“Ukraine is a highly competitive market.” Interview with Revolut’s head of expansion on the launch in Ukraine, risks, development plans, and hiring

On February 11, the financial app Revolut announced the expansion of its services for Ukrainian citizens. AIN spoke to Dmytro Strelchuk, Head of Expansion, to learn whether they are hiring employees, planning to open accounts in Ukrainian banks, or renewing their residency in Diia.City, and what features will be introduced in the future.

Dmytro Strelchuk moved to the UK in 2015. Three years later, he joined Revolut in London (where its headquarters are located) when the company was still a small startup with 40 employees. Today, Revolut has approximately 10,000 employees. Dmytro has worked on various projects, including the creation of a crypto exchange. He has been working in the International Expansion department for the last two years, launching Revolut in new markets. He is currently focused on four markets: Brazil, Mexico, India, and Ukraine.

Why did Revolut decide to enter the Ukrainian market?

When the full-scale war started, Revolut donated $2 million to help Ukrainians and launched a fundraising campaign. Our users also had the opportunity to donate through the app — together, we raised $10 million.

We started thinking about how else we could help the country technologically. That’s when we allowed Ukrainians in Europe to open Revolut accounts using only their Ukrainian passport.

• Initially, we thought this would be a short-term initiative. At the time, it seemed like the war would end quickly. But the demand was much higher than expected — around 500,000 accounts were opened by displaced Ukrainians. In 2023, we officially closed this project, but 100,000 regular users remained. This was the first step.
• The second step was recognizing Ukraine as an interesting and promising market, first because of its proximity to the EU, where Revolut has a strong presence. Additionally, our brand already had recognition in Ukraine, partly due to Volodymyr Yatsenko and various Ukraine-related projects. Today, we have 700,000 accounts opened by Ukrainians worldwide.

That led us to the next question — how could we provide Ukrainians with access to the app as quickly as possible? The answer was to launch Revolut officially in Ukraine.

Entering Ukraine despite the war and risks — why now?

It may sound naive, but our main reason is to bring Ukraine closer to Europe in terms of financial integration. We see a real need for this. Of course, the risks are significant. For instance, Ukraine has a higher risk profile regarding potential financial abuse and fraud.

There are additional compliance procedures we must follow. For example, we comply with Ukraine’s sanctions regulations. Sanctioned individuals in Ukraine cannot open Revolut accounts, nor can funds be transferred to them. We also cannot open accounts for politically exposed persons.

We verify if users access the app from Crimea, Donetsk, or other temporarily occupied territories, as this falls under global compliance regulations. We do not want our product to be used for illicit activities, whether voluntarily or involuntarily.

How much time and effort did it take to launch Revolut in Ukraine?

It took a little over a year. We worked on multiple projects simultaneously. The product launch was relatively straightforward since we provide the service through our Lithuanian bank.

Operating a business in Ukraine requires compliance with local banking regulations, which take longer. We completed product testing, including integration with Diia, which is an exceptional service for verifying photo documents—there’s nothing like it in Europe.

Another challenge was organizing card delivery to Ukraine, which we now handle through Nova Poshta. We saw higher-than-expected demand during testing, so we had to adjust our systems to accommodate the increased load.

We also launched a charity initiative — the ClearSky card. European users must donate and pay for delivery to receive it, while Ukrainians get it for free. All funds go to support IDPs through the UK for UNHCR.

I won’t disclose the exact investment amount, as this was more of an investment in time and resources. We prioritize projects based on impact, and I’m glad we could allocate resources specifically for Ukraine.

Let’s talk about Revolut’s features in Ukraine. The neobank allows Ukrainians to make commission-free international transfers between app users, exchange over 30 currencies, and invest in gold, silver, and other precious metals. What new features can users expect, and is there a plan to introduce hryvnia accounts?

We’re now allowing users to open accounts with our European bank, giving them access to a 50-million-strong user base. Transfers within Revolut are instant and free.

Crypto services are available, and we plan to introduce more functionality— such as transferring crypto between wallets and using crypto for payments.

