Revolut has applied for a US banking licence, capitalising on the Trump administration’s openness to new entrants into the regulated banking system to crack the American market.
The London-based digital bank said on Thursday it had applied for a US national bank charter with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). A charter would boost the $75 billion (€64.5 billion) fintech’s odds of cracking the US market, which has long been a key part of its global growth strategy. Revolut, which was founded in 2015, has amassed more than 70 million customers in more than 40 markets.
It would also allow Revolut to offer insured deposits to US customers and mean it would no longer need deals with regulated partner banks to offer banking services.
Sid Jajodia, Revolut’s US chief executive, told the FT the timing of its application had been boosted by the White House’s willingness to back new entrants to the regulated banking system.
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“Kudos to the administration on driving a very forward-thinking agenda in that space,” he said, welcoming greater regulatory clarity, including around crypto.
Revolut said on Thursday that Jajodia was being elevated to global chief banking officer, with Cetin Duransoy taking over his US role. Duransoy previously led Raisin, which offers high-yield savings accounts in partnership with banks and credit unions.
The US application comes as Europe’s biggest fintech still lacks a full UK banking licence. Revolut received authorisation for one in 2024 but remains in the so-called mobilisation phase while it develops its banking infrastructure, meaning its banking division can only hold £50,000 in total deposits.
Revolut had initially planned to apply for a US licence after securing a UK licence from the Prudential Regulation Authority. Other foreign regulators have also indicated that they would grant licences following PRA approval, the FT previously reported.
Like most European fintechs, Revolut has long harboured ambitions to grow in the US. It will face the challenge of standing out in the highly competitive US credit card market dominated by incumbents with strong customer loyalty.
The company already has about half a million small business customers in the US and a similar number of retail customers, Jajodia said. Revolut would initially offer personal loans and credit cards.
In 2021, Revolut drafted a preliminary application for the FDIC and Californian regulators but never made a formal submission. Under the previous Biden administration, the OCC had taken a more hardline approach to licensing foreign banks.
Last year, there were 14 applications to the OCC – many from fintechs – for a de novo charter to become a limited-purpose national trust bank, according to data from law firm Freshfields. That was almost as many as the total for the preceding four years.
In December, the OCC approved five applications for US banking licences, including two for new entities owned by crypto asset companies Circle and Ripple. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2026
