut CEO Nikolay Storonsky said. “We believe that Vaults will enable us to help many more people start saving and investing towards their future.”
Setting up the Vault on the Revolut app is straightforward. After making sure you have the latest version of the app installed, select “Vaults” under the “More” tab. Name your Vault and choose the currency and the savings goal. To round up transactions, choose the “Spare change” option. Funds set aside in the Vault are kept separately from the user’s main Revolut card account. Users should understand that funds received by Revolut in digital asset transactions are not protected under the U.K. Electronic Money Regulations 2011 nor the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
Revolut demonstrated its app at FinovateEurope 2015. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in London, U.K., Revolut has more than 1.5 million customers across Europe, has processed more than 70 million transactions to date – totalling more than $10 billion in volume – and saved customers $160 million in fees.
Just last month Revolut announced that it was updating its business accounts to support more currencies. The new update will also enable users to set permissions for multiple log ins and to integrate Revolut’s technology with in-house systems and third party solutions via Open API. In March, Revolut introduced disposable virtual cards to help fight online card fraud, and launched its Euro direct debit service.
With plans to enter the North American market later this year, Revolut has raised more than $86 million in funding. The company includes Index Ventures, TriplePoint Capital, Balderton Capital, and Mastercard Start Path among its investors.