Revolut Applies for U.K. Banking LicenseĀ
(Bloomberg) -- Revolut Ltd., one of Europe's largest startups, has asked U.K. regulators for a full banking license to fuel expansion beyond its fintech roots.
The license would enable Revolut to offer overdrafts, loans and deposit accounts, it said in a statement Monday. The firm would also be covered by the U.K.'s Financial Services Compensation Scheme, which protects customer deposits of 85,000 pounds ($114,700) or below if a business goes bust.
Launched in 2015 by Nikolay Storonsky, Revolut offers a growing number of services through its app, including a prepaid debit card with no overseas transaction fees, foreign currency transfers, budgeting tools and cryptocurrency trading. The company was valued at $5.5 billion in a private fundraising round last year.
After facing increased regulatory scrutiny, the firm hired several London finance veterans to help develop its banking services. Martin Gilbert, former head of asset manager Standard Life Aberdeen Plc, took over as chairman in 2019 and was joined on the board last year by Michael Sherwood, once a key figure at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The company also brought in former Standard Chartered Group Plc executive Richard Holmes as an adviser in October.
Revolut already holds an e-money license in the U.K., which allows it to offer digital cash alternatives and online payments. The firm obtained a European banking license in Lithuania in 2018 that it's using to roll out banking services in central Europe.
Ā©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
-
Signature Play: The Classic Cocktail Is Dead. Or Is It?
Classic cocktails are disappearing from India's cocktail menus. But they're still being ordered, taught to bartenders and borrowed from. So, who's really having the last drink?
-
A New Samvat Wishlist: Inclusive Prosperity And Human Development
India has strengthened its economic foundations through infrastructure, digital access and enterprise. Its next growth chapter must deepen productivity, create better livelihoods and widen participation in prosperity.
-
Love, Sex Aur Dhokha: The Audacious Plot To Spy On Jensen Huang
A Taipei dinner, a Singapore chip buyer and a suspected Chinese asset: inside the alleged spy operation that got close to NVIDIA's Jensen Huang.
-
Ten Things I Learnt This Samvat
Patience can be a trap. Cheap stocks can stay cheap. Leverage can wipe you out. What did Samvat 2082 teach us? Niraj Shah writes on 10 lessons from the year gone by.
-
Talking Points This Week: Tech Nerves, FII Buying, And A Faraway Banking Shock
The global markets are not shining this Diwali. The exception in the large markets is, India.
-
Midterm Rally Lasted A Day. The Hard Reality Of A Divided US May Last Two Years | Opinion
Between a contested AI boom, a debt ceiling that arrives in 2027 and a president with every incentive to act alone, the next two years may prove more volatile than the first day's rally suggests.
-
Blue Wave Will Derail the AI Trade but Won't Dismantle the AI Era | Unhedged Position
The Democrats' sweep of the US Congress will see politics collide with economic forces both over the long and short term.
-
It's Time To Take The GST Council's Bet On Trust Global
Payment records can prove India's services exports, and clear, proportionate rules can bring foreign digital sellers into the tax net.
-
Opinion | India at 38: From Innovation Overperformer to Innovation Powerhouse
India now has 453 VC-backed deep science startups, 18 of them late-stage, after 117 percent growth since 2020. Laurus Labs, at USD 9.3 billion, is the most valuable deep science company in any middle-income economy outside China.
