The Bank of England is planning to reject Revolut’s long-running application for a UK banking licence, according to reports, in a move that would strike a major blow to Britain’s most valuable fintech company.
No official decision has been announced, and both Revolut and regulators are remaining tight-lipped. But what are Revolut’s options should confirmation come through that its banking licence application has been unsuccessful? And could it see Revolut draw back from the UK market?
The background
According to The Telegraph, which first reported the development last week, The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has informed the Treasury that it intends to reject the fintech giant’s banking application. The PRA is the regulatory arm of the Bank of England.
Revolut, which provides a variety of services including debit cards, crypto and stock trading, has for two years been hoping to extend its product offering in its home country to include licence-required banking services. These include customer lending products such as mortgages, along with managing customer deposits....