Revolut secures full UK banking licence after five year wait
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The news: UK fintech Revolut has secured a full UK banking licence, after a five-year process with local regulators.
The context: Revolut was founded in 2015 as a travel finance app, but quickly grew to become Europe’s largest fintech. The company recently at USD75 billion ($104.47 billion).
The company applied for a UK banking licence in 2021, only managing to receive a licence with restrictions in 2024. Revolut then entered a ‘mobilisation period’ to ensure its IT, compliance, and risk management systems were in compliance. The period which should typically only take 12 month lasted almost two years for Revolut.
The limited licence meant the Revolut’s banking division could hold only £50,000 in total deposits.
The Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) confirmed on Wednesday it had awarded Revolut a full banking licence, according to media reports.
Commenting on the licence via a post on Linkedin, Revolut founder and CEO Nik Storonsky said Revolut will start its phased current account rollout, starting with new customers, next week.
“For years, our goal in the UK has been simple but ambitious: to build a financial platform so good that you don’t need to bank anywhere else. Today, we’ve secured one of the final pieces of that puzzle. Launching a bank in our home market has been a key strategic priority for us, and will catalyse our next stage of innovation in the UK. It’s an important milestone as we continue to scale worldwide”, Storonsky wrote.
“We’ll start our phased current account rollout, starting with new customers next week, as we prepare to transition our existing customers seamlessly.”
Last week the company announced that it had applied for a US banking licence and named a former Visa executive as its CEO for the region as it seeks to crack the world’s largest market. Revolut’s application for a US licence is expected to be smooth given the Trump administration’s openness to new banking system entrants.
The Financial Times first reported the news earlier on Wednesday.
The sources: Nik Storonsky Linkedin, Sifted, FT
