Revolut has received conditional approval for a US national bank charter, bringing the British fintech closer to launching a fully fledged American bank during the first half of 2027.
The approval has been granted by the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and represents an important regulatory step, although the company still requires approvals involving the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Federal Reserve before the operation can open as planned.
Revolut intends to base the bank in Stamford, Connecticut, and inject around $95m of capital into the operation. The business expects an initial team of about 160 employees.
The proposed bank would offer products including checking accounts, instalment loans, credit cards, and foreign exchange, alongside multicurrency services drawing on Revolut’s existing operations in Europe and Latin America. The company also expects the US bank to launch a stablecoin.
A national charter would give Revolut a different position in the American market from the partnership model used by many fintech businesses. A regulated bank can hold customer deposits and build lending products within its own banking entity rather than depending on third-party banks to provide the regulated infrastructure behind an app.
That structure has become increasingly relevant as large fintech groups attempt to convert customer acquisition into broader banking relationships. Payments and foreign exchange can attract users, while deposits, credit, and lending products deepen those relationships and give providers access to a wider range of revenue.
Revolut has around 80 million customers globally and has been expanding the geographic scope of its banking licences. It received a banking licence in France in August and was authorised to operate a bank in the UK earlier this year after a lengthy regulatory process.
The US presents a much larger market but also a more fragmented supervisory environment. Banking groups can face oversight from federal and state authorities depending on their structure, while deposit insurance, capital, governance, anti-money-laundering controls, and consumer protection all form part of the regulatory burden.
Conditional approval from the OCC therefore does not provide permission to launch immediately. Revolut must complete the remaining regulatory requirements and establish the systems, governance, capital, and operational controls needed before the bank can begin serving customers.
The proposed first-half 2027 launch gives the company a relatively short implementation period. Building a regulated bank involves more than transferring features from an existing fintech app: lending, deposits, credit risk, treasury, compliance, customer protection, and financial reporting all require dedicated infrastructure and accountable management.
The decision to seek a bank charter reflects a wider change in fintech strategy. The first generation of challenger platforms often used regulated partners to enter markets quickly. As those businesses have grown, some have pursued their own licences to gain greater control over product economics and customer relationships, accepting higher regulatory costs in return.
The American approval also marks a significant international expansion step for a UK-founded fintech. The US banking market is highly competitive, with large national institutions, regional banks, specialist lenders, digital banks, and technology-led financial services providers competing for deposits and payments activity.
Revolut’s multicurrency capabilities could provide one point of differentiation, particularly among internationally mobile customers and businesses. Its broader ambition, however, is to build a full banking operation rather than remain primarily a foreign-exchange and payments provider.
The remaining approvals will determine whether the strategy proceeds on schedule. Conditional OCC approval removes one of the principal regulatory barriers, but the rest of the supervisory framework must be satisfied before the planned bank can begin operating.
If those approvals follow, one of Britain’s largest fintech exports will enter the US as a directly regulated banking competitor — a materially different position from serving customers through partner institutions.
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