Key Policy Update
Revolut, the U.K. fintech giant that offers crypto trading, filed an application for a U.S. banking license with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), a key step in its push to expand in the American financial system.
If approved, the license would allow the London-based company to operate more like a traditional bank in the world’s largest economy. The company said it would gain direct access to payment networks such as Fedwire and the Automated Clearing House (ACH), systems that move trillions of dollars between banks each year.
A license could also open the door to lending products, including credit cards and personal loans. Today, Revolut offers banking services in the U.S. through Lead Bank, a Kansas City-based partner. That arrangement allows it to provide accounts and payments without holding its own charter.
Regulatory Context
The filing comes after Revolut dropped its plans to buy a U.S. bank in January to instead get a de novo banking license, which allows banks to start up from scratch.
What To Watch
It also comes a day after Kraken became the first cryptocurrency exchange to secure a Federal Reserve “master account,” which gives its banking arm direct access to the Fed’s core payment system.
Revolut, valued at about $75 billion, has said the U.S. market is central to its goal of building a global digital bank. Approval of a charter would mark one of the company’s biggest regulatory milestones outside Europe.
The crypto-friendly bank secured a restricted U.K. banking license in 2024 and holds banking licenses elsewhere. It isn’t a bank, however, in every region where it operates.
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