U.K. fintech Revolut has encountered another obstacle in its long-standing mission to become a full bank in its home country. The Bank of England is delaying the approval of its full banking license due to concerns over the company’s risk management controls. Regulators are worried about whether Revolut can maintain these controls during its rapid international expansion.
According to the Financial Times, the Bank of England requires Revolut to commit to building a risk management framework that matches its global growth before the license can be approved. Regulators are examining the fintech’s controls both in the U.K. and internationally.
Revolut received preliminary approval for a U.K. banking license over a year ago but remains in the mobilization stage. This phase usually lasts for twelve months and involves deposit restrictions while the bank completes its final setup. During this time, the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority assess its readiness to operate as a full bank.
A full banking license would allow Revolut to begin lending in the U.K. and to hold more than 50,000 British pounds in customer deposits. The company currently has twelve million customers in the U.K.
This delay comes as Revolut, which has over 65 million customers worldwide, aggressively expands beyond Britain. The company already holds a banking license in the European Union and operates in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, Brazil, and the U.S. It recently launched operations in India and is set to begin operating in Colombia in 2026. Revolut also has plans to launch in Argentina and Mexico, aims to enter Africa starting with South Africa, and holds an in-principle payments license in the UAE.
The company has grand ambitions to reach 100 million customers by mid-2027 and to enter over thirty new markets by 2030.
A Revolut spokesperson stated that the company is progressing through the final stages of mobilization and continues to work constructively with the PRA. The spokesperson described this as the largest and most complex mobilization ever undertaken in the U.K. due to Revolut’s global scale, noting that a thorough review is an expected part of the process and that getting it right is more important than rushing to meet a specific date.
According to its last annual report, Revolut reported a net profit of 1 billion U.S. dollars in 2024, while revenues increased by 72 percent to 4 billion U.S. dollars. The company also launched a crypto exchange, Revolut X, as part of its Wealth division, which saw revenue rise 298 percent to 647 million dollars in 2024 from 158 million dollars in 2023.