Revolut is valued at $115 billion, more than Barclays and Societe Generale, as investors back its plan to expand across global markets. The London-based company has become Europe’s most valuable startup. Just over a decade ago, it launched a technology platform promising cheaper foreign-exchange fees and began challenging established banks.
Its rise is reshaping competition among banks, though Revolut still makes far less profit than Barclays. The company recorded £1.7 billion in pretax profit in 2025, compared with £9 billion for Barclays. Paulo Macedo, CEO of Portugal's biggest bank, Caixa Geral de Depósitos, said in June that 2025 was the last year his 150-year-old bank would record higher profit than Revolut.
“When you go to Europe the bank CEOs there are talking about Revolut as their most important threat because of their aggressive marketing and growth,” said Cihan Duran, director at S&P Global Ratings.
Expansion across markets
CEO Nik Storonsky says he wants Revolut to become a global company. It’s expanding from Mexico to Australia and has announced several new licences in recent weeks. Revolut wants to join a small group of banks with retail operations spanning much of the globe, while some traditional lenders viewed as global, including HSBC, are reducing their retail footprint.
Revolut’s website lists 80 million customers, compared with 84 million for JPMorgan and 41 million for HSBC. In Ireland, the company says 80% of the adult population has an account. But average deposit balances remain much lower than at traditional banks, and executives acknowledge too few customers use Revolut as their primary bank account.
The company declined to comment in its latest results on how many customers used it as their primary account in 2025. It said that figure had increased 45% from a year earlier. Primary-account adoption and total customer balances are priorities for its biggest backers. Alex Immerman, an investor at Andreessen Horowitz, known as “a16z”, told Reuters it was watching both measures.
Growth and its limits
Revolut earns less revenue per customer than established competitors and has a small lending business by industry standards. Its loans totalled £2.2 billion at end-2025, and its loan-to-deposit ratio was 6%. The comparable ratios were 55% for HSBC and 86% for Societe Generale.
A spokesperson for Revolut said the company has a “diversified business model,” earning revenue from products and services beyond lending. “That means our growth depends on building things customers value, rather than on interest rates,” the spokesperson said. Lower lending means Revolut relies more on fees, including card subscriptions.
Increasing lending would require the company to manage larger and more complex credit exposures, analysts and investors said. Competing in local mortgage markets would also be difficult. In the United States, where Revolut has a provisional licence, investors expect tougher competition. “The US could be potentially the biggest growth for Revolut. But at the same time, the US is the most competitive market,” said Konstantin Sidorov, CEO of the London Technology Club, which invested when Revolut was valued at $5.5 billion.
Complaints and regulatory setbacks
Lithuania fined Revolut for failing to prevent money laundering. The company said an investigation found no confirmed instances of money laundering, and that it had reached a settlement with the central bank and taken steps to address shortcomings.
In September, Revolut accidentally sent customer data to hackers posing as government investigators. The company said its systems and customer funds weren’t affected. It contacted the “limited number of impacted individuals” to provide support.
Ombudsman data compiled by consumer advocacy firm Which? showed Revolut was Britain’s most-complained-about bank in 2024 and 2025 in fraud cases where customers are tricked into sending money to scammers. Revolut has previously said it takes fraud seriously and has robust customer protections in place.