Revolut CEO: Growing Without Banking License Was ‘Wrong Decision’

Is U.K. FinTech startup Revolut pursuing a banking license in the U.S?

CEO Nik Storonsky reportedly hinted as much when speaking to an audience of investors in Helsinki, Finland, on Wednesday (Nov. 20), noting that the U.S. market is more credit card-centic, making it tougher to compete without that option.

“In the U.S., you need to be credit-driven. So in the U.S., we need to have a banking license to launch a product,” said Storonsky, whose comments were reported by Bloomberg News.

Revolut does business in the U.S. in partnership with Lead Bank, the report noted, having applied in 2021 for a license that would let it provide banking services such as loans.

But Storonsky said the company is in no hurry to move into new markets as it was before, telling his audience that Revolut’s original “grow fast” ethos had been ill-considered.

“For a long time, I wanted to be as less regulated as possible, it was the completely wrong decision,” he said, adding that a smaller company would have been able to get licenses more easily than one the size of Revolut in 2024.

Revolut was granted a British banking license in July after three years of waiting. The process took longer than usual, with Revolut facing scrutiny over its size, as well as issues with its financial reporting.

The company was recently valued at $45 billion in a secondary share sale and announced this week that it had 50 million customers globally, 20% of them in its home country.

According to Bloomberg, Storonsky wants the company to double in size, saying it is targeting 100 million daily active customers in 100 countries, as well as $100 billion in yearly revenue.

Revolut also announced this week that it plans to offer its 650,000 British customers new trading products and features after getting a trading license from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

And last week, Revolut announced it was expanding its cryptocurrency exchange, with Revolut X, designed for professional crypto traders, now available in 30 new European Economic Area (EEA) countries.

“The feedback from experienced traders has been very positive, with many already taking advantage of our near-zero fees, wide range of available assets and seamless integration with their Revolut accounts,” Leonid Bashlykov, head of product at Revolut, said in a news release. “Safety and accessibility are at the heart of our standalone exchange because we recognize that crypto traders value these features above all else.”