Revolut has recently implemented some alarming privacy policy changes. We take a look at the company itself, what those recent policy changes are, and how you can opt-out.
What is Revolut?
Revolut is a financial technology company based in the United Kingdom offering banking services, including a mobile app integrating various services such as peer-to-peer payments, stock trading, cryptocurrency exchange, and currency exchange. In addition, they also offer a prepaid debit card which can be used like any other chip-and-pin debit card.
What is Revolut’s business model?
Revolut offers a premium subscription, on top of its base subscription which is free (depending on how you use it), which is available for a monthly fee. It also makes money from merchants when their card is used, from ATM withdrawal fees, card delivery fees, as well as from exchange rates.
Is Revolut a bank?
Although not a traditional bank they have indeed been granted a European banking license. They have also announced plans of offering full current accounts. They will begin their rollout of full banking services in smaller European countries before expanding to larger markets such as Poland, Germany, the United Kingdom, and France.
Which countries have embraced Revolut?
As of the beginning of the year the rough estimate of users per country is as follows:
What has changed in their privacy policy?
The company has unsettled users by announcing changes to its privacy policy which involve sharing client data with “advertising and analytical platforms, for marketing purposes.” This is not a mandatory feature and users can indeed opt-out but this is not a straightforward process.
This update was communicated to users via email. The statement can be seen below:
“We’d like to let you know about some updates we’re making to our privacy policy and cookies policy. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our support team through the in-app chat.
We’re updating our privacy policy to include information about how your personal data is shared with:
(i) credit bureaus, to help us better assess your financial circumstances; and
(ii) advertising and analytical platforms, for marketing purposes,
and to explain how you can opt out of sharing this data at anytime if you want to. The updated privacy policy can be found here.
We’re also updating our cookies policy to set out more detail about what cookies we use and to make it easier for you to manage your cookie preferences or opt out if you want to. The updated cookies policy can be found here.
These changes will go live in 1 week, on the 5th November 2019.
Have a great day.
Team Revolut”
How can I opt-out?
Revolut have implemented this change under the concept of ‘assumed consent’. All users are automatically opted-in.
To opt out, you need to use the in-app chat feature and ask them to exclude you from third-party data sharing. Though they will at first try to allay any concerns that you may have about data sharing by breaking down their encryption processes they will ultimately accept your request. After accepting your request they will inform you that this process usually takes 24 hours, before finally being officially opted out.
In addition, you may ask them for any data that they might have already shared with third parties, as is the law under GDPR in the European Union. They must respond to such requests within 30 days.
