Revolut takes a swing at travel giants with new premium card

• Key insights: Revolut is expanding its business payments unit with a new premium card. 
• What's at stake: Payment firms are using travel technology to draw more users and attention to other financial products. 
• Forward look: Revolut will face competition from Amex and large banks as it attempts to enroll users. 

Revolut's super app strategy has extended into high-end corporate travel, with a payment card designed to build off its business unit, which passed $1 billion in revenue during the past year. 

The London-based challenger bank has opened a waiting list for Titan, a Visa-branded card that will launch in the U.K. in early 2026. Titan will join a growing market of premium cards focused on business travel, using the complicated process of planning, booking and paying for trips as a way to draw attention to other financial services targeted at businesses. 

"Modern businesses face a dual challenge: empowering employees with seamless travel tools while maintaining real-time control," James Gibson, general manager of Revolut Business, told American Banker. 

Business of travel

Revolut, which was originally a digital payments company, has released dozens of new features as a way to target new markets. This includes secured credit cards in the U.S., aimed at reaching consumers that Revolut claims banks are not serving. Other products include cross-border transfers, stock trading and support for cryptocurrency.

Revolut is scaling as part of a rivalry with U.S.-based fintechs such as PayPal and Block, which are rapidly adding financial services to build a single platform for multiple financial and nonfinancial products — making these technology-focused companies a rival to banks, particularly for younger consumers.

To sell to businesses, Revolut has added virtual cards, currency exchange, expense management and billing. Revolut's new card, Titan, also includes features such as unlimited complimentary access to airport lounges and travel insurance covering delays and lost luggage; and a monthly 10 gigabyte global data allowance to support online access in more than 190 countries while avoiding data roaming charges or local SIM cards. Additional offers include access of up to $5,300 annually on business subscriptions such as WeWork, Perplexity, Masterclass, NordVPN and Headway and a points-based loyalty program.

"Revolut Business is a key growth area for Revolut and it is expanding very quickly," Gibson said, noting the $1 billion milestone. "Titan is attractive to similar high-growth businesses, which we're doubling down on with this launch."

Revolut did not give a timetable for Titan's U.S. launch. Revolut is differentiating itself against other travel payment products by building it on the company's core business financial services platform, which consolidates functions such as spending, foreign exchange, transfers, multicurrency accounts and payments acceptance, Gibson said.

"Titan combines this with friction-free travel and productivity features to create an integrated solution," he said. 

Big rivals

Fintechs and banks have expanded their travel payment operations in the past year. For example, Brex has added large language models to generate content to help travelers search, book and pay for trips. Another payment fintech company, Upgrade, recently acquired BNPL lender Uplift; and Affirm partnered with American Airlines to enable installment payments for travel.

These fintechs provide an alternative to U.S. Bank, American Express and other banks that offer co-branded credit cards to pay for travel.

"It's a logical move for Revolut given the success of its existing business card programs, but I think Revolut will have more challenges in the U.S. than in the U.K.," Aaron Press, research director for worldwide payment strategies, told American Banker. "The market for premium cards in general is crowded, and reward schemes are well established. 

Breaking in with a new card and a new scheme, at a high price, will be difficult. "The ability to differentiate around the travel programs will also be tough, as established companies, including Amex, JPMorganChase, Citi, and Capital One have robust networks in place, Press said. "One potential key to competing will be around the expense management aspects and integrations to back office systems, which will be necessary to winning over the CFOs who are often the key decision makers," Press said.

The existing travel payment providers have scale and offer enormous value, but can't afford to be complacent, Eric Grover, a principal at Intrepid Ventures, told American Banker, noting that Clayton Christian's "The Innovator's Dilemma" suggests innovation often comes from upstarts in industries with well-established incumbents. 

"Initially challengers' products are inferior. However, they improve and move upmarket," Grover said.