London-based digital payments company Revolut is applying for a licence in Luxembourg in order to mitigate any fallout from Brexit.
The fintech, led by CEO and co-founder Nikolay Storonsky, currently operates via an e-money licence in the UK and uses passporting to distribute its offering across other European Union markets.
But the continued absence of any clarity over the terms of Brexit has led Revolut to seek an additional e-money licence in Luxembourg.
It has also decided to seek a full banking licence in Lithuania rather than the UK, again due to Brexit uncertainty.
The move will inevitably add to the debate over how Brexit will affect London's status as a leading fintech hub both globally and within Europe.
Storonsky told the Financial Times that the company has no immediate plans to leave its London base and the Luxembourg licence application was "just to be on the safe side".
However, he also predicted that London would see its influence wain. "More banks will cut back as they make less money, they are squeezed by regulation and face competition from fintechs."
Stornosky's comments also mark a change from remarks made back in April 2017 when he criticised Brexit scaremongers."There is no doubt in our minds that London will remain a hub for fintech irrespective of what a few fear mongering individuals might say," he said at the time.
The truth is that Brexit could be especially damaging for a London-based Revolut given that it launched in 2015 offering pre-paid cards that provided cheaper cross-border payments than incumbent operators.
Revolut, labelled as the fastest growing fintech in the UK, also announced operational losses for 2017 that doubled the losses of the previous year - £14.8m, up by 52% from 2016 - despite a trebling of its user base and a rise in revenue from £2.4m to £12.8m.
Storonsky says that the rise in profits is due to the launch of new revenue-generating features such as cryptocurrency trading and payment accounts.
However, the losses have been attributed to the costs associated with customer acquisition as well as the costs of operating its card scheme.