Revolut’s Culture Strategy: Growth, Gamification, and the Employee Experience
Revolut is once again under the spotlight — this time for rolling out a points-based system that tracks staff behaviour and rewards those who align with predefined performance metrics. The move, covered by The Guardian, has drawn scrutiny for its implications on workplace trust, autonomy, and wellbeing.
This isn’t new territory for Revolut. The fintech has previously faced criticism for its fast-paced, high-pressure environment and what some described as a “toxic work culture.” In 2023, another Guardian piece highlighted employee burnout, excessive monitoring, and high attrition rates. At the time, Revolut responded by hiring psychologists and investing in internal culture reforms, claiming progress on both compliance and employee wellbeing.
So, nearly two years on — has the culture changed?
At Deltabase, we use sentiment data to evaluate not what companies say about their culture, but how employees experience it. Here’s what the numbers tell us about Revolut today — and how it compares with peer challenger bank Monzo.
Revolut’s Culture Profile: Ambition, Rewards, and Risk
Revolut’s internal culture shows clear signals of performance-driven ambition. It ranks strongly in key areas that attract and retain high-performing talent:
Pay & Rewards: +52.17%
Career Progression: +40.94%
Learning & Development: +37.76%
These results suggest a culture that prioritises growth — both personal and professional. The systems in place are working well for those who thrive in high-output, high-recognition environments.
However, the same data reveals major challenges in the broader employee experience:
Purpose: –43.66%
Work-Life Balance: –33.08%
Supportive Environment: –28.26%
This indicates a performance culture that may be unsustainable. If employees feel disconnected from the company’s mission, unsupported by leadership, and unable to maintain balance, even the best performers can burn out. Introducing behavioural tracking could amplify that pressure — especially if perceived as surveillance rather than support.
Monzo’s Cultural Contrast: Cohesion and Inclusion
Monzo offers a useful benchmark — a similar-sized fintech with a different cultural fingerprint. While Monzo doesn’t dominate in rewards or progression, it outperforms Revolut in areas linked to emotional safety and team cohesion:
Collaboration: +44.00%
Learning & Development: +29.43%
Diversity & Inclusion (D&I): +25.08%
These figures reflect a culture that values shared knowledge, inclusive growth, and psychological safety — all strong indicators of long-term engagement.
But Monzo isn’t without friction:
Work-Life Balance: –39.58%
Agility & Bureaucracy: –36.37%
Purpose: –6.66%
The lower agility score points to growing structural complexity — a common challenge as start-ups mature into scale-ups. While employees may feel included and supported, they also report barriers to speed and purpose alignment.
Culture as a Business Asset: What the Data Tells Us
The cultural profiles of Revolut and Monzo paint two contrasting models:
Revolut has created a system optimised for speed and individual progression, but at the cost of purpose and sustainability.
Monzo offers a more collaborative, values-aligned environment, though not without its own operational friction.
Revolut’s points-based bonus system may well deliver short-term behavioural alignment — but unless supported by deeper cultural investment in trust, balance, and meaning, the long-term effects could be counterproductive.
Business performance and workplace culture are deeply intertwined. Leaders that treat culture as a strategic asset — not just a compliance box — will build organisations that scale without fracturing.
At Deltabase, we use data to decode that link. Because culture isn’t a soft topic. It’s a performance multiplier.
