Revolut says users can now trade US stocks as part of the London fintech unicorn's expansion strategy

Associated Press

• UK fintech unicorn, Revolut has had a rough 2019 so far, as the firm faced scrutiny from UK authorities as well as the Lithuanian parliament over questions of its ability to combat illicit money transfers.
• Now the finance company is expanding into stock trading, allowing customers to buy and sell US equities.
• View Markets Insider for more stories.

Revolut, a fast growing UK fintech, is moving into stock trading, announcing as of Thursday that select customers will have up to 100 free trades a month of US-listed stocks.

Clients will be able to buy fractions of shares in $1 increments after that, Revolut said in a blog post dated July 31. The trading business has been designed to be "profitable in its own right rather than a loss leader," Andre Mohamed, head of wealth and trading, told Bloomberg.

Users of Revolut's metal card will have up to 100 free trades a month of about 300 stocks listed on the New york Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq, with the service schedule to come in the next few weeks. Standard customers will be limited to three trades per month.

Revolut has had a bumpy 2019 so far so this might signify a change in fortunes. As previously reported by Markets Insider, the firm has been scrutinized by UK authorities the Financial conduct Authority and the Advertising Standards Agency, and also came under fire from the Lithuanian parliament over questions of its ability to combat illicit money transfers.

Last month, Revolut appointed ex-Goldman Sachs Europe boss Michael Sherwood to it's board to help reverse this and improve its corporate governance.

Previously dubbed "the Amazon of banking," Revolut was founded in 2015 by developer Vlad Yatsenko and Nikolay Storonsky, described as one of fintech's best success stories.

The firm has roughly 3.2 million customers, and raised $250 million last year as well as reportedly luring a potential $500 million investment from Japan's SoftBank.

The new stock-trading service is being treated with caution within the industry. "It is a plus for day-trader types to have more options available, but I wonder if that is any better than CFDs and spread betting already widely available," Viktor Nebehaj, Freetrade CMO & Co-founder, told Business Insider in an email.

He added: "It's not suitable for someone that wants to create a real investment portfolio though as only a handful of US stocks, and no ETFs are available."