Revolut to sell AIG car insurance, may be closer to launching mortgage loans
Executive Home Chief To Speaking Year, Revolut Had Nik Late Pledged At Point Some Storonsky Loans Last Offer
Financial payments app Revolut has launched an insurance intermediary, selling AIG car insurance in the Republic, in a long-mooted move that may signal it is getting closer to executing other tentative plans, including offering mortgage loans in its own right.
The company is initially offering the AIG insurance products to a few thousand of its customers, and will then roll out the service more widely, in a campaign that appears to be targeting younger buyers of car insurance.
Revolut's entry into the insurance market as an intermediary will likely increase the competition for insurance brokers servicing the general market.
The company has also long talked about making a major splash into other major financial services, and in mortgage loans in particular, where it would be funding the initiative in its own right and not be acting as an intermediary or broker.
The company has not set out any timeline for an entry into mortgage lending.
However, speaking late last year, Revolut chief executive Nik Storonsky had pledged to offer home loans, suggesting that the current process of applying for mortgages was somewhat antiquated.
"We will definitely do mortgages for consumers, because when I look at all the mortgage processes, it can take one to two months," he said at the time.
"It could be one of two models, or a combination. The first one is a mortgage financed by us as a bank. Or it could be like a mortgage introduction.
"But ultimately what we want to build is a frictionless experience that is 100% digital, so that within the app you apply for the mortgage, select the house that you want to buy, and then be emailed at the same time."
On it selling AIG insurance, Cian O’Toole, global strategy and operations manager for insurance at Revolut, said that "buying car insurance should be simple and hassle-free”.
“With this launch we aim to change the way Irish customers buy, view, and manage their car insurance," he said.
"Getting a quote in our app is now quick and intuitive, with fewer screens and less friction than the traditional ways of buying insurance.”