Digital bank Revolut is a licensed bank in many countries but still not in the UK where the company is based.
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The founder and CEO Nik Storonsky claims that the lack of liquidity remains hurdle for London listings.
He remains hopeful that Revolut will secure a UK banking license in early 2022.
The company had originally applied for a UK banking license, but due to a controversial report in 2019 that suggested Revolut disabled a sanctioned transactions system, the UK government postponed the decision indefinitely.
Revolut has submitted an application for a banking license to the U.K. Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in January 2021.
With a full banking license in the UK, the digital bank would be also allowed to offer overdraft lending and loans.
“We are getting closer, especially with the UK banking license,” said Storonsky at the FT’s Global Banking Summit. “And we are about to submit our full US banking license application, hopefully in the first quarter.”
Storonsky admitted that obtaining a license in the UK is extremely important to Revolut to build consumer trust. “A lot of consumers trust banks rather than fintechs so the UK and US bank license will increase trust and business metrics.”
“A UK banking license allows us to provide the essential financial products UK customers expect from their everyday primary bank account, such as loans, credit cards, overdrafts and deposit accounts, coupled with the additional trust and security that is offered through FSCS protection.” chief executive Nikolay Storonsky said previously in a statement.
Unlike Revolut, most digital banks like Monzo or Starling Bank already have managed to get their licenses in the UK. However, Revolut has been able to get a Lithuanian license, so it is able to offer banking services across the EU.
Just recently, Revolut has posted a growth of 38% of 5.23 million more app downloads in 2021.
At this point, Revolut has around 16 million users globally.
