The online banking app has established a dedicated division within its broader AI department.

Neobank Revolut has announced plans to develop machine learning architecture across its financial services, as part of the new Revolut Research division. 

Revolut Research is a focused division within its broader AI department and is designed to build alongside academic and technology institutions as the unit provides a foundation for the company’s AI deployments and machine learning initiatives.

Revolut Research is the AI engine that drives Pragma, Revolut’s foundational model which was built in partnership with global chipmaker Nvidia. Pragma aims to unify financial behaviours into one connected system, as opposed to treating each transaction as an isolated task. It also works to detect fraud and enable various customer services. 

The platform uses a global dataset of more than 80m consumers across 40 markets to build a pattern of financial behaviours in real time, with information developing as the dataset evolves.  

In the future, Revolut Research will publish the findings of its scientific research and open-source technical frameworks, with additional plans to incorporate its team into the wider scientific community by means of conferences and quarterly meet-ups. 

“To lead the future of intelligent banking, you cannot rely on third-party blueprints,” said Pavel Nesterov, the head of AI at Revolut. Nesterov added, “We have launched Revolut Research to institutionalise our ‘build, don’t bolt on’ philosophy. 

“By training native foundation models on our global operational data, we are giving our engineering teams an unprecedented engine to deploy smarter features faster, eliminate systemic friction, and give our customers a safer, radically better financial experience.”

Anton Repushko added, “Revolut Research has been established to responsibly build financial intelligence at its deepest layer, rather than patching together narrow, specialised models.

“In PRAGMA, we are developing a single, unified foundation model capable of understanding the true nuance of financial behaviour in real time. Technology is in Revolut’s DNA, and by collaborating with global tech leaders, this division is engineering proprietary capabilities that set us apart from traditional banks.”

In August, Revolut was issued a full banking licence for the French market, giving the fintech a second European Union hub. Revolut Bank SA was granted the licence following a joint assessment by the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution, which is a part of France’s central bank.

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