Revolut has announced it is facilitating instant cross-border card transfers for its UK and EEA-based business customers via Visa's real-time payments network.

Through Visa Direct, Revolut Business customers now only require a card number for transactions.

Revolut Business is an automated financial platform for businesses which helps firms accept and make payments globally.

International transfers for businesses can often come with a set of requirements that differ depending on the country, including transfer fees or a lag time of several days due to the need for specific information such as IBAN and BIC.

But through the new partnership, payments will arrive in recipient accounts within 30 minutes or less.

The payments service is available in over 78 countries and across more than 50 currencies.

"We're excited to launch Instant Card Transfers in the UK & EEA, providing businesses with a simple, instant, and secure way to pay employees, contractors, and customers globally by supporting major card schemes,” said James Gibson, general manager, Revolut Business.

The move comes after Revolut last year partnered with Visa to offer card transfers for peer-to-peer payments across 90 countries, as well as the launch of Visa virtual cards for business focused on the B2B travel sector earlier in 2024.

Mark Jamison, senior vice president, global clients at Visa said: "This step deepens our collaboration with Revolut to continue their impressive track record of growth and product differentiation.”

Last week Revolut announced a secondary share sale at a $45 billion valuation.

The UK FinTech signed agreements with technology investors Coatue, D1 Capital Partners, and existing investor Tiger Global to provide liquidity to employees through the share sale.

The neobank, which has over nine million UK customers and 45 million globally, said the move would allow employees to "capitalise on their contribution to Revolut’s growth", while attracting a diverse mix of both new and existing investors.

The share sale followed Revolut receiving its UK banking licence “with restrictions” after a three-year wait.

Revolut first filed for a UK banking licence in 2021. Since then, it has received approval from other countries, including Mexico.

In July, Revolut hinted at potential IPO plans in its latest report amid record-breaking profits of £438 million.

The company said it was “pleased that Revolut’s transformation programme has now enabled us to return to a regular financial reporting schedule".

In the same month, Revolut announced it was introducing a new cash deposit feature for its UK customers in partnership with payments platform Paysafe.

The feature allows UK customers to deposit cash into their Revolut accounts from a starting sum of £10 with a yearly limit set at £10,000, at more than 12,000 locations.

The FinTech added in a statement that the number of locations will continue to “gradually increase” over the next few months, with the service being rolled out to other markets in the EEA progressively.

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