Revolut Adds FX Forwards

A company can know its invoice down to the cent and still lose money because a currency moved between the day it signed a deal and the day it got paid. Revolut Business is now pushing a tool that lets firms lock an exchange rate ahead of time instead of gambling on where the market will be later. (revolut.com) The product is called a foreign exchange forward, which is just a contract to swap one currency for another on a future date at a rate agreed today. Revolut says businesses can now set these contracts through its platform in more than 10 currencies. (revolut.com) Think of a British importer that owes a supplier in euros in 90 days. If the pound falls before the bill is due, that same shipment suddenly costs more pounds, so the importer’s profit shrinks even if the supplier never changed the price. (revolut.com) A forward turns that moving target into a fixed number. Revolut’s help pages say the business agrees the rate when the contract is booked, and that rate is used on the completion date. (help.revolut.com) Revolut is aiming this at companies that already use its business account for day-to-day foreign exchange, payments, and multi-currency balances. The pitch is simple: don’t just exchange money cheaply when the time comes, decide the rate in advance and build your cash-flow plan around it. (revolut.com) The rollout is not universal. Revolut says forward contracts are available to business customers with an active Revolut Business account that are corporate entities incorporated in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, or the European Economic Area, and freelancers are not eligible. (revolut.com) The contracts also come with limits that make this a treasury tool, not a magic shield. Revolut’s booking guide says businesses can currently schedule forwards up to 12 months in advance, while its product page says rates can be fixed as far as 2 years ahead depending on setup and market pair. (help.revolut.com) (revolut.com) This is the part smaller companies usually had to ask a bank dealer for over email or phone. Revolut is trying to pull that workflow into a web app, where a finance team can view rates, choose a date or time window, and manage the contract from the same place it handles cross-border money movement. (revolut.com) (help.revolut.com) It does not mean the company “wins” on every trade. If the market later moves in its favor, the business still settles at the locked rate, so what it bought is certainty, not the best possible outcome. (revolut.com) That trade-off makes the product most useful for firms with known future payments like inventory orders, payroll, or supplier invoices in another currency. In volatile foreign-exchange markets, knowing next quarter’s rate can matter more than hoping for a slightly better one on the day. (revolut.com)