In the app-age, Luxembourg's banks feel the pressure of our thumbs

Cederic Schmid still remembers his student days when he opened a Revolut account for the first time. Today, years later, Neobank has long been an integral part of his everyday life. He treats himself to a Metal subscription for 165 euros a year. The chess enthusiast's bill is worth it simply because of the numerous subscriptions to Headspace, NordVPN, Pixart and chess.com included in the price – if only because you have to pay around 100 euros a year just for the latter. Small expenses such as online shopping or subscription fees are almost automatically paid via Revolut.

He is not alone in this: millions of people around the world use Revolut in exactly the same way: as a flexible second account. At the end of 2024, the company had around 52.5 million customers – twice as many as two years ago – and now operates as a fully licensed bank in around 30 countries. Not in Luxembourg – around 75,000 accounts in this country are registered via a Lithuanian IBAN.