As they seek to gain a competitive advantage over other players in the field, digital banks are expanding their product offerings with insurance and boosting revenues with payment protection in areas such as phones and travel.
After rival neobanks Monzo and Monese launched insurance products, Revolut is now venturing into the InsurTech space with the launch of a pet insurance product, which is “the first of many future standalone Revolut InsurTech products,” the company said in a Wednesday (Feb. 3) press release.
The launch of its pet insurance, complementing the firm’s existing insurance offering, which includes travel insurance, ticket- and missed event coverage, as well as purchase protection, is another move by the company to strengthen its financial super app used by close to 4 million customers in the United Kingdom.
The British firm also pointed to the “COVID-effect” on pet ownership in the release, particularly the rapid growth in the number of people who became pet owners during the pandemic, as a reason why the pet insurance market in the U.K. and in Europe is projected to expand rapidly.
Commenting on the launch, Revolut Product Manager for Pet Insurance Chiraayu Sethi said in the release that InsurTech is a fast-growing sector, and by entering the new business vertical, the U.K. FinTech aims to become one of the world’s leading industry players.
“We have listened to the feedback from over 150,000 customers on our platform, and we are looking forward to welcoming their pets as customers,” he said in the release.
Sethi added: “The goal with our financial super app is to offer one place for all things money to all customers everywhere. The Revolut ecosystem with our retail and business accounts includes fully integrated products with superior user experience, for all our customers’ financial needs in life.”
For now, Revolut’s pet insurance will apply to U.K. customers’ dogs and cats, according to the release. They can get a quote and purchase the insurance in the Revolut app. The product is available in three plans, Bronze, Silver and Gold, for a variable monthly subscription fee that will depend on factors such as age, breed, gender and location of the pet.
Among the main features included in the insurance plan is an annual vet cover of up to 10,000 British pounds (about $13,600) per pet, 24/7 free access to an online vet, immediate help with non-emergency questions at no cost, medical care when traveling outside the U.K. and coverage for accidental dental injuries, the release stated.
Launched in 2015, Revolut started out as a money-transfer service but has since expanded its services to include digital banking, stock trading, cryptocurrency and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insurance, among others, for its 16 million-plus customers worldwide.
In July of last year, the company raised $800 million at a valuation of $33 billion, making it the U.K.’s most valuable private technology company then, worth more than 53-year-old NatWest, one of the country’s “big four” retail banks.
Read more: Revolut Raises $800M at $33B Valuation Led by SoftBank
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