Revolut's rise continues as Spaniards turn to digital banking

Global neobank Revolut has seen its market share increase dramatically in Spain as digital banking gathers momentum in the financial world. Revolut’s Head of Corporate Communications Michael Bodansky confirmed that their firm outshined Santander and CaixaBank in new user registrations.

#Revolut is a second bank in Spain after #BBVA in terms of opening new accounts in 2023, beating #Santander and #CaixaBank, reports #eleconomista. What is most interesting to me is the pace of change from year 2020 onwards. Revolut could get to the top in 2024 if not in 2023. pic.twitter.com/g58HsCOi3S

— Max Karpis (@maxkarpis) August 21, 2023

Revolut accounted for 12.8% of newly opened accounts, whereas Santander and CaixaBank made up 12.6% and 9.3%, respectively. However, BBVA maintains the leading spot, despite its share plummeting from 20% to 14% over the past three years.

Spaniards seeking more financial benefits

The recent years have seen Spaniards assessing more financial institutions to capitalize on various offers, including discounts and bonuses, for profitable personal finance savings. Citizens adopted this trend following the COVID pandemic, which dented the global economic outlook.

Today, Spanish consumers work with 1.73 banking institutions on average. That’s higher than the 1.44 registered during COVID. Furthermore, users operating with one institution have declined to 50.6% from 64.9% within that timeframe.

Spain’s shifting financial trend

Market research firm Grupo Inmark revealed that 5.4% of Spaniards have made financial relationships over the past year. Meanwhile, online companies like Openbank and Revolt have remained significant in new account registrations.

Grupo Inmark’s Ana Revilla stated that traditional banks record falling numbers as online entities continue to rule the financial sector. She stated.

“..online entities such as Revolut and Openbank have a great role in new registrations..”

The increasing prominence of financial platforms offering online services explains the shifting monetary landscape in Spain. These entities benefit from the policy of commission-free services and their recruitment models, where they pay with returns on savings or cash.

Digital banking’s appeal

The study shows Revolut, which hit 1.6M clients in Spain, went from only 0.1% new account registrations in 2020 to rank second after BBVA. Meanwhile, Santander Group’s subsidiary Openbank scaled to 4.4% from 1.7%, whereas Imagin’s CaixaBank reached 3.5% from 0.2%.

Financial experts see Revolut dominating this sector this year or in 2024.

Revilla believes digital banks such as Imagin and Openbank will eventually outshine their parent firms, Caixabank and Santander (respectively). However, the expert added that traditional banks would remain crucial in the financial industry.