Revolut's long-term quest to gain a UK banking licence is over, with the Prudential Regulatory Authority granting the licence with restrictions.
Three years in the making, Revolut's bid for a UK banking licence has been held up by issues over compliance, its repeated failure to file accounts on time and the sheer size of the business, which now counts over 42 million global customers.
Regulatory fears have been eased by recent bumper revenues of over $2.2bn in 2023 and a record profit before tax of $545m. A simplification of its share ownership in October, which saw the firm collapse its six classes of shares into one and clarified its ownership structure, has also been a factor.
Revolut now enters the ‘mobilisation’ stage, sometimes referred to as ‘Authorisation with Restrictions’, a common step for many new banks in the United Kingdom. Once the build out is complete and full authorisation achieved, the fintech will be able to buiild up its deposit base and offer products like loans, mortgages and credit cards alongside its existing e-money services, representing a serious threat to the established hegemony.
Nik Storonsky, CEO of Revolut, comments: “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.”