While Revolut has clearly struck a chord in Europe with their competitive exchange rates, fast international transfers and simple UI, Cash App has been exploding in the US. Cash App is now the fastest-growing finance app in the Apple App Store, outpacing Venmo.
When Revolut launched, the whole premise was around those who needed to transact and send in multiple currencies. It was perfect for the European market which can be disparate with financial requirements often much more complicated than those in the US.
They focused on getting rid of exchange fees, making international transfers as instantaneous as possible and sharing bills with friends as easy as sending a WhatsApp message. Their focus in these areas worked and they now have the fastest-growing fintech company in the world.
Cash App by Square and Twitter co-founder, Jack Dorsey was established with an even simpler premise: Make sending and receiving funds as quick and easy as possible. In the end, this is the core use case of everyone around the world and particularly those in its native market, the US.
While Cash App is much newer, both products have seen explosive growth and are inevitably on a collision course to compete.
For this reason, we thought it would be interesting to compare both products to see who comes out on top.
What is Cash App?
Cash App is a finance app that does a few simple tasks, extremely well. They initially focused primarily on making sending and receiving money a breeze. Now that they arguably do this better than anyone, they've set their sights on making investing as accessible and easy as possible.
What is Revolut?
While Revolut is a banking app that initially focused on clients with multiple currencies and international transfer needs. They make it really simple to hold multiple currencies with cheap and fast international transfers. They've also recently entered the cryptocurrency and investment space.
Cash App's core features
- Simple sending and receiving of money
- Invest in any stock for as little as $1
- Ability to invest in Bitcoin
Revolut's core features
- Fast international transfers
- Ability to invest in Bitcoin, Litecoin and Ethereum
What's unique about Cash App
Cash App doesn't feel anything like any other financial product, which is refreshing. The UX is unique and dead-simple. They've genuinely rethought what it is to send/receive money and invest in a very accessible way.
What's unique about Revolut
While Revolut redefined what a banking experience should be like with instant chat support, near-instant international transfers and support for multiple currencies at the real FX rate. They've created new business models on the back of all of this.
How safe is Cash App
Cash App simply facilitates the sending and receiving of money. They don't actually store the funds themselves. They're also backed by Square, their parent company.
How safe is Revolut
While Revolut uses third party banks to store and transfer their funds. They're fully regulated in the UK.
Compare with the best crypto debit card alternatives
| Provider | Processor | Rewards | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coinbase | Visa | Up to 4% XLM, 1% BTC | → |
| Crypto.com | Visa | 1–5% CRO, free Spotify & Netflix | → |
| Wirex | Visa / Mastercard | 0.5%–1.5% BTC | → |
| Binance | Visa | Up to 8% BNB | → |
| Uphold | Mastercard | 2% crypto, 1% cash | → |
Cash App vs Revolut: The verdict
Like most things, it depends on your needs.
If the last thing you need is another bank account, however, you need a much faster and simpler way to send and receive money, definitely go with Cash App.
Its simple onboarding, UI and ability to buy and store Bitcoin at a tap of a button make this our favourite finance app of 2020.
If you have more requirements around international transfers, currency exchanges and an actual bank account, Revolut is your best bet.