Tuesday 14 March 2017 2:36 pm

Now fintech startup Revolut is getting into loans

Fintech startup Revolut has partnered with a peer-to-peer lender to offer loans to users, its newest product in addition to a current account and money transfers.

With Lending Works, it will offer loans of up to £5,000 at a rate of 9.9 per cent APR over 12 months.

The credit facility is instant, if approved, with users entering details via their smartphone, including how much they want to borrow, monthly income and residential status, in addition to exiting data from Revolut.

“The fact that anyone can now apply for credit from anywhere in the world in two minutes, get the money instantly and spend it with a Revolut card without fees in any currency is mind-blowing," said founder and chief executive Nikolay Storonsky.

"The same process to apply for a loan or credit card with my bank would take a week and cost me double.”

It is also planning to expand the p2p model, letting users also lend money as well as borrow, and is also planning to launch further products such as travel insurance and savings accounts.

The venture-backed startup initially launched as a pre-paid card for spending cash abroad with exchange rates close to interbank rates, but is now pitching itself as a digital challenger bank, launching a current account last month.

It's the latest example of fintechs working together rather than each creating their own products.

German digital bank N26, for example, has partnered with Transferwise to offer customers money transfer services.

For LendingWorks, it gives the firm direct access to customers at a time when there is an imbalance in the p2p lending market, where lenders are outnumbering borrowers.