Want to work for Revolut? Then you’ll probably encounter their problem‑solving interview: a significant and demanding part of the hiring process.
In this article, Coach Mariana will walk you through exactly how the interview works, what skills it tests, and how you can prepare to stand out. Whether you're new to case-style interviews or just want to sharpen your skills, her goal is to help you approach Revolut’s process with confidence and clarity.
Revolut is a UK-based fintech company founded in 2015. It offers digital banking services such as current accounts, international transfers, cards, and investment options, and is now active in more than 35 countries.
At Revolut, the problem-solving interview is a core step in the hiring process. You’ll be asked to tackle a real or realistic business situation in 30–40 minutes, working through it live with your interviewer.
The purpose isn’t to see whether you know the “right answer.” In most cases, there isn’t one. Instead, the focus is on how you think: can you bring structure to an ambiguous question, work with data, do the math, make reasonable assumptions, brainstorm solutions, and communicate clearly?
I know this sounds a bit conceptual right now, but don’t worry! I’ll break it down for you in a moment! 🙂
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What Will Revolut’s Problem-Solving Interview Assess?
The Revolut problem-solving interview usually covers six main areas:
Structuring – Breaking down a broad problem into clear, logical components while being MECE.
Chart Reading – Interpreting data exhibits to extract relevant insights connected to the case objective.
Case Math – Performing calculations to support arguments. Don’t worry about mental math; so far 100% of my clients were allowed to use calculators or Excel, just confirm this with your HR point of contact. 😉
Brainstorming – Generating creative yet practical ideas within a structured MECE framework.
Communication – Explaining your thought process in a clear, confident, top-down way.
Breaking Down Each Component of Revolut’s Problem-Solving Interview
Let us now take a look at each component of Revolut’s problem-solving interview:
Structuring
What it means: Turning a broad question into an organized, step-by-step plan (MECE).
MECE stands for Mutually Exclusive and Collectively Exhaustive. It means your breakdown should have no overlaps and should cover all relevant points.
A basic example could be: Internal factors vs. External factors. (Just to illustrate the concept, don’t use it blindly without context!)
Typical questions include:
“Why might Revolut’s card transactions be declining in one market?”
“How could Revolut grow its revenues next year?”
“How could we improve the onboarding process of new clients?”
Step-by-step method
Repeat the prompt to confirm you understood it correctly, even if it’s simple.
Clarify the scope and success criteria, as you would in a real project. Think like an executive who needs clear boundaries and high-level context.
Draft 3–4 broad categories that are MECE.
Add sub-categories under each to guide your analysis.
Explain your structure out loud, linking your rationale back to the case objective.
State explicitly what your next step will be, that’s what makes it a candidate-led interview.
Use your structure as the roadmap for the rest of the case.
Why it makes sense
Imagine you lost your wallet at home. A MECE approach would be to search room by room until you’ve covered the entire house. That way, you know the wallet must be found within that scope.
Prioritization then comes into play: if you just walked in, the most likely places are the entryway or living room. If you have a playful baby (like I do), you might check unusual spots, like the washing machine! 😉
Applied to a business case related to profitability in a tech company:
If profits are down, breaking the problem into revenues and costs guarantees you’ll find the answer, because the issue must lie within that scope.
Chart Reading
What it means: Extracting insights from data exhibits like tables, bar charts, or line graphs.
Typical questions:
“Here’s a breakdown of revenues by product line. What stands out?”
“This chart shows churn by age group. What do you observe?”
Step-by-step method
Take 15–20 seconds to read silently, then confirm your understanding with the interviewer.
Look for trends, outliers, and comparisons. Don’t narrate line by line.
Identify key insights connected to the case objective. (Remember: you’re solving for the “wallet,” not random objects.)
State the findings clearly, avoiding a full narration of every number.
Link insights back to your structure, then say what your next step will be.
To exercise this skill, I recommend you to take a look into McKinsey and Bainarticles in their official websites. There are plenty of exhibits for you to interpret. Make sure to not take a peek into their main insights described in the article before trying to figure them out by yourself.
Case Math
What it means: Doing calculations to size a problem, test scenarios, or evaluate options.
Typical questions:
“If Revolut launches a premium product, how would you calculate annual revenue?”
“How many customers would Revolut need for this feature to break even?”
