British fintech company Revolut has launched a small-scale test in India, with the first few thousand users starting to use its localized app. This signifies that the company's years-long plan for the Indian market has entered the validation phase before its official rollout.

Currently, Revolut is still accepting users on the waiting list in batches. TechCrunch, citing the company, reported that the Indian version of the app is already available on Google Play and the Apple App Store, primarily to gather product feedback and adjust the user experience before a full rollout.

Which features will be available in the first batch?

Users currently participating in the test can use UPI payments, e-money wallets, domestic prepaid cards, multi-currency cards, virtual cards, and one-time cards. The company stated that services such as Lifestyle and RevPoints will be added later.

However, family and joint accounts will not be launched in India for the time being. Revolut stated that such products require a banking license, which the company currently does not possess.

India's payment market is huge

Revolut's expansion into India is aimed at the country's rapidly growing digital payments market. The Unified Payments Interface (UPI), backed by the Indian government, has become a core infrastructure for money transfers between individuals and merchants in India.

According to Indian government data, UPI processed a record 23.2 billion transactions in May, totaling 29.9 trillion rupees, or approximately $313.8 billion. The article states that UPI currently accounts for nearly half of global real-time payment transactions.

It has been in preparation for many years

Revolut began building its Indian operations in 2021 and hired Paroma Chatterjee to manage local operations. In 2022, the company acquired Arvog Forex to strengthen its compliance footprint in India and expand its remittance and multi-currency account services.

Subsequently, Revolut obtained a Prepaid Payment Instrument (PPI) license from the Reserve Bank of India, enabling it to issue prepaid cards, support digital wallets, and connect to the UPI network. The company stated that it will open direct registration to all users in the future, but did not provide a specific timeline.

Revolut has previously stated its aim to serve 150 million Indian users aged 25 to 45 who prefer digital financial services, and plans to attract approximately 20 million users and process at least $7 billion in transactions by 2030.

From a global expansion perspective, Revolut's primary download market remains Europe, but it has been accelerating its expansion into emerging markets in recent years. Third-party research firm Sensor Tower estimates that by 2025, downloads of the app will grow by 40% and 52% in Thailand and Vietnam respectively, while downloads in Brazil will increase by 487% year-on-year, reaching 1.8 million. India is therefore considered one of the key markets for its next phase of international expansion.