Finance
UK's Revolut weighs buying US bank in push for global expansion
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on September 23, 2025
3 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on September 23, 2025
3 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Revolut considers buying a US bank to boost global growth, aiming for a $75 billion valuation and expanding its UK investments.
By Tommy Reggiori Wilkes
LONDON (Reuters) -Britain's Revolut said on Tuesday it was exploring buying a U.S. bank to accelerate global expansion and preparing to launch consumer credit in its home market, as the digital finance firm seeks to encroach further onto the turf of traditional lenders.
The London-based company has emerged as the most valuable of a crop of European financial technology firms and is seeking a $75 billion valuation in a secondary share sale.
It has 65 million customers, topping some of the biggest European banks, although Revolut's client deposit base and revenues are far smaller.
Unveiling Revolut's new headquarters in London's Canary Wharf financial district on Tuesday, executives said the 10-year-old company would significantly expand its international footprint but would still invest in Britain $4 billion of a total $13 billion it wants to spend globally by 2030.
"We are committed to the UK as our home country," Nik Storonsky, Revolut's CEO and co-founder, told an audience, shortly after UK Finance Minister Rachel Reeves also spoke, cheering Revolut and Britain's fintech industry.
Revolut is "actively looking" at whether to acquire a U.S. bank or to apply for its own banking licence there, Revolut's U.S. CEO Sid Jajodia told Reuters, confirming earlier media reports on its U.S. ambitions.
He said "being a bank in every market we operate in is critical", not least in the U.S. where Revolut's business remains small.
Storonsky said his top priority was to get a UK banking licence - a process running for several years - to transfer its 12 million customers into the new bank and "offer them credit" products. Executives say they hope to obtain the final licence this year.
Revolut said its coming investments in Britain would involve adding 1,000 more staff and capitalising the new UK bank.
Its total $13 billion investment ambition over five years compares to Revolut's global revenues in 2024 of 3.1 billion pounds ($4.2 billion).
The company also put a target date of mid-2027 for reaching a previously disclosed goal of 100 million customers.
Despite its rapid growth, analysts say average customer deposits at Revolut are lower than at traditional banks and executives acknowledge too few customers use it as their primary account. Revolut made a pre-tax profit of 1.1 billion pounds last year, partly driven by cryptocurrency earnings.
The company also said it would enter 30 new markets by 2030, including across Latin America, Asia and the Middle East.
($1 = 0.7393 pounds)
(Reporting by Tommy Reggiori Wilkes; Editing by Iain Withers and Mark Potter)
A bank acquisition occurs when one financial institution purchases another, allowing the acquiring bank to expand its operations, customer base, and market presence.
Consumer credit refers to the borrowing of funds by individuals to purchase goods or services, typically through loans or credit cards.
A banking license is a legal authorization granted by regulatory authorities allowing a financial institution to operate as a bank and offer banking services.
Valuation in finance is the process of determining the current worth of an asset or company, often used in investment decisions and mergers.
Cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency that uses cryptography for security, making it difficult to counterfeit or double-spend.
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