“What’s the market size for fintechs in Germany?”
Step-by-step method
Repeat the prompt and given numbers.
Write out the formula before plugging in numbers, confirm your logic first.
Perform the math step by step. Use a calculator/Excel if allowed and share your screen.
Round where it makes sense (say it explicitly).
Check if the result seems realistic.
Always ask: “So what?” → link the number back to the case objective.
Brainstorming
What it means: Coming up with a structured list of ideas to solve a challenge, often after analyzing data.
Typical questions:
“What strategies could Revolut use to increase user engagement?”
“What options could Revolut explore to reduce fraud?”
Step-by-step method
Pause and set a structure before listing ideas.
You can use contrasts (internal vs. external), processes (customer journey), or frameworks (Ansoff, 4Ps, BCG) depending on the case.
Generate ideas within each category. Cover obvious options first, then push for creative ones.
Explain why each idea could matter.
Prioritize based on rationale (context, feasibility, impact).
Example:
“You’re advising a restaurant that wants to increase revenue without changing its business model. What ideas do you have?”
Communication
Even the best analysis fails without clear communication.
Tips to keep in mind:
Speak in short, structured points.
Use signposting (“There are three reasons. Reason 1…”).
Summarize frequently.
End with a confident recommendation.
Example – Non Top-Down:
“So, the company has been facing revenue issues. Region A dropped by 15% and we don't know why, Region B actually grew, but its impact is irrelevant. Marketing spend increased $10M but unclear ROI so far, definitely need to check further. Retention also fell by 5%. So overall, there are a lot of moving parts.”
Example – Top-Down:
“The company’s profitability problem stems from 3 main factors:
Sales dropped 15% in Region A.
Marketing spend increased $10M with no clear ROI.
Customer retention fell 5%.
Since Region A’s decline represents 40% of the impact, I suggest we focus there first. As a next step, I’d like to understand…”
In short: stay structured, stay top-down, and remember: your interviewer wants to follow your thinking, not solve a riddle. 🙂
Revolut’s Candidate-Led Interviews: Taking the Driver’s Seat
Revolut uses a candidate-led format. The interviewer won’t guide you step by step (though they may nudge you in a direction).
How to handle it:
Start strong with a clear structure.
Be proactive in asking for data.
Always connect findings back to the case objective.
Drive the discussion forward, don’t wait for hints.
Summarize progress regularly so the interviewer can follow your logic.
👉 Practice candidate-led interviews with our wide selection of practice cases in our Case Library. You can easily filter between candidate-led and interviewer-led formats!
Your client tk Commodity Trade (tk ComT) is a global materials trader - they buy and sell raw materials. tk ComT had stable EBITDA margins in recent years. They consider expanding their target market and entering the Lithium (electric vehicle battery grade) trade, due to the current high demand for electric cars and Lithium-ion batteries. The client is concerned about minimizing the cash spending and about improving the payback period for this market-entry campaign, due to corporate cash policy.As a consultant, you are expected to calculate the size of the Lithium market and to assess the payback periods for an organic market entry (with own resources) as well as for the acquisition of an established company. Finally, the client expects a proposal about the best market entry strategy and potential opportunities and risks.
We are thinking of establishing a door-to-door distribution of an existing online newspaper in Kolkata, India. We haven't spent much time on how the process would work in practice yet. Can you help us evaluate the feasibility of the plan?
Our client is a Canadian TV company, Universal TV. They recently entered the US market in the northeast to expand its market share and capture a large part of the 4 m consumers in a market that has little competition. However, in the past few years, Universal TV has been unable to realize a profit.You are hired to figure out why this is the case and what their next move should be.
Your client is Alistair, a brew master from the east coast of the United States. He has developed a beer recipe he believes will revolutionize the beer drinking experience in the US. Alistair was able to convince his family and friends to invest in his business idea after letting them taste a sample of his new beer. With the investment money, Alistair founded the Allstar Brewing Company (ABC) and bought himself a mothballed brownfield brewery. This was already one year ago and Alistair has been working on perfecting his recipe since, but he has yet to produce a barrel of beer from the acquired production site. In the meantime, ABC has been approached by two other companies that both submitted a respective offer. Alistair seeks your help in determining the best course of action.
