A geolocalized insurance policy, automatically enabled on the basis of the user’s journeys offering rates from 1 euro per day. This is the latest innovation launched by Revolut, a British startup in the financial services sector, which in recent months has exceeded one million users throughout Europe. The insurance service, designed especially for travelers, leverages the geolocation of the user’s mobile phone and provides instant coverage in the health and dental field.
By paying only one euro a day, therefore, travelers will benefit from basic coverage, while for the more attentive there is the possibility to customize the offer, extending the coverage, for example, to family members or enable it in case of accidents related to sporting activities. If costs rise, there is always the possibility to set a maximum annual fee, or choose a standard policy allowing payment for a fixed annual fee.
This project has broadened Revolut’s presence in the sector of insurance services. Founded in 2015 by two young English guys from Russia – Nikolay Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko – Revolut has developed an application to match a prepaid card, Mastercard circuit, which allows the user to upload money and make payments in 130 currencies. Even if the real innovation is the ability to automatically convert money into the local currency at the best rate available. In addition, thanks to the latest updates, the user can receive money on its bank account, exchange cryptocurrencies and even apply for a credit line. In short, this is a service actually intended as an alternative to the bank.
Since Storonsky and Yatsenko have set up their businesses in recent years, investors seem to have been impressed. According to Crunchbase data, to date Revolut has completed eight funding rounds, raising more than 86 million dollars. Balderton Capital was one of the first to invest in the project, and in July 2016 it led a ten-million-dollar round. While Index Ventures (the fund previously supporting startups such as Deliveroo and Funding Circle), one year later was in charge of a monstre round: 66 million dollars. Two weeks later, Storonsky and its partners raised a further 5.3 million dollars in an equity crowdfunding campaign launched on Seedrs.
« Our vision is very simple – said Nikolay Storosky, in a recent interview on the website Business Insider. – Currently, banks are designed to serve on a local basis, while most of their customers carry out international activities. As a result, they have to open new accounts, issue new bank cards and create new credit lines. Revolut offers an alternative global banking service, whereby each user can download the app and create a local bank account to access the services they need in real time».
