Revolut, simply put, is one app for all things money: everyday spending, savings, investments, transfers, budgeting, rewards and more. The fintech darling, headquartered in London and present in 35 markets worldwide, launched its services in 2015. They saw much success early on and very quickly began expanding to overseas markets one after another.
In Asia Pacific, Revolut currently serves customers in Singapore, Japan and Australia. They are on track to go live in other markets in the coming months. In the meantime, they are actively hiring, navigating regulatory approvals and building impressive partnerships in the region.
We sat down with Jocelyn Kaylee Neo, who looks after Revolut’s employer branding, to ask her some quick questions around remote work, company culture and branded merchandise.
How did Revolut keep the company culture going while majority of the staff were working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic?
The pandemic has certainly changed the mediums through which we interact, but it hasn’t affected the desire to foster good relationships between teams and individuals. In fact, it has given people culture a larger place at the table where other important business agenda are discussed, resulting in more attentiveness towards our people and a greater overall effort to strengthen culture.
Generally, Revolut approaches culture-building by setting the right expectations, keeping communication channels open, and providing the right environment so our Revoluters can do brilliant work. On the global level, we have town hall meetings, internal newsletters and weekly satisfaction surveys. On the country level, Revolut Singapore has its own town hall meetings, daily team check-ins, deep dives into satisfaction and productivity levels, one-on-one catch-ups and engagement activities like virtual charades and online coffee breaks. Combining these touchpoints with interpersonal relationships that have organically formed in the team, I’d say we’ve whipped up a good recipe for our culture in times such as this.
In your opinion, how important is branded merchandise in building company culture and brand awareness?
Building culture requires deliberate planning and commitment, and it often compounds over time. So while giving out branded T-shirts may be one way to say welcome, creating a shared sense of culture goes beyond that.
That said, branded merchandise does help with brand awareness. Especially online, where content can be shared and reposted. My team runs the Revolut Insider blog and social media channels, which give our followers the official scoop on how and why our Revoluters are transforming the world of finance, and we occasionally receive mentions of our Revoluters wearing or using our merch. It does give us a tangible sense of visual identity, and it’s always fun seeing our people add their own spin to it.
What is the one most important thing you consider when creating merchandise for your brand?
With brand awareness, the more eyeballs (impressions, or views) the merrier. So I would suggest that practicality wins everytime. Can you imagine if we designed a Revolut trench coat for our Revoluters here in Singapore? Sure, it may be an exciting gift to receive, but no one’s going to wear it, and no one else is going to see it. That makes it a complete waste from a branding perspective. Caps and umbrellas may be typical of company branded merch, but they make more practical gifts for Singapore’s warmer but sometimes fickle climate; when our Revoluters don them, we get the impressions we want.
What is your favourite piece of swag that Revolut has created to date?
We have a baseball cap with the words “Think Deeper” emblazoned across it. I like that it’s a literal interpretation of “thinking cap”, which makes for a good reminder when we approach our work. It’s definitely practical, and subtle enough to pair with any outfit. Perfect for bad hair days, too!
Do you have a new hire kit? If so, what's in it?
We like to think that our new Revoluters appreciate both one-to-one hellos and new hire kits, or swag bags, as we call them. Since our work-from-home arrangement started, we’ve been delivering these welcome bags straight to our newcomers’ doorsteps. 
A typical swag bag comes in backpack form, and contains:
- A “Think Deeper” baseball cap
- An aluminium water bottle
- A pair of socks with “Never Settle” printed on the soles
- A tote bag
- A T-shirt with a geo-specific Merlion icon
- A lanyard and ID holder (which were more useful before COVID-19 struck!)
- A webcam cover (an extra layer of security never hurts)
- A ballpoint pen
Our new hire kits also come with brand-new MacBooks for each new Revoluter, along with a first day checklist, resource list and casual team meetings to help them get settled in.
Thanks for reading. If you would like to create your own company swag (whether it's for new hires, customers or partners) we have everything you need to get going. Check out our self-serve store or drop us a message and our consultants will be right with you.
