How Banking Apps Embraced Telecoms

If you use digital banking, there’s a good chance you're either a neobank customer already, or will become one soon. Also called “challenger banks”, neobanks are digital-only financial service providers that have harnessed cloud-based technology to subvert traditional expectations of the banking industry, focusing on ease of use and simplicity. Though the term neobank didn’t exist before 2008, it has since become a staple descriptor in the financial industry and crossed over to mainstream usage.

Last year, more people than ever used a digital bank for their personal or business finances. This rapid growth was enabled by advancements in telecommunications technology, including eSIMs, Remote SIM Provisioning (RSP), and embedded telco services.

Here, we explore the telecommunications factors behind the rise of neobanks and reveal how new and legacy financial services use eSIMs to connect their customers, broaden their user base, and stand out in a crowded market.

What is a digital bank?

Developed partially in response to the 2008 market crash and the cryptocurrency boom, digital banks emerged as simplified, digital-first banking services, entirely managed through an app. Unlike traditional banks, digital banks (or neobanks) are virtual-only businesses, with no physical branches. This has enabled them to rapidly expand, develop new products, and roll out new features at the touch of a button.

Some digital banks do not have their own banking license and are required to partner with established banks to offer financial services. Others are fully registered international banks, able to issue their own credit and debit cards, provide mortgages, and fulfill any other requirements expected of a traditional bank.

The digital-only format of these banks has allowed them to gain rapid market entry and continually roll out new features via instant software updates. This flexibility also extends to opening a digital bank – between 2014 and 2025, the number of digital-only banks worldwide rose from less than 50 to over 300, with many more in development.

Digital banks claim that the lowered operational and logistical costs of a digital-only service allow them greater flexibility in the market than physical chains.

For many, the appeal of these services lies in the instant access they provide to previously obscure financial services. Customers can often open an account in minutes, while brands like N26 or Starling offer their users simplified inroads into investments and trading, with virtual “financial advisers” preselecting stock options and offering the ability to purchase cryptocurrencies in-app without a trading account or crypto wallet.

Digital banks and eSIMs

Crucial to the success of these platforms has been their inherent ability to incorporate and deploy new features. By integrating APIs like the one used in 1GLOBAL embedded telco products, digital banks can offer their customers externally produced digital products under their own branding and UI. This allows them to leverage the expertise of a wide range of partners to rapidly augment their offering with new products, while delivering a familiar and trusted customer experience.

A growing trend in digital banks is the incorporation of mobile data services and eSIMs. Multi-million-user neobanks like the Indian brand Zolve, the Brazilian Nubank, or the Dutch Bunq offer the option to purchase international mobile data through their app and use it to get online abroad without paying roaming fees. This reflects a wider shift in the diversification of digital banking services.

This embedded telco product is made possible by eSIMs. An eSIM is a software-based SIM profile that can be downloaded to a mobile device, rather than inserted via a plastic SIM card. Modern smartphones can store multiple eSIM profiles simultaneously, making it easy to instantly switch between eSIMs and service providers when traveling to a different country or switching to a work number.

The increase in financial platforms offering telecommunications services like travel eSIMs reflects the market’s international user base and responds to increased demand from holidaymakers, corporate travelers, and customers looking to send money to family overseas. Many neobanks are notable for offering travel-friendly services like free international cash withdrawals or quick currency transfers – the incorporation of travel eSIMs is a logical next step.

• For customers, in-app eSIMs are a valuable travel service, instantly available through a familiar UI.

• For banks, eSIMs are an in-demand product that immediately diversifies their offering, adds a new revenue stream, and invites users to deepen their relationship with their banking app. In Revolut's case, for example, a set monthly eSIM data volume is included as part of its premium "Revolut Ultra" account.

Traditional banks and telecommunications

The advantages of eSIM integration haven’t gone unnoticed by the rest of the financial sector. Western Union launched its own in-app travel eSIM service in 2024, capitalizing on its international user base. The same year, American Express introduced a similar service for its Platinum cardholders.

This shift from even long-established players signifies the value of eSIM integration and suggests a widening demand for travel eSIMs beyond the mobile-savvy neobank core user base.

Why use eSIMs?

With a near-limitless range of potential uses, eSIMs have occupied the space between banking and telecommunications. In the hyper-competitive world of digital financial services, brands are seeking new methods to attract customers and deliver value to existing clients. Revolut, the UK’s largest neobank, has progressed from a digital banking app to an all-around financial platform, offering stock trading, crypto, and eSIM-powered mobile data in one overarching app.

Their digital-only existence allows neobanks to integrate new features in a way that would be impossible for brick-and-mortar establishments. As app-based products, these services tend to have digitally native user bases, who are primed to explore new app-based products and features. An integrated mobile data service provides a clear value add for this target group.

White-label eSIM providers like 1GLOBAL can rapidly help financial platforms deliver secure, international, and cost-effective mobile data plans to their customers.

1GLOBAL white label eSIM services

As a digital-first telco, 1GLOBAL has years of proven success supplying eSIM solutions to international partners.

Key collaborations have included the integration of white label eSIMs for a wide range of digital partner platforms, including neobanks. Since 2018, 1GLOBAL has distributed over 45 million eSIM profiles through its own brand and multiple white-label partnerships.

1GLOBAL’s unique market position as a telco and eSIM supplier with in-depth knowledge of the financial industry allows it to develop highly personalized eSIM services that integrate fully with external APIs and backends.

An embedded telco service from 1GLOBAL allows rapid to-market activation and an ongoing, sustainable revenue stream. Our fully-integrated service provides digital platforms with everything they require to deploy, monitor, and independently manage integrated eSIM plans in their products. 1GLOBAL telco plans can be embedded directly within the app or distributed via a QR code, suitable for online and offline channels.

Embedded Telco in action: Revolut

The UK’s largest digital bank, Revolut, recently partnered with 1GLOBAL to integrate eSIM services into its app. Over 65 million Revolut customers can now purchase local mobile data packages for 100+ destinations around the world and get online without paying roaming fees.

For customers, this is a cost-effective and practical new tool that allows them to seamlessly purchase data and get online within the regular UI of their Revolut app. For Revolut, it’s a simple way to diversify their product and integrate a new revenue stream with minimal changes to the function or UX of the Revolut app.

Revolut Mobile Poland

The success of this partnership was further established in December 2025, when Revolut once again turned to 1GLOBAL to roll out a new connectivity service. Now, Revolut users in Poland who signed up to the waitlist can also book domestic eSIM plans, with unlimited calls and texts as well as mobile data access. By extending its services to voice and SMS, Revolut further establishes its status as a multifaceted digital provider, serving needs beyond the financial. Building long-term customer relationships is a key goal for digital platforms like Revolut. For customers, in-app domestic mobile plans create a unified digital experience that fosters long-term engagement.

The future of banking

This bundling of subscriptions is not unique to the banking industry – recent research by the digital subscription platform Bango and the independent market research agency 3Gem delineated the growth of the “bundle economy”, where customers are increasingly likely to purchase their digital subscriptions in grouped packages, rather than individually.

The main providers of these are service providers with a typically long-term customer relationship, such as telecommunications or internet providers. Banking services also fit this mould. By grouping diverse services under one familiar platform, banking platforms can safeguard against volatility in the financial sector and provide a valuable new service for prospective and existing customers.

Cloud-based tools and APIs like 1GLOBAL’s white-label eSIM solutions provide a route for digital-first platforms to benefit from the new eSIM economy and rapidly extend new services to their customer base.

Contact 1GLOBAL today to discuss how our embedded telco solutions can work for your business.