Revolut granted Irish IBANs, piling pressure on mainstream banks
Charlie Weston
Customers of online bank Revolut are to get Irish bank identification
numbers in a move that will make it easier for people in this country to
conduct their day-to-day banking through the money app.
The move to replace Revolut’s Lithuanian IBANs (international bank
account numbers) with Irish ones is set to pile on even more pressure on
mainstream banks here.
Payments provider Revolut claims to have around two million Irish
customers. The move comes after it set up an Irish branch of its
European business, Revolut Bank UAB.
Customers in Ireland will begin to receive an email from Revolut this
week, explaining the changes.
So-called “IBAN discrimination” has long dogged digital payment
providers like Revolut as some Irish companies will not accept payments
made to and from an account that uses a foreign IBAN.
Revolut IBANs start with the letters LT, whereas Irish ones start with IE.
The lack of an Irish bank number has made it more difficult for people
to use Revolut as a main current account.
Many people have a Revolut account in addition to a current account in a
mainstream bank.
A Revolut account with an Irish IBAN will be better suited to use as a
primary account for getting salary paid directly into Revolut, making
payments via direct debit, and paying utility providers directly from
your Revolut account, the company said.
And the move by Revolut will also make it far easier for customers to
switch their bank account from traditional banks to Revolut.
Customers will be given two months’ notice that their accounts are to be
migrated into the Irish branch in a phased manner and will also be
notified once migrated.
Revolut’s Irish “branch” is set to be different to a traditional bank
branch with a counter service.
The company said it will employ a small number of senior staff who will
be responsible for the firm’s operations in Ireland.
Revolut services will still be provided by Revolut’s European Bank,
which is based in Vilnius and licensed by the European Central Bank and
supervised by the Bank of Lithuania.
Chief executive of Revolut Europe, Joe Heneghan said: “We’re proud to be
opening our Irish branch soon.
“With over two million customers in Ireland, we are constantly looking
for ways to improve our customers’ experience.
“Our customers can get their salaries paid directly into Revolut
hassle-free, easily make direct debits, and more with the help of an
Irish IBAN.”
Last summer the Central Bank of Ireland warned employers, service firms
and utilities not to discriminate against people whose current account
provider uses a non-Irish bank account number.
It wrote to all the regulated financial service providers in the State,
businesses and professional representative bodies, to remind firms of
their obligations under the Single European Payments Area initiative (SEPA).
SEPA allows payment service customers to make cashless euro payments to
firms and individuals anywhere within the SEPA area using their
IBAN. Refusing to accept non-Irish IBANs within the SEPA area is
prohibited under SEPA regulations.
Irish Independent Business
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