How Revolut Built 20 Revenue Streams Without Pivoting Once

Read time: 3 minutes.

Welcome to the 118th edition of The Growth Elements Newsletter. Every Monday and sometimes on Thursday, I write an essay on growth metrics & experiments and business case studies.

Today’s piece is for 8,000+ founders, operators, and leaders from businesses such as Shopify, Google, Hubspot, Zoho, Freshworks, Servcorp, Zomato, Postman, Razorpay and Zoom.

Today’s The Growth Elements (TGE) is brought to you by:

Discover the ROI of Data-Driven Out-of-Home Ads with OneScreen

Companies using out-of-home advertising have seen monthly revenue increase by more than 50%.

Brand marketing is having its moment, and OOH ads are the most powerful medium to make a statement, telling your brand story in the real world.

See how OOH delivers on your overall marketing ROI.

Download Your ROI of OOH Report

^{Thank you for supporting our sponsors, who keep this newsletter free.}

Most SaaS companies burn out trying to find a second act.
Revolut never needed one.

From prepaid debit cards to trading, insurance, and payroll - Revolut added 20+ monetisable features in under 7 years.
Not by pivoting. Not by “launching verticals.”
But by stacking products on top of one clear utility layer.

Here’s how it worked and what SaaS operators can steal:

[1] Start With a Utility, Not a Category

Revolut didn’t pitch itself as a “neobank” in 2015.
It pitched a simple problem: avoid FX fees abroad.

The product was dead simple:

• Load cash

• Use the card

• Save 2–3% on every trip

That one feature was enough to:

• Go viral among early adopters

• Anchor users to the app

• Build trust in handling money

[2] Monetisation Was Layered, Not Rushed

Revolut didn’t monetise all at once.
Instead, it introduced new paid features only when usage deepened:

• FX → Travel insurance

• Card usage → Virtual cards, crypto

• Wealth features → Stocks, savings vaults

• Power users → Premium & Metal tiers

Each new product expanded LTV without creating separate products or funnels.

SaaS parallel:
Stop launching new SKUs to grow.
Instead, ask: what else does your most active cohort need that only you can provide?

[3] The UX Stack Stayed Unified

Despite 20+ revenue streams, Revolut never fragmented the product.

Why?

• All features lived in one UX framework

• Navigation remained consistent across tools

• Everything stayed under one brand, one app, one support layer

SaaS parallel:
More features ≠ more friction, if they share the same mental model and interface logic rather than Add-on modules.

Final Operator Takeaways

• Start with a utility hook: make the first habit easy and frequent

• Stack monetisation over time, tied to actual usage, not roadmap pressure

• Keep the product unified: new features should compound trust, not confuse it

That's it for today's article! I hope you found this essay insightful.

Wishing you a productive week ahead!

I always appreciate you reading.

Thanks,
Chintankumar Maisuria