Revolut is making its move into India's massive fintech market, beginning to roll out services to thousands of users from a waitlist that's ballooned to 450,000 people. The British digital banking giant's carefully staged entry into one of the world's fastest-growing fintech markets signals a major expansion push as it tests the waters before a full-scale launch. For a company that's conquered Europe and made inroads across Asia, India represents both the ultimate prize and the toughest test yet.
Revolut is finally cracking open the Indian market. The London-based fintech, valued at $33 billion in its last funding round, has begun rolling out services to thousands of users from a waitlist that's swelled to 450,000 people, TechCrunch reports. It's a calculated soft launch in a market where every global player wants a piece but few have truly dominated.
The phased approach makes sense. India's fintech landscape is notoriously complex, with regulatory hurdles, intense local competition, and consumer behaviors that differ dramatically from Western markets. By onboarding users gradually, Revolut can test its offerings, refine its product-market fit, and build operational infrastructure before opening the floodgates.
That 450,000-person waitlist tells its own story. It shows there's genuine appetite for Revolut's multi-currency accounts, commission-free trading, and slick user experience in a market that's already saturated with payment apps. India's digital payments volume hit $3 trillion in 2025, driven by UPI, the government-backed instant payment system that's become the backbone of the country's fintech revolution. Revolut will need to figure out how to integrate with UPI while offering something local players don't.
The competition is fierce. Paytm, PhonePe, and Google Pay collectively process billions of transactions monthly. Then there's the neo-banking crowd like Jupiter and Fi Money, which have built loyal user bases by focusing specifically on Indian millennials and Gen Z. Revolut's challenge isn't just about being a foreign player—it's about proving its global playbook works in a market that's written its own rules.
What Revolut does have going for it is brand recognition among India's growing class of international travelers and tech workers. Many Indians already use Revolut when they're abroad, drawn to its zero-fee currency exchange and global spending features. The company's betting that this existing brand affinity will translate into domestic usage, especially among urban professionals who want a banking app that works seamlessly whether they're in Mumbai or Manhattan.
The regulatory path hasn't been simple either. India's Reserve Bank has tightened rules around digital payments and foreign fintech operations in recent years, requiring local partnerships and compliance with data localization laws. Revolut's gradual rollout suggests it's navigating these requirements carefully, likely working with local banking partners to offer services while building out its regulatory framework.
From a strategic standpoint, India is non-negotiable for any fintech with global ambitions. The country has over 500 million smartphone users, a young population that's mobile-first, and a government actively pushing digital financial inclusion. Missing out on India means missing out on one of the few markets with the scale to significantly move the needle on user growth.
The phased launch also gives Revolut time to localize features. Indian consumers have different needs—gold investments are hugely popular, micro-savings tools matter more than wealth management, and vernacular language support isn't optional. Whether Revolut adapts quickly enough will determine if this is a successful expansion or just another foreign fintech that underestimated the market's complexity.
For now, those thousands of early users are getting their first taste of Revolut's platform. Their feedback, spending patterns, and retention rates will shape what the broader launch looks like—and whether that 450,000-person waitlist converts into millions of active users or just curious sign-ups who stick with their existing apps. India's fintech graveyard is full of well-funded startups that couldn't crack the code. Revolut's betting its global experience and patient approach will write a different story.
Revolut's India play is a masterclass in calculated expansion. By building a 450,000-person waitlist before gradually onboarding users, the fintech is testing the waters in one of the world's most competitive and fastest-growing markets. The real test isn't whether Revolut can attract curious early adopters—it's whether it can adapt its global playbook to meet the unique demands of Indian consumers while competing with entrenched local players who know the market inside and out. If Revolut cracks India, it doesn't just win a market—it proves its model can work anywhere. If it stumbles, it joins a long list of global brands that learned the hard way that India rewrites the rules.