Our client is the company “DekoKonzept”, which primarily sells home accessories and small furniture. DekoKonzept generates approximately €700M in revenue and operates mainly in Germany, with some presence in other European countries. The company is particularly represented through physical stores in major German cities and downtown areas but is also expanding its online shop significantly.A variety of outdated and often self-developed IT systems are currently used for core processes such as procurement, warehousing, and point-of-sale operations.DekoKonzept is also facing the challenge that its ERP system (SAP ECC 6.0) will soon no longer be officially supported by SAP. Therefore, they aim to migrate to the successor system SAP S/4HANA as soon as possible. This migration presents an opportunity to review, standardize, and harmonize many of the existing processes and systems. The next step is to further assess and evaluate the impact on costs, budget, and scope. Note: This case is interviewer-led. The cases in our interviews are more candidate-led. In this case, you take the lead and manage the entire case from start to finish. So be prepared for this when you apply to us.
FashionForward is a mid-sized, private-label fashion retailer headquartered in Europe with €600 million in annual revenue. Its product portfolio includes fast-fashion collections for men and women, sold in 220 stores across six countries, and online.The company currently sources approximately 85% of its total production volume from Bangladesh, heavily relying on just three key suppliers for over 70% of that volume. Their procurement strategy is highly cost-driven, and supplier relationships are transactional. FashionForward has now asked Inverto to develop a new sourcing strategy.Over the last 18 months, FashionForward has faced increasing procurement challenges:A drop in demand for trend-sensitive fashion categoriesLong lead times (up to 40 days), limiting reactivity to seasonal trendsRepeated shipping delays and FX volatility from BangladesOverstocking in basics and stockouts of fashion-forward itemsESG non-compliance flagged in two factories during an auditGrowing pressure from the board to increase agility and reduce dependency on Bangladesh
The automobile manufacturer CarsCo has difficulties with the profitability of its pick-up unit in Thailand. The candidate is supposed to evaluate the situation by answering a line of questions that are presented in the “suggested approach” section.
Your client, BusCo, is a passenger bus company in Uganda, Africa. Due to the poor road conditions, maintenance plays a very important role in the reliability and quality of BusCo’s services.BusCo outsourced all of its bus maintenance operations to MaintainCo in the last years. However, especially last year, BusCo was very disappointed with the maintenance provided. The bad service caused delays in service as well as trip cancellations.Now BusCo is considering doing its maintenance in-house. However, an investment amortization period of 4 years or less is required.The CEO wants to know from you if they should pursue the in-house maintenance strategy next year?
Our client, GamingHub, is a large diversified entertainment corporation that received a request to approve a $200 m capital allocation from its video game manufacturing division. The division wants to triple the capacity.The client hired us to help him decide if he should approve this capital request and have asked you what critical issues are to be looked into to decide if the division's market is attractive enough to expand.
This set of questions is designed to help you master the fundamentals of mergers and acquisitions (M&A). The questions start with basic concepts, such as the difference between mergers and acquisitions, and progress to key topics like synergies, accretive and dilutive deals, and the merger model.In total, walking through this set in an interview would take approximately 30 minutes, making up around 60% of a typical 45-minute interview. Below, you’ll find model answers for each question, along with tips for the interviewer on what to look for in candidate responses.
An Initial Public Offering (IPO) is one of the most important events in a company’s lifecycle and a frequent topic in investment banking interviews. This case will test your understanding of IPO basics, process steps, valuation methods, and recent market dynamics.
Sensorio Hightech GmbH is a leading manufacturer of technically advanced consumer electronics sensors based in Germany with EUR 500 m in revenues. It is a successfully growing affiliate with technically advanced consumer electronics sensors as its main business. Sensorio Hightech GmbH is looking at the smart home market for further growth. In addition, the company is aiming to tap into new regional markets. You are a member of a consulting team mandated by Sensorio Hightech GmbH to:assess possible new target segments in the smart home market(optional – if there’s time left: recommend go-to-market measures)The company is looking for a recommendation answering the following questions, taking into account Sensorio’s capabilities and current situation in various regions, the overall market environment, and smart home ecosystem:Smart home market segmentation & attractiveness analysis (qualitative & quantitative)What are relevant market segments of the smart home market?What are potential factors that determine the market segment's attractiveness for Sensorio Hightech GmbH?Which market segment(s) is/are most attractive for Sensorio Hightech GmbH to enter, and why?(Optional: Entry strategy (qualitative))How does the strategy to successfully entering the target segment(s) look like?What are the crucial factors Sensorio Hightech GmbH needs to get right?What parts of the value chain does Sensorio Hightech GmbH want to cover?
