In 2023, Revolut reported a 35% reduction in authorised push cost fraud. On a different occasion, Revolut was blamed for overcompliance, because it froze accounts of its prospects with Russian passports and legal residence in Europe in 2025. ECB ordered Revolut to fee an impartial danger review and review staffing levels, expertise and independence inside its product approval process. In July 2025, the European Central Financial Institution restricted Revolut’s European arm’s business activities due to deficiencies within the firm’s approval processes. One such inside conflict led to departure of two chief risk officers, two cash laundering reporting officers, a chief compliance officer, and a chief finance officer, among different roles, within three years. The whistleblower emphasized that the corporate’s anti-money laundering techniques were completely insufficient and that money-laundering checks were not being correctly utilized for Revolut Slots select customers.

Don’t miss the most recent investment and personal finances information, market evaluation, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter Get the most recent monetary information, insights and expert evaluation from our award-winning MoneyWeek staff, that can assist you perceive what really matters when it comes to your finances. Revolut says it treats every fraud case individually however common themes emerge when we speak to victims. We want it to have a greater deal with on fraud prevention and to deal with clients who lose their financial savings to sophisticated scammers pretty. It said the €200k nice by the Financial Institution of Lithuania in 2022 related to a ‘small variety of Brexit-related procedural discrepancies’ in its inner processes, which have since been fastened. On accusations that it had a toxic work culture in 2019, it defined that the agency has grown to make use of 10,000 globally and was certified a ‘Great Spot to Work’ across eight of its markets, including the UK.

In April 2025, Revolut obtained the Pay As You Go Fee Devices (PPIs) licence from the Reserve Financial Institution of India (RBI), to offer cost solutions including pre-paid playing cards. By the tip of 2024, Revolut reported having 50 million registered customers globally. Revolut was additionally granted a British banking licence the following month, although with restrictions by way of the usual “mobilization” stage.

There’s hypothesis as to why it has been denied one for therefore long, but it’s fair to say its popularity has taken a beating. It does hold a banking licence in Europe (granted by the Bank of Lithuania) which works as a passport allowing it to offer full banking providers, however a UK licence has proved elusive. Maybe more importantly, a banking licence additionally builds belief and Revolut might battle to persuade the wider public to use it as their major account with out one. Revolut often gets lumped in with different digital banking brands, like Starling and Monzo, however there’s a vital difference – it’s an electronic cash establishment (EMI), not a financial institution.

In 2016, a former employee approached UK’s Financial Conduct Authority with claims concerning Revolut’s leadership conduct and compliance practices. Revolut has been subject to criticism and many controversies, such as issues with customer support and long-lasting lockouts, as properly as anti–money laundering compliance failures and lack of help for defrauded customers. After receiving a UK buying and selling licence in 2024, Revolut expanded its funding providing to incorporate UK and EU-listed stocks and ETFs, and later launched a UK stocks and shares ISA using ETFs from providers together with BlackRock and Vanguard. Wired reported that the service allowed buying and selling in 300 US-listed shares on the Big Apple Inventory Trade and Nasdaq.

Financially, despite its growth, the corporate reported £25m loss in 2022 amid ongoing uncertainty relating to the UK banking licence. On the regulatory entrance, Revolut halted cryptocurrency trading providers for its US clients in 2023, citing the “evolving regulatory environment” as the Securities and Change Commission intensified scrutiny towards the sector. The financial institution additionally began allowing staking for holders of proof of stake cryptocurrencies in the UK and EEA. In September 2022, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority added Revolut to its list of companies authorised to supply cryptocurrency products and services, formalising its pre-2022 unregulated crypto buying and selling. The Ecu Central Financial Institution also granted Revolut a full banking licence later that yr.

