After three years of trying, fintech start-up Revolut finally recieves a UK banking licence, but with some restrictions from regulator
Attempts by London-based fintech start-up Revolut to establish itself as a registered bank in the United Kingdom were achieved this week.
Revolut announced on its website that after three years, it has received its UK banking licence (with restrictions) from the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), the regulator responsible for overseeing the UK banking sector.
The UK banking licence will allow Revolut to offer the same UK permissions that traditional High Street banks offer, but without the physical branches that are traditionally associated with British banks.
Revolut backstory
The company had begun life in 2015 to tackle expensive overseas spending, and in 2017 it began offering cryptocurrency services, starting with crypto trading.
It is based in London and is licensed and is regulated by the Bank of Lithuania in the European Union, offers banking, currency exchange, payment and other financial services.
Revolut’s products include banking services, currency exchange, debit and credit cards, virtual cards, Apple Pay, interest-bearing ‘vaults’, personal loans and BNPL or buy now, pay later (where it has a banking licence), stock trading, crypto, commodities, human resources and other services.
Revolut has over nine million UK customers and 45 million globally, and its banking services are available in 30 countries.
The European Central Bank had granted it a full banking licence in December 2021, after it had secured a specialist bank licence back in 2018.
UK licence
Now Revolut has confirmed it has received authorisation with restrictions, designed for new banks to complete the build out of their banking operations.
Revolut therefore now enters the ‘mobilisation’ stage, sometimes referred to as ‘Authorisation with Restrictions’, a common step for many new banks in the UK.
Essentially during this 12 month period, new banks are required to demonstrate they will be fully operational and address additional issues identified by the regulator before they can trade fully.
Revolut said that in the meantime, nothing changes for UK customers during this restricted period, and customers can continue to use their Revolut e-money account as they always have.
“We are incredibly proud to reach this important milestone in the journey of the company and we will ensure we deliver on making Revolut the bank of choice for UK customers,” said Nik Storonsky, CEO of Revolut.
“Today’s announcement is a significant step forward for Revolut and for our customers,” added Francesca Carlesi, UK CEO of Revolut. “It is a tremendous responsibility to be a bank in the UK and we will work relentlessly to offer products and services that improve the financial lives of everyone who uses Revolut.”
“This is the next phase in Revolut’s journey in the UK – we can’t wait to get going,” said Carlesi.
Revolut recently published its financial accounts for 2023, announcing that Group revenues surpassed $2.2 billion, with record profits before tax of $545 million.
One year ago Revolut stopped offering access to cryptocurrencies in the United States, citing regulatory and market uncertainties in that country.
