Revolut Faces Legal Actions

Digital bank Revolut, founded five years ago, has been accused of failing to pay bonuses promised to its compliance team staff, triggering a dispute that has contributed to a surge in frozen customer accounts. The company now faces legal action after a former employee accused it of illegally forcing it to resign after speaking out about the conflict. Revolut, which was valued at $5.5 billion at a fundraiser earlier this year, is working to improve its reputation after critics perceived an aggressive, unprofessional culture in the early years. Revolut is fine-tuning its strategy to compete with banks and major payment technology companies, even as the UK fintech faces regulatory pressures associated with its accounting and the challenges of building a brand in new markets. Dirk De Groot, 44, has left just over £30,000 stuck in a Revolut account suspended since November. He has teamed up with 25 other dissatisfied customers, all of whom are eager to take legal action against the bank. However, this is the second time this year that he has been accused of forcing employees of his largest office to leave “voluntarily”. Several former employees of Revolut`s Krakow office told the Financial Times that the company, which has rapidly expanded into more than 30 countries, has promised monthly bonuses to multilingual recruits that could help serve its multinational customer base. However, they said he had repeatedly failed to deliver on his promises. This prompted some workers to launch an informal language strike and refuse to translate documents such as tax records required for compliance audits. Revolut said it only pays language bonuses to employees of dedicated teams that offer in-app customer support in the most requested languages, which doesn`t include lesser-used languages like Greek.

Revolut customers are threatening the digital bank with legal action because they have not had access to their savings for months. Revolut`s payments expansion comes as it faces regulatory pressure in its home market, the UK. “Big brands need multi-channel customer acquisition,” van Wezel said, adding that Revolut would likely work primarily with e-commerce transactions because of its digital model. Challenger Bank introduced a one-click payment option for online shopping this week, placing Revolut Pay alongside PayPal, Apple Pay, card networks and other options at checkout. Revolut joins other fintechs to add new transaction methods for consumers as part of a broader strategy that uses registered payment information to lay the foundation for other financial products. Despite numerous attempts to contact the bank — via its in-app chat and via Twitter — he said he only received automated messages claiming it was carrying out security checks and unable to say how long it would take. Having trouble accessing your money in a Revolut account? Contact us via email marianna.hunt@telegraph.co.uk Revolut loses another compliance officer as the company became entangled in the FCA Not only will Revolut submit its 2021 accreditations by the end of September, but will also likely be under pressure to invest more in its back-office functions. Dozens of people complained on social media that their accounts were frozen by Revolut and that they had not been able to contact the bank to release their funds. Online bank Revolut is facing fresh questions about its internal controls after being criticised by a UK regulator for the unacceptably high risk of “material misstatements” in its audit. Former employees said that teams were formed after the strike and not for all the languages originally promised. Regulatory pressures in the UK do not necessarily spill over into other markets, but regulators in other countries will be aware of this.

Revolut has also seen a turnover in its risk and compliance staff, with the departure of several senior executives in recent months, including Victoria Stubbs, head of regulatory compliance in the UK. The accounting firm BDO conducted an audit of a limited company identified by the Financial Times as Revolut. The FRC reportedly criticized Revolut for having a culture closer to a tech startup than it needed a back office equivalent to that of a traditional bank, which would include more controls and data guarantees. Departure arrangements for employees who leave “by mutual agreement” are a common tool in Poland, and Revolut said it has sometimes offered them to outgoing employees “to protect their employability and access to benefits”. Customers are encouraged to use online chat to get in touch with the bank. However, many have found that their attempts to do so are repeatedly ignored. The FRC also pointed to shortcomings in Revolut`s payment processing.