Cryptocurrency Transactions

Your information might be processed in accordance with our privacy notice. You can already use it to purchase cryptocurrency, spend cash on stocks and even book holiday excursions. You Will have access to thousands of worldwide company shares and might start buying and selling from just $1. But the Revolut Enterprise Account helps to simplify this course of inside the app, offering you with expense monitoring and updates in real-time. Naturally, there are numerous considerations about the safety and legitimacy of many cryptocurrency platforms, so the vast majority of banks or constructing societies out there do not supply any kind of crypto-related services. Again, the app comes with a pretty clear interface for adding funds in multiple completely different currencies, so the whole experience is comparatively stress-free and should not require an excessive amount of time to finish.

The Monetary Times reported that Revolut launched financial savings and credit merchandise following the approval, making Australia its first banking licence in Asia-Pacific and its second exterior the United Kingdom and Europe, after Mexico. In September 2025, Revolut secured in-principle approval for payments licence from the UAE. Additionally, in July 2023, a flaw in its US payment system led to the loss of $20 million in company funds to felony teams between late 2021 and early 2022, although a variety of the money was later recouped. In September 2022, Revolut was the target of a cyber attack that exposed the private information of over 50,000 clients. The company applied for banking licence in the United Kingdom and a financial institution constitution in the Usa in early 2021.

Not one of many victims we spoke to was reimbursed regardless of having their accounts drained in minutes. Extra pressing is a rising unease about the way it treats fraud victims. Get the most effective offers, keep away from scams and grow your savings, with expert steerage for under £49 a 12 months.

• In June 2025, Revolut introduced its plans to amass Cetelem Argentina es, an Argentina-based lender, from BNP Paribas.
• Either way, legal gangs can’t be allowed to abuse our banking systems at will and victims focused by slick scams shouldn’t be expected to pay the value after they do.’
• In February 2026, the company introduced that it was shifting its plan to determine an unbiased national charter and had utilized for a license with the Office of the Comptroller of the Foreign Money (OCC).
• There are four pricing plans to choose from right here starting at £10/month.
• Revolut has been subject to criticism and lots of controversies, such as points with buyer support and long-lasting lockouts, in addition to anti–money laundering compliance failures and lack of assist for defrauded customers.

Why Doesn’t Revolut Have A Banking Licence?

It first applied for an EU banking licence in November 2017, at which time it additionally started work by itself cost processor. The two companies that received essentially the most fraudulent funds in 2022 – Clear Junction and BCB Payments – each supply account services to different financial establishments and regulated firms (not to particular person consumers). As a end result, this account can be particularly useful for anyone who tends to regularly send and receive funds globally. He covers savings, political information and enjoys translating economic data into simple English, and explaining what it means on your wallet. Now Revolut has obtained its UK banking licence, buyer accounts will steadily be migrated to it. It first utilized for the licence in 2021 and was given a restricted banking licence in 2024, which it has operated underneath since.

Maybe they prefer to shift money away from bigger banks that are extra prone to block transfers to cryptocurrency exchanges, international accounts and different much less traceable systems? We told victims to stand their ground and it will definitely reviewed its APP procedures, offering full refunds in all but one fraud case Which? We then printed information from the Monetary Ombudsman Service (FOS) that exposed Revolut fraud complaints in 2023 outstripped all banks. Without a banking licence, it can’t supply credit score merchandise or maintain buyer deposits – two of probably the most worthwhile income streams for banks – though this didn’t stop Revolut recording its first full year of profitability in 2021.

On the 2019 reports of cash laundering failures by the BBC and the Telegraph, it referred to trial of a brand new sanctions screening system in July 2018 but stated explicitly that ‘at no level did Revolut cease checking transactions for sanctions compliance. ‘In 2023, we minimize the variety of fraudulent transactions within the UK by way of Revolut by over 20%, in addition to stopping over £475m of potential fraud losses to our customers globally. We are additionally continually constructing on our existing protections, recently asserting the launch of Wealth Protection, a brand new biometric identification feature designed to prevent thieves from accessing buyer financial savings inside the Revolut app. ‘Our safety features embrace AI fashions, over four,000 educated anti-financial crime professionals as nicely as skilled data scientists. For example, the Banking Protocol – the place financial institution staff are trained to contact the police in the occasion that they suppose a customer is being scammed – only applies to banks and building societies.