The news: Revolut is opening a network of branded airport lounges across major European destinations, starting with the Copenhagen Airport next year, per Finextra. Revolut Premium and Metal customers already have access to more than 1,000 third-party lounges through the Revolut app, but the fintech wants to offer its own lounge experience.

Zooming out: US banks have run a similar playbook of creating inviting spaces for customers in the last few years. For example:

• Capital One has in-branch cafes where even noncustomers can get coffee and financial advice in a casual setting. It also opened Capital Landing, a dining-focused lounge at Reagan National Airport created with chef José Andrés that offers complimentary access to Venture X cardholders.
• JPMorgan has dedicated "financial center" branches for mass-affluent customers holding more than $750,000 in deposits.
• Bank of America hired designers to tie individual branch aesthetics to local neighborhoods via curated art.

Implications for financial providers: Revolut's lounges show the fight for premium customers extending off the card and into physical space. The success of this strategy will depend on how much Revolut’s generally younger, mobile-first customers appreciate such in-person experiences.

The risks to companies offering these experiences are cost and scale: Owned lounges and cafes require real estate, staffing, and long-term leases that are harder to scale back than a rewards program, particularly during a downturn. 

Banks and card issuers without a lounge strategy should watch whether Revolut expands the Copenhagen model. If owned experiential space becomes a real differentiator among younger travelers, competitors may need to build their own or deepen partnerships with existing lounge networks.

This content is part of EMARKETER’s subscription Briefings, where we pair daily updates with data and analysis from forecasts and research reports. Our Briefings prepare you to start your day informed, to provide critical insights in an important meeting, and to understand the context of what’s happening in your industry. Non-clients can click here to get a demo of our full platform and coverage.