Revolut Wins European Banking License

Financial management startup Revolut has been granted a European banking licence by the Bank of Lithuania, allowing it to provide services similar to a traditional bank, including full current accounts, consumer lending and commission-free stock trading. The company, which offers prepaid banking cards with no fees throughout Europe, says it will begin operations in early 2019. It will focus on smaller European countries to begin with, before eventually acquiring passporting rights to key markets including the UK, France, Germany and Poland. Customer funds deposited at the bank will be protected amounting to EUR100,000 under the European Deposit Insurance Scheme. The company intends to offer standard overdraft facilities, as well as personal and business loans. Nick Storonsky, founder and CEO of Revolut says: “Our vision is that retail and business customers will be able to apply for a loan in just two minutes from within the app, and then have the money in their account almost instantly. We’ll remove the bureaucratic process and come in cheaper than traditional lenders.” Revolut will provide a formidable competitor to banking incumbents, having grown astronomically over the three years since launch by nibbling away at traditionally high-cost financial services, such as cross-border money transfers.