Your client, Eyes Inc., is a contact lens manufacturer situated in the US. They seek to increase their market share over the next two years and asked our company to for advice.In what way would you approach the problem?
You are part of the Strategy & Operations team at Revolut.Revolut has had significant growth over the past couple of years, with customer base growing 20-30% per year. Our apps have also been highly rated in the various app stores - be it GooglePlay or on the Apple store.Revolut's current customer strategy is to segment customers based on their subscription tiers/plans. Standard: FreePlus: $3.99/mthPremium: $7.99/mthMetal: $14.99/mthUltra: Ultra $55/mthKey differentiation between the plans are in the pricing and features. Namely, the more expensive tiers like Metal and Ultra have additional features such as personalized and premium card design, free access to lifestyle apps (e.g. Financial Times, Class Pass etc), better FX rates and priority customer support.It's great that Revolut has been expanding rapidly, but we are starting to see some stresses on our existing operations and processes. One key area of concern is in customer service, our satisfaction scores have started to trend down and call center headcounts and costs have been increasing in recent years, but we are struggling to handle the load of incoming requests and tickets.You have been tasked to lead a project to solve this problem without ballooning costs.
Your client is a D2C (direct to customer) online fashion business in a developing country. It is a new brand, launched about 2 years ago and founded by ex-investment bankers. Their brand focuses on trendy, edgy design that is less main-stream (versus big brands like H&M, Uniqlo, Zara etc) for adult men. While they have been growing fast, they want to understand how they can further improve their sales.
Your client is a leading retail coffee chain. They are present in several countries globally and are a popular brand in most of the markets that they operate in, with several thousands stores in operation.A key focus of the company currently is diversity & inclusion. In their biggest market which is the US, 1 in 4 people have some sort of disability. One realization the client has had is that their retail stores are not as inclusive to individuals with disabilities. McKinsey has been brought on to help them design more inclusive spaces in their retail stores.
Your client is the Government of Indonesia, specifically a joint committee formed between a few key ministries including the Ministry of Marine Affairs & Fisheries, Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Environment & Forestry. Indonesia is one of the largest developing countries in the world, with a population of about 285M people and an average monthly income of only USD 500. Located in Southeast Asia, Indonesia is actually a vast archipelago comprised of 17,000 islands, giving it one of the longest and most complex coastlines in the world. It is also part of the Coral Triangle, an area demarcated by scientists as the global epicenter of marine diversity. Your client tells you that Indonesia's once pristine coral reefs have seen a rapid decline over the past decade. They have come to you for help and want to figure out what is causing the problem.
Ihr Kunde ist in einem globalen Automobilkonzern dafür verantwortlich ein neues Produkt mit einem Volumen von 140.000 Fahrzeugen über den gesamten Produktionszeitraum auf den Markt zu bringen. Bedingt durch finanzielle Anspannung liegt ein besonderer Fokus auf den Kosten.
Your client is a chewing gum manufacturer in the United Kingdom and you’re currently at the airport waiting for your flight. In the time that you have, you’re thinking about how big the annual chewing gum market is in the UK in terms of market value.
The Revolut problem-solving interview is demanding but highly learnable. By practicing each of the 5 components, structuring, chart reading, math, brainstorming, and communication, you’ll be ready to handle ambiguity and pressure.
Approach each question step by step, stay MECE in your thinking, and keep your communication top-down and crisp. That’s how you show Revolut you can think and act like one of their strategists from day one.
If you have come this far, congratulations!
👉 Want to put these methods into practice? Book a case session with me and let’s work through real Revolut-style problems together.
#1 coach for Revolut | ex Mckinsey ex Nubank | Consulting & Fintech | Clients hired by Revolut, McKinsey, Kearney & more
Case coach with over 200+ sessions experience
Personal Storytelling and Behavioral Interview/PEI Prep
Languages: English, Portuguese
Mariana is a case interview coach on PrepLounge and a former McKinsey consultant. She supports candidates throughout the consulting recruiting process – from crafting impactful CVs to mastering fit and case interviews – with a strong focus on structure, communication, and confidence.
