Revolut secures UK banking licence, signaling expansion into lending and other financial services

Fintech firm Revolut has obtained a full banking licence in the UK, moving to expand its range of financial services.

According to Cointelegraph on the 11th (local time), Revolut said it will begin banking operations in the UK after receiving approval from the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), the country’s financial regulator. As a result, Revolut plans to offer deposit account services to retail and corporate customers through “Revolut Bank UK.”

Deposits at Revolut Bank UK will be protected by the UK’s Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). The FSCS is a system that safeguards customer deposits in events such as a financial institution’s failure, with coverage of up to £120,000.

Existing Revolut customers in the UK will be migrated sequentially to the new bank account framework over the coming months.

Revolut said, “With the launch of this bank, we plan to provide a broader range of financial services going forward, including lending.”

Cointelegraph noted that crypto-asset (cryptocurrency) companies and fintech firms have recently been actively pursuing banking licences to strengthen links with the traditional financial system. Ripple, Paxos, and Circle—the issuer of the US dollar stablecoin USDC—are also moving to obtain banking authorisations or secure related regulatory status.

Revolut, too, is pushing to expand its global banking business. The company applied for a banking licence in Peru in January this year and has also applied for a federal bank charter in the United States.

Meanwhile, in the United States, some traditional financial-sector players are also moving to oppose crypto firms’ entry into banking. A US banking industry group is reportedly considering litigation against the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to block crypto firms from obtaining bank charters.