Revolut introduces new payment sharing feature, Near Me
Chief blogging officer strikes (i.e. blogs) again
Broke: Sending money to friends and family. Woke: Sending money to nearby strangers.
Thanks to Revolut’s latest solution, Near Me, Revolut users will be able to send and request money from more than just the people they know well. The company’s latest feature leverages geolocation technology to enable users to split bills and send money to any other active Revolut user in the area, reports David Penn at Finovate.
“Until now, you would need to have the person you want to split the bill with added as a contact in your phone,” Revolut’s chief blogging officer Rob Braileanu explains in a blog post (of course). “And while this is great for your close friends and family, what if you don’t know the person that well?”
To use the new feature, users with the latest version of the Revolut app select the People Near Me option from the Payments tab. Enable Near Me and choose your location sharing preferences. When the list of Revolut users appears, make your selection, choose “send” or “receive” and confirm the amount. Note that the person or persons on the other end of the transfer will need to have their Near Me screen open and select their location sharing preferences, as well.
Supporting 25 currencies and three cryptocurrencies, Near Me is the latest solution from a company that has been prominent in the fintech headlines of late. Last month, the company introduced a new savings solution, Vaults, that enables users to turn their spare change into savings in cash or crypto. In March, Revolut launched disposable virtual cards for online payments and, in January, the company added travel insurance to its offerings, leveraging geolocation to automatically turn coverage on and off when users leave and return to their home countries.
But the big splash for Revolut was the $250 million in funding the company picked up less than a month ago. The DST Global-led round sent Revolut’s valuation soaring to $1.7 billion, making the firm the first digital bank in the UK to earn unicorn status (valuation above $1 billion).
Revolut was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in London. Nikolay Stronosky is CEO.
