Revolut has won conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish Revolut Bank US, National Association, a key step toward launching a full US bank in 2027. The decision, dated September 2 and published this week, clears the chartering stage of an application the London-based fintech filed in March. Final approval still depends on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve and the OCC itself.
The approval covers deposit-taking, loans, credit cards and digital asset custody. It does not cover the retail foreign exchange business Revolut proposed, which the OCC carved out of the decision. The bank must also apply for Federal Reserve stock membership and obtain FDIC deposit insurance before it can open for customers.
Crypto sits inside the charter from the start. The OCC decision states the bank may let customers, including demand deposit and digital asset custody clients, send cross-border remittances using digital assets, including stablecoins. Revolut plans to offer Revolut-branded stablecoins through a third party. The bank itself will not issue the tokens or manage their reserves. Its role is limited to marketing, customer access and custody, and it has committed to conduct all stablecoin activity in compliance with the GENIUS Act once that law’s rules take effect.
A long road through the charter process
Revolut applied for the national charter in March, a change of direction from an earlier plan to buy a small nationally chartered US bank and skip the licensing process. The application went in under a regulatory environment that has grown friendlier to fintechs. Circle, Coinbase and PayPal have all filed for banking charters in the current cycle, part of a wave of applications the OCC is working through.
Chief executive Nik Storonsky called the OCC decision an important first step. In a statement, he said it gives the company a foundation to build in what he described as the world’s largest financial market and bring the full Revolut experience to millions of Americans.
The company already holds banking licenses in France, Australia and the United Kingdom, plus a payments license in the United Arab Emirates. It has been pushing through Latin America as well, mounting applications for banking licenses across the region. The US charter would be its largest market yet by customer count and revenue potential.
Scale and valuation
Revolut serves more than 80 million customers worldwide. In July it lifted its valuation to $115 billion, up from $75 billion late last year, through a secondary share sale priced at $2,017 per share. That figure made it Europe’s most valuable startup by most counts, ahead of rivals that have stayed private longer.
The OCC decision is numbered Corporate Decision #1390 and includes approval of residency waivers tied to the charter application. The regulator wrote that its approval rests on a thorough evaluation of all information available, including representations and commitments made in the application and by the bank’s representatives. That language leaves room for conditions to be enforced later if the bank deviates from what it promised.
What it means for crypto users
For US customers, the practical change once approvals land would be a regulated path to hold and move digital assets inside a nationally chartered bank. Custody, stablecoin payments and remittances would sit alongside loans and cards rather than in a separate app or through a partner arrangement. That integration is the point of the charter strategy: Revolut wants one balance, one app and one regulatory umbrella.
The timing matters too. The GENIUS Act, the federal framework for payment stablecoins, is still phasing in its rules. Revolut’s commitment to comply once those rules become effective places its stablecoin plans inside the new regime rather than around it. Third-party issuance also keeps the bank off the hook for reserve management, a detail regulators reviewed closely before signing off.
The OCC has previously found that national banks may use new technologies, including independent node verification networks and related stablecoins, to perform bank-permissible functions such as payment activities, including issuance and redemption. Revolut’s approval leans on that precedent. The bank’s role in the branded stablecoins is narrow by design, which reduces the regulatory surface it has to defend.
Competition ahead of the 2027 launch
Revolut will not be alone in this lane. If Circle, Coinbase and PayPal push their own charter applications through, the US banking market will have several crypto-native or crypto-adjacent national banks competing for deposits and payment flows at the same time. Traditional banks with existing custody offerings, from BNY Mellon to State Street, will be watching how a fintech charter changes the custody fee conversation.
Nothing in the approval lets the bank start operating yet. Revolut says it remains on track for a 2027 launch and is working through the remaining applications with the FDIC, the Fed and the Comptroller’s office. Conditional approvals can be withdrawn if commitments are not met, and the excluded foreign exchange business would need separate treatment if Revolut wants it back in scope.
The remaining steps are concrete: FDIC deposit insurance, a Federal Reserve membership application, and final OCC approval. Each takes months, not weeks, which is why the company is guiding to 2027 rather than the end of this year. If those land, Revolut Bank US would open as one of the first fintech-originated national banks with digital asset services built into the charter from day one.