In 2019, a BBC investigation revealed that an ex-employee had approached the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) with concerns about its anti-money laundering processes in 2016. Maybe more importantly, a banking licence additionally builds trust and Revolut might struggle to persuade the broader public to use it as their primary account without one. Revolut usually will get lumped in with different digital banking manufacturers, like Starling and Monzo, but there’s a vital distinction – it’s an digital cash establishment (EMI), not a financial institution. Issuing an account takeover warning in March and publishing unique data on fraud complaints a month later. You can already use it to buy cryptocurrency, spend money on stocks and even book holiday Revolut Slots welcome bonus tours. Revolut might offer you one hundred the purpose why it is ‘the means ahead for money’ should you believe its advertising hype, however is that this fintech a safe pair of hands in your savings?

We informed victims to stand their ground and it will definitely reviewed its APP procedures, providing full refunds in all but one fraud case Which? We then printed data from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) that exposed Revolut fraud complaints in 2023 outstripped all banks. It does maintain a banking licence in Europe (granted by the Financial Institution of Lithuania) which works as a passport permitting it to offer full banking providers, but a UK licence has proved elusive. Your information might be processed in accordance with our privacy discover.

Many of essentially the most important consumer protections are enshrined in the Payment Companies Regulations (PSRs) and both banks and EMIs comply with these. Strictly speaking, the term ‘bank’ ought to by no means be attributed to Revolut in the UK, regardless of the prevalence of catchy monikers like ‘neobank’ and ‘challenger bank’ utilized liberally to any fintech. For example, for each £1 million received at Clear Junction, £10,335 of it was APP fraud. Either way, felony gangs can’t be allowed to abuse our banking techniques at will and victims targeted by slick scams shouldn’t be expected to pay the worth after they do.’

Inadequate Compliance

In June 2025, Revolut announced its plans to acquire Cetelem Argentina es, an Argentina-based lender, from BNP Paribas. In Might 2025, Revolut announced that it plans to take a position $1.1 billion over the subsequent three years to expand in France and made Paris its Western European headquarters, on the Choose France fr summit. In April 2025, Revolut obtained the Prepaid Cost Devices (PPIs) licence from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), to offer cost options including pre-paid cards. By the tip of 2024, Revolut reported having 50 million registered customers globally.

If you exceed your allowance or perform transactions on a weekend, fees will apply. You can set up spending limits to assist ensure you do not spend more than you probably can afford and even go for a one-use digital card that can assist you store securely online. As touched on earlier, as soon as you’ve got opened a Revolut account, you will receive a prepaid card for all of your spending wants. You May also have the flexibility to carry out currency change and transfer cash abroad, plus carry out a bunch of other transactions in the app.

The Financial Instances reported that Revolut launched financial savings and credit merchandise following the approval, making Australia its first banking licence in Asia-Pacific and its second exterior the United Kingdom and Europe, after Mexico. On the regulatory front, Revolut halted cryptocurrency trading companies for its US customers in 2023, citing the “evolving regulatory setting” as the Securities and Exchange Fee intensified scrutiny against the sector. Additionally, in July 2023, a flaw in its US payment system led to the loss of $20 million in company funds to felony groups between late 2021 and early 2022, though some of the money was later recouped.

• As a end result, this account can be significantly helpful for anyone who tends to incessantly ship and obtain funds globally.
• ‘In 2023, we cut the number of fraudulent transactions in the UK through Revolut by over 20%, along with preventing over £475m of potential fraud losses to our prospects globally.
• For instance, for every £1 million acquired at Clear Junction, £10,335 of it was APP fraud.
• Daniel joined MoneyWeek in January 2025 and beforehand worked at The Economist in their Viewers team.
• We want it to have a better handle on fraud prevention and to treat clients who lose their savings to sophisticated scammers pretty.

Why Doesn’t Revolut Have A Banking Licence?

The European Central Financial Institution additionally granted Revolut a full banking licence later that year. Underneath the name of “Revolut Business”, businesses may create an account with a multi-currency IBAN to carry, exchange, and transfer cash with 25 currencies. The company presents free and subscription‑based digital banking services, primarily by way of a mobile app. Revolut Group Holdings Ltd, often identified as Revolut, is a British international monetary technology firm headquartered in London, England.

It first utilized for an EU banking licence in November 2017, at which time it additionally began work by itself payment processor. With Out a banking licence, it can’t provide credit products or maintain customer deposits – two of probably the most profitable income streams for banks – though this didn’t cease Revolut recording its first full 12 months of profitability in 2021. One Other potential perk of using Revolut is that it is simple to dip your toe into the world of cryptocurrency and purchase, promote, or maintain digital belongings.

Choose Your Plan

In September 2022, Revolut was the target of a cyber attack that exposed the private data of over 50,000 customers. In September 2022, the UK’s Monetary Conduct Authority added Revolut to its record of companies authorised to supply cryptocurrency services and products, formalising its pre-2022 unregulated crypto buying and selling. The firm applied for banking licence in the United Kingdom and a financial institution constitution in the United States in early 2021. Following the acquisition of a banking licence, the corporate announced plans in September 2019 for growth into 24 new markets, supported by agreements with Visa and Mastercard.

The trade skilled commenting on the case for BBC report emphasised that failing to halt transactions is by far probably the most serious compliance failure, as checking afterwards will not stop state-level criminals from receiving the funds. He covers financial savings, political news and enjoys translating financial information into simple English, and explaining what it means for your pockets. Now Revolut has obtained its UK banking licence, customer accounts will steadily be migrated to it. It first utilized for the licence in 2021 and was given a restricted banking licence in 2024, which it has operated beneath since.

However now that the British fintech has a full UK banking licence, Revolut is predicted to shake up the market, adding competition to high avenue suppliers and different neo-banks like Monzo. On the 2019 reviews of money laundering failures by the BBC and the Telegraph, it referred to trial of a brand new sanctions screening system in July 2018 but said explicitly that ‘at no point did Revolut cease checking transactions for sanctions compliance. ‘In 2023, we cut the number of fraudulent transactions in the UK by way of Revolut by over 20%, in addition to stopping over £475m of potential fraud losses to our prospects globally. The PSRs establish your rights to a refund in circumstances of unauthorised transactions and place legal requirements on fee suppliers to use robust buyer authentication to reduce the risk of fraud.

We are also constantly constructing on our current protections, recently asserting the launch of Wealth Protection, a brand new biometric identification function designed to prevent thieves from accessing customer financial savings inside the Revolut app. ‘Our safety features embrace AI models, over 4,000 educated anti-financial crime professionals as properly as experienced data scientists. We have robust protections in place for our millions of shoppers and analyse over half a billion transactions a month. For instance, the Banking Protocol – where bank workers are skilled to contact the police in the event that they think a customer is being scammed – only applies to banks and building societies. Each EMIs and banks should additionally implement the model new Client Duty, geared toward raising the usual of take care of all customers throughout financial providers.