Revolut launches geolocation-powered travel insurance

By Romain Dillet for TC

Fintech startup Revolut is launching international medical and dental insurance. You can subscribe using the company’s app for £1 per day or more depending on the options.

But the best part is that you can set it up and forget about it as Revolut uses your device’s location data to automatically turn insurance coverage on and off.

By default, insurance coverage costs £1 per day for medical and dental insurance. You can add an option for winter sports and you can also cover your friends and family.

But if you’re always on the road and tend to spend weeks or even months abroad, Revolut is going to cap its travel insurance after a certain amount of time. You can also pay a fixed upfront price for an annual policy.

Revolut isn’t becoming an insurance company. Just like with its mobile device insurance product, the startup is working with third-party insurance companies. This time, Thomas Cook Money is in charge of the travel insurance product. It’s also worth noting that Revolut Premium includes travel insurance.

It’s still unclear if Revolut is going to regularly request your location when the app is in the background or if Revolut is just going to get your location when you open the app.

Revolut is slowly building an insurance hub to control all your insurance needs from the company’s app. And this is smart as Revolut just has to take a bit of money from your Revolut balance. It feels like you’re not spending any money because you don’t need to enter your card number.

The startup has been releasing new features at an impressive pace. The service is now much more than a simple prepaid MasterCard with a foreign exchange feature. You can now trade cryptocurrencies in the Revolut app, receive money on your own IBAN, ask for a credit line and more. It’s becoming a serious banking alternative.