Revolut has secured a full French banking licence, marking a milestone in the UK fintech’s push to become one of Europe’s largest retail banks. The authorisation, granted jointly by France’s Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority (ACPR) and the European Central Bank, was formally adopted by the ECB Governing Council on Monday.
The licence allows Revolut Bank SA to offer mortgages, regulated savings products including France’s Livret A, and a wider range of loans to customers. It forms part of the company’s investment of more than 1 billion euros in Western Europe, including a 10-year lease for a new regional headquarters in Paris signed in April. The fintech is also hiring over 600 people across Western European markets.
“France has become a leading financial hub, supported by a dynamic financial ecosystem and a robust regulatory framework,” said Revolut CEO and cofounder Nik Storonsky. “It is the ideal platform to accelerate Revolut’s next phase of growth, bringing us one step closer to our ambition of becoming one of Europe’s largest and most trusted banks.”
The French entity will initially serve customers in France, with Germany, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain to follow. Revolut’s existing Lithuanian banking entity, granted in 2018, will continue to serve the rest of the European Economic Area. The dual-hub model, with both entities supervised by their local authority and the ECB, is designed to support the company’s scale across the continent.
The licence comes at a significant moment for Revolut, which has more than 55 million customers globally, over 40 million of them in Europe. The company finally secured its full UK banking licence in March after a five-year wait and has been expanding aggressively, launching banking operations in Mexico in January and applying for a US banking licence around the same time.
However, the new authorisation also follows a turbulent period. Reports in June revealed that the ECB had placed restrictions on Revolut’s European business last year, citing concerns about risks in its product approval process. The fintech was unable to release new products in the EEA for a period until it addressed deficiencies in its internal controls.
Revolut’s Paris headquarters, occupying 2,417 square metres across six floors, is expected to open early next year. The expansion represents the largest investment in the French financial sector in a decade, according to Augustin de Romanet, President of Paris Europlace, who said the move reinforced the French capital’s standing as a key financial centre.
The licence positions Revolut to compete directly with traditional European banks in one of the continent’s most regulated markets. France has become increasingly attractive to fintech firms seeking a foothold in the EU, with regulators offering a structured path to full banking status that can be passported across the bloc.
Sources: Sifted, Bloomberg, Silicon Republic
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