“Two million customers in Portugal represent almost 20% market penetration. I would say Portugal is one of the markets with the highest penetration and adoption,” stated Ignacio Zunzunegui, Head of Growth for Southern Europe, at an event in London in September.
The bank had already claimed in July, when it started its Portuguese operation, its ambition to reach the top three in the national customer rankings, with Caixa Geral de Depósitos, Banco Comercial Português, and Santander as the top competitors.
At that time, Revolut had 1.8 million individual customers. Santander reported having 1.91 million customers in June.
Zunzunegui emphasized that despite being a small country, Portugal could be “a very strategic market due to the maturity of Revolut as a bank and as an entity.”
According to Zunzunegui, company data suggests that “70% of Portuguese people know Revolut,” a level of awareness “unprecedented” in several other markets.
Since July, Revolut has been operating as a branch in Portugal, although it continues to depend on the parent bank, Revolut Bank UAB, registered in Lithuania, for deposit guarantees.
At that time, it began offering Portuguese IBANs to customers, a process that is still in migration phase.
“We hope to fully migrate 100% of the customers or offer the option to migrate by the end of the year,” Zunzunegui informed Lusa.
Having a Portuguese IBAN facilitates access to services like salary domiciliation and direct debits (currently, some companies do not allow these services with foreign IBANs) and allows integration into the Portuguese payment system, particularly Multibanco and MB Way.
Starting today, Revolut customers in Portugal with a Portuguese IBAN can make instant MB Way transfers, pay with QR codes in-store and online, pay taxes and bills via Multibanco references, and withdraw cash from ATMs using MB Way codes.
“We have removed what I consider one of the biggest obstacles to becoming the primary account (for customers). We are already the third banking entity in terms of customer base. Now we are really well-positioned to compete directly with traditional banks,” Zunzunegui emphasized.
Another announcement made today is the offering of instant-access savings accounts with daily interest.
Zunzunegui stated that the instant savings account was “a total success” in Spain, accumulating millions in deposits due to the novelty of daily interest and no penalties on transactions.
The bank warned today that access to multibanco services and savings accounts will be implemented gradually.
Regarding other services to be introduced in Portugal, Zunzunegui said the installation of Revolut ATMs in 2026 will depend on the outcome of the pilot ongoing in Spain, and the launch of mortgage credit has no set date as the product is still being tested in Lithuania, where it was launched in a limited form this year.
