Revolut's Global Push Meets Europe's Regulatory Borders

Revolut had more than 80 million customers and earned £1.3 billion in profit six years after reporting a loss of nearly £100 million, as founder Nik Storonsky pursued his plan to build what he called the first global bank. The company’s expansion has drawn regulatory scrutiny in Europe. In 2025, the European Central Bank temporarily restricted new product launches while it reviewed whether Revolut’s controls could keep pace with its growth.

At Revolut’s new Paris headquarters, 116 Rue Réaumur, Storonsky discussed the challenge of building products across markets with different regulators. Construction was still underway, and completion was expected to take months. He described Europe’s fragmentation as a barrier to creating more companies like Revolut, contrasting the region with the United States and Silicon Valley.

Growth under regulatory scrutiny

Founded in 2015, Revolut started by tackling the cost of paying in foreign currencies while travelling. It expanded into payments, cards, foreign exchange, subscriptions and investing, rather than depending on the large loan books typical of traditional banks. Storonsky said Revolut’s loan-to-deposit ratio stood at around 4% and that he didn’t expect it to exceed 10%, 15% or 20%. The company aimed to stay safe and avoid risky business, he said.

The European Central Bank began its review after rapid expansion. In the United Kingdom, regulators delayed Revolut’s full banking licence for years as they assessed whether its controls and measures to prevent financial crime were adequate for a company of its size. Storonsky said about 200 engineers worked on regulatory-compliance tools. Another team of about 250 engineers, data scientists and product staff focused on financial-crime regulation.

Artificial intelligence supported engineering, customer support, compliance and financial-crime prevention at Revolut, Storonsky said. He expected it to affect every area, particularly digital businesses. Europe has many countries and regulators, he said, and faces heavier regulation than the United States, which is a single market.

A changing banking model

Storonsky criticised traditional banks’ legacy systems, which he said were sometimes outsourced and built to operate in one country. When banks expanded, many bought other banks, he said, leaving systems that couldn’t communicate. Revolut’s centralized systems, by contrast, could be adapted to local markets and scaled across countries.

At legacy banks, “it's almost impossible to get something new off the ground,” Storonsky said, pointing to limited systems and capabilities, along with internal processes designed to slow initiatives amid heavy regulation. Lending faced tighter regulation than lifestyle products and had largely become commoditized, he said. Klarna’s buy-now-pay-later product was perhaps the latest lending innovation, but it too became heavily regulated.

Revolut reported around 10 million customers in 2019, the first year for which it published results, and a loss of nearly £100 million ($130 million). Six years later, it had more than 80 million customers and posted a profit of £1.3 billion ($1.7 billion). Eleven business lines each generated more than £100 million in annual revenue. Interest made up 21.6% of total income, while cards, subscriptions, investing and foreign exchange accounted for most of the business.

Expansion across markets

Revolut remains privately held. Storonsky said a stock-market listing was unlikely before 2028. A secondary share sale that summer valued the company at about $115 billion. A public offering could let customers participate in the company’s growth and serve as marketing, he said.

The company operated in Japan, had launched a pilot in India and held a banking licence in Australia. Storonsky described China as highly competitive, while Indonesia and Malaysia were underdeveloped markets where Revolut planned to expand. New Zealand could be its next launch, he said.

Revolut was considering acquisitions to attract customers, buy products that would be difficult to develop internally, or obtain a banking licence. Storonsky said the company often found it cheaper to build products or acquire customers itself. He cited Turkey as a market where new players had to buy a bank because authorities were no longer issuing licences as they sought to consolidate the banking industry. Revolut recently received central-bank approval to acquire Banco Cetelem in Argentina.