UK fintech firm Revolut to base 40% of workforce in India by 2026

Revolut, a European fintech firm, said it plans to base around 40% of its global workforce in India by end-2026 as it expands its India global capability center.

The company said it will hire for 1,600 roles through 2026 across product development, support, and financial services work such as payment processing and fraud investigations, lifting its India headcount to around 5,500 by end-2026 from a global total of roughly 12,000.

Revolut said it committed £500 million (US$667.8 million) over five years to its India business and capability center in 2025.

Its India CEO said about a third of the firm’s processes are now run from India, including transaction monitoring and AI-based alerts.

The company said the capability center expansion is separate from its India consumer business, and it is authorized to issue prepaid payment instruments in India and aims to launch its product next quarter.

🔗 Source: Reuters

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

India has become Revolut’s largest workforce base and an operations hub

India is Revolut’s biggest employee base, with 3,500 staff, which is more than in the UK home market 1.
Revolut set up this footprint after a $45 million investment to adapt its full tech stack for India’s data sovereignty regulations, which require certain data to be stored and processed in-country 1.
The latest hiring fits a plan to invest nearly $670 million over five years to build products, grow capability centers, and obtain more regulatory licenses 2.

Revolut is raising the bar in India through direct licensing

Revolut says it has taken a licensing-led route in India, which includes a prepaid payment instrument (PPI) license from the Reserve Bank of India plus a license to offer foreign exchange services 3.
This setup gives Revolut more control when pushing back on what Revolut’s India CEO calls “criminal” foreign exchange fees from incumbent banks, in a market where Indians lose an estimated $600 million a year by the company’s estimate 1.
Revolut also plans to launch a prepaid card plus a digital wallet built for India, with Unified Payments Interface (UPI) integration and Visa support for domestic and international transactions 3.