Revolut, the UK fintech giant that offers cryptocurrency trading, has filed an application for a US banking license with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), a key step in its push to expand into the US 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 like Fedwire and Automated Clearing House (ACH), systems that move trillions of dollars between banks each year.
A license could also open the door to credit products, including credit cards and personal loans. Revolut currently offers banking services in the US through Lead Bank, a partner based in Kansas City. That agreement allows you to provide accounts and payments without having your own charter.
The filing comes after Revolut abandoned plans to buy a US bank in January to instead obtain a de novo banking license, which allows banks to start from scratch.
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 Federal Reserve’s main payments system.
Revolut, valued at about $75 billion, has said the U.S. market is critical to its goal of building a global digital bank. The approval of a statute would mark one of the company’s biggest regulatory milestones outside of Europe.
The cryptocurrency-friendly bank obtained a restricted banking license in the United Kingdom in 2024 and holds banking licenses elsewhere. However, it is not a bank in all the regions where it operates.