Currently, we don’t offer hryvnia accounts. Due to war-time regulations, the hryvnia isn’t widely used outside Ukraine. We’d need to partner with a Ukrainian bank or obtain a banking license to provide this feature, which will take time.

Regarding the license — Revolut struggled to obtain a banking license in the UK for a long time. The Guardian reported that British regulators saw issuing a license to a company with a Russian co-founder, Nikolay Storonsky, as a risky move. Does this affect your ability to obtain a permit in Ukraine?

There are no obstacles to obtaining a banking license in Ukraine. Regarding our co-founder, Nikolay Storonsky, he renounced his Russian citizenship after the full-scale invasion. Revolut has never operated in Russia and has no plans to do so. We were among the first to cut off all financial transfers to Russia when the invasion began.

At the company level, we are firmly pro-Ukrainian, not pro-Russian, which is reflected in our actions. We have never operated in Russia and have no plans to. When the full-scale invasion began, we were among the first to block all transfers to Russia. The media speculation about our UK license is unfounded — regulators have full access to our operations, and we have no issues with them.

As for why it took time to obtain a UK banking license, we initially operated under an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license, which has certain restrictions, such as not allowing us to issue loans or invest customers’ deposits. This type of license was designed for smaller companies to foster competition in the market, and many startups, including Revolut, began with it. Though it is managed with the same regulatory oversight as a full banking license, Revolut had already grown into a large company when we applied for the latter.

Smaller firms with around 500 employees often receive banking licenses faster, but given our scale, the review process was more complex. We ultimately received our UK banking license in 2024.

How do you see the competition in Ukraine? We have a popular neobank, monobank; although you are not a direct competitor at the moment, you are planning to offer hryvnia accounts. We also have a cross-border transfer service called Wise.

Ukraine is a highly competitive market. Our business models with monobank differ — Revolut is a global bank operating in 40+ countries with a $45 billion valuation.

We don’t consider Wise a competitor either, as their focus is primarily on transfers, while Revolut offers a broader suite of financial services, from crypto investments to hotel bookings.

In 2023, Revolut restricted transactions on accounts and cards of some Russian citizens living in the EU due to a lack of documents confirming their right to reside there. How does this policy work today? Have the restrictions been eased or tightened?

You can open an account with Revolut if you have the right to reside in that country, and this right is confirmed by a document. We do not open accounts for Russians or anyone else if they do not have the right to reside in that country. Still, Ukrainians were an exception due to the humanitarian situation.

All other people have to provide these documents. If Russians do not provide them, they cannot open an account. But it is true that if people have Russian citizenship, they are subject to even more checks after the full-scale invasion.

Let’s get back to talking about Ukraine. Revolut was one of the first residents of Diia. City, but later left. According to Nataliia Denikeieva, Head of Diia.City’ project office, it was due to “non-compliance with the law.” Why did this happen, and do you plan to resume?

We joined Diia.City just two weeks before the full-scale war to hire engineers for global projects. We planned to grow our Ukraine team to 100 employees by year’s end. However, after the invasion, we closed the office for employee safety.

Currently, we have 40 employees in Ukraine. Our team is very stable —most have been with us since early 2022. They work on global projects, not just Ukrainian ones.

As a regional manager, I oversee the Ukrainian market, product, and related initiatives, such as adding the Ukrainian language to the app for those who left after the full-scale invasion.

We have a good relationship with the Ministry of Digital Transformation and those managing Diia.City. Our status there is currently suspended because we haven’t transferred ten employees to these contracts. We plan to resume once administrative processes are in place and the military situation stabilizes.

Hiring in Ukraine — any open positions?

We’re highly motivated to hire in Ukraine — many Ukrainians already work in our offices, and co-founder Vlad Yatsenko is Ukrainian. However, due to the war, hiring is currently paused. The one exception is a Legal Specialist role. This person will be the first to work at Revolut and be responsible for everything related to the legal aspect. Before that, we used the services of Ukrainian companies.

We want a specialist who can work on the banking license and everything related to the legal aspect in Ukraine.