Revolut secures full banking licence after 5-year wait

Digital bank Revolut has secured a full UK banking licence, five years after its first application to the regulator.

The provider first operated with an ‘e-money’ licence in the UK before applying for a banking license in 2021.

The Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) granted the license in 2024 with restrictions.

These limitations are a standard stage in the application process. However, Revolut’s transition to a full licence was delayed due to concerns that its risk controls wouldn’t be able to keep up with its rapid growth.

Revolu currently has around 13 million customers in the UK. However, prior to securing a full banking license, it was only able to hold £50,000 in total deposits per person.

With the restrictions removed, Revolut can now lend at a larger scale and provide bank accounts protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) – which protects up to £120,000 per person per banking institution.

Revolut says that it will gradually begin the process of rolling out current accounts to new customers in the next few days.

For existing customers, nothing changes and the Revolut cards and app will continue to work as normal.

Check out our Revolut review for a deep dive into the provider and whether it could help you manage your finances.