On August 22, Revolut headlined in Belgium with a new savings product. Every cent you earn today will be in your account tomorrow, helping you to build a higher return after tomorrow.

This may be a game-changer, and for much more than just the “gimmick” of daily payouts. The consequences of Revolut issuing this product in the market go much further, I realised after a while.

As I read the announcement, many thoughts crossed my mind. On top of that, I also asked the community on LinkedIn. One day later, the poll had been answered by around 40 professionals, and 48 a few days later, with a clear majority feeling either excited or apprehensive about this new development: 35% said it is a game-changer, and another 35% said it will appeal to many.

But what does it mean for the industry?

Revolut’s Daily Savings Payout Explained

Revolut introduced a savings product in Belgium, specifically a non-regulated savings account, offering interest rates of 1.5%, 1.75%, or 2.5%, depending on the customer’s subscription. Since it is a non-regulated savings account, a 30% tax applies, reducing the net interest to 1.05%, 1.23%, or 1.75%. These rates do not make Revolut a price leader, nor is the deposit guarantee, which is Lithuanian by the way, not Belgian.

What is unique, though, are their daily payouts. No other bank has done that before. Every daily return of 1 cent or more is added to the account and will drive tomorrow's return, compounding the interest day after day. If the return is less than one 1, it will be accumulated until the threshold is met.

It is distinctive, but I am not convinced it will cause a significant change, logically speaking. Imagine having €1,000 in savings and a Standard (free) subscription; you will earn 2.9 cents a day, which may end up being more of a distraction on your account statement than a good deal, even if the next day, your 1.05% net interest rate is calculated on €1,000.03.

A comment I received on LinkedIn when I asked the community for their opinion was, “They don’t cover inflation, so to me this is more of a marketing one-liner than anything else. We’ve seen in the past that ‘free accounts/…’ were attracting younger generations (lion/…), but this? Not sure…”.

Then again, Belgium remains a savings market, so once we step outside the industry bubble, a strong savings offer is essential to attract customers, regardless of whether earnings can cover inflation.

Revolut’s savings account is symbolic of the digital-first proposition of the bank and the drive for transparent banking. That is a very strong message to the market. We all know how emotional our relationship with money is, and that is exactly the sentiment Revolut is betting on. That shows how your money is working for you, not annually, but constantly. That is what may be making this a game-changer in the market.

Why does Revolut’s Instant Savings Matter in 2025

In December 2018, I met their former country head, Steven Geclovicz, for a coffee. Revolut was full of ambition back then, maybe even more than today. Their mission back then was to reach 100 million customers by 2023. That year, they had 2 million users in June, and later in November, they announced reaching 3 million. Belgium accounted for 30,000-35,000 customers.

Did they achieve their 5-year ambition? Not really, but the results are nevertheless impressive. The annual report in April 2025 (on 2024) spoke about 52,5 million customers, from 30 countries. Specifically in Belgium, they have between 700,000 and 800,000 customers, depending on which article you read in De Tijd, unless they grew 100,000 customers between June 23 and August 21.

This savings product matters more today than yesterday for several reasons. First, the scale plays a role. Successfully launching such a product to a large customer base is far more effective than simply offering it as a feature to persuade the market of your overall offering. Revolut has moved beyond that stage. They have 800.000 customers who can use it, enjoy it, and share it, and we all understand how valuable word of mouth is.

Another important element is that they introduced Belgian IBANs a few weeks before launching this new savings product. In 2018, that was already a key point of discussion and viewed as a vital step to compete effectively with Belgian banks. Having a Belgian IBAN builds trust, but beyond the perception of being a genuine Belgian service provider, it also helps overcome additional barriers to becoming a primary bank. For instance, salary payments can be limited to Belgian beneficiaries. Thanks to the Belgian IBAN, that is no longer an issue for Revolut. It symbolises trust, and perhaps even empathy with the local customers, and opens doors for more.

The final point is that instant savings are a natural extension of something else that has now become the new normal, which most incumbents didn’t see a need for or demand in the market a few years ago. They developed it nonetheless, initially driven by the fear of missing out, and later to comply with regulation: Instant Payments. People have grown used to instant payments, a logical development following instant messaging and nearly everything else. So why shouldn’t savings rates also be issued instantly?

Perhaps one last reason they do this today is to boost their activation numbers, assets under management, and customer base. Revolut’s investors are eager to see a return on their investment, and now Revolut may be demonstrating greater courage in innovation and product development as they prepare for an IPO (initial public offering). An IPO would mean Revolut should no longer prove to the boardroom and private equity stakeholders that they are performing well but also need to convince a wider audience of their success. Having an attractive savings product to grow assets under management is the ideal way to improve these figures.

Why did Revolut start this new savings product?

Again, I see a couple of reasons why Revolut launched this product. The most important one is probably their goal to be a main bank for their customers rather than a secondary service. They no longer want to be seen as their clients’ second bank. Reaching 100 million customers is an ambitious challenge, but becoming their customers’ main bank is even more difficult, in my opinion. Not just according to me, by the way, Bjorn Cumps, Professor of Fintech at Vlerick Business School, commented on this in the media, for example:

“In terms of payments, they certainly represent strong competition, and the same goes for innovative services. But traditional banking with savings deposits and loans remains more the domain of the established financial institutions. I don’t see them taking on that role anytime soon”.

But that is exactly why they try to accelerate with this savings product: convince their, today mainly young and international travel audience, to hand over an increasing number of bank services to Revolut, making them their first bank.

Deposits need to be activated to generate a reasonable return for banks, and the most obvious way to do this is by selling credit products, which is one more product portfolio they are currently missing to outperform local incumbent banks.

Even with a successful payments portfolio, investment solution and savings product, customers will not see Revolut as their main bank for as long as they need to apply for a (mortgage) loan at an incumbent that will offer the client a better rate on the condition that they hand over daily banking services to them.

And so, the real question is: where will this lead? Will the new savings product prove so successful that it draws enough assets for Revolut to start issuing a credit product? And if that happens, will incumbent banks be able to stop the Revolut revolution in time?

Will incumbent banks soon begin offering this new savings product as well? And will that be enough to keep momentum in the dynamic banking market we live in?

What does this mean for incumbents?

In essence, I believe there are three key lessons that incumbents should consider from Revolut’s new savings product:

1. There is a reasonable chance that this will change expectations towards a savings product from a younger generation, despite the mostly limited daily returns;
2. After the Belgian IBANs, this savings product is getting Revolut one step closer to being a first bank for many of its customers;
3. Watch out for the credit business: if this savings product is a success, Revolut will need to look for ways to activate these assets.

This release is not just about a new savings product in the market. If this product succeeds, Revolut can become a true contender to every bank in the market, because it will not stop with a savings product.

After running a poll on LinkedIn, we included views from a few members of our community in this Director's Cut Debrief Session (which you can also find on your favourite podcast platform here), where we explored what this means for the incumbent banks and speculated as to what might happen next.