Key Takeaways
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency gave Revolut conditional approval on September 3 to form Revolut Bank US, a full-service national bank headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut.
The charter would let the London fintech offer FDIC-insured deposits, loans, credit cards, and access to stablecoins and cryptocurrencies to US customers.
Revolut still needs FDIC deposit insurance and Federal Reserve approval before its planned 2027 launch, so the bank is not open yet.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted Revolut conditional approval on Thursday to form a national bank in the United States, the London-based fintech announced on September 3. The proposed lender, Revolut Bank US, would be a full-service national bank headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut.
Revolut filed for the charter in March, and the OCC laid out its reasoning in Corporate Decision #1390. Once the bank is open, it could take deposits insured up to $250,000, issue loans and credit cards, tap Federal Reserve payment systems directly, and give US customers access to stablecoins and cryptocurrencies.
The approval is a first step, not a finish line. Revolut still needs deposit insurance from the FDIC and sign-off from the Federal Reserve, plus final OCC approval, before it can launch the bank, which it now plans for next year. Conditional approval is the foundation to build "in the world's largest financial market," founder and CEO Nik Storonsky said in the release.
Revolut has moved fast everywhere else. It won bank licenses in France, Australia, and the United Kingdom this year, launched a bank in Mexico, and debuted a euro-pegged stablecoin called EURR in three European countries last week. The company says it is on pace to reach 100 million customers by the middle of next year.
The charter matters because of what Revolut wants to carry through it. A foreign fintech is being chartered into American banking specifically to hold deposits alongside stablecoins and crypto, the same convergence that showed up when the OCC handed World Liberty Financial a conditional national trust charter to issue a stablecoin, and when the Treasury proposed its first GENIUS Act stablecoin rule. The pattern here is hard to ignore. Banking and crypto rails are being built into the same institution, under the same regulator.
People Also Ask
Did Revolut get a US bank charter?
Revolut received conditional approval from the OCC on September 3 to form Revolut Bank US. It is a preliminary green light, not final approval, and the bank cannot open until it also secures FDIC insurance and Federal Reserve sign-off.
What will Revolut Bank US offer?
Once open, the bank plans to offer FDIC-insured deposits, personal loans, credit cards, direct access to Federal Reserve payment systems, and access to stablecoins and cryptocurrencies for US customers.
When will Revolut launch its US bank?
Revolut plans to launch the bank next year, in 2027, once it completes remaining applications with the FDIC and the Federal Reserve and receives final OCC approval.
What is a conditional OCC approval?
A conditional approval is a preliminary decision that lets a company proceed toward opening a national bank once it meets a set of preopening conditions set by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
Sources
Revolut, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (Corporate Decision #1390), Bloomberg, PYMNTS.