Revolut Targets US Bank Launch Next Year With FDIC Accounts and Crypto

Revolut expects to begin operating its US bank next year as the UK fintech expands its push into regulated banking, stablecoins, and multi-asset financial services, according to a Reuters report. The company applied for a US national bank charter with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in early March, after dropping an earlier plan to acquire an existing US lender.

The proposed bank will be headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, with an additional office in New York, according to Cetin Duransoy, Revolut's recently appointed US CEO. US clients will gain access to FDIC-insured products including high-yield investment accounts and checking accounts, alongside stablecoins, deposits in multiple currencies, stock trading, and crypto trading.

Revolut will not operate physical branches, though clients will have access to ATM networks. The company plans to focus first on clients with international financial needs. Its app already supports services in more than 30 currencies, positioning the bank to serve retail and business customers that need access to dollars, rupees, Latin American currencies, and other foreign exchange products. "Those customers may need dollars, rupees, or Latin American currencies," Duransoy told Reuters.

The expansion comes as US regulators, including the OCC, have taken a more open approach toward charter applications from firms tied to crypto and fintech. Kraken became the first crypto-native company to receive a "skinny" master account with the Federal Reserve in March, according to Reuters, giving it direct access to core US payment systems. Revolut's application sits within that same wave of filings.

Revolut's US ambitions are scaling from a relatively small base. The company has 75 million clients globally, including about 1 million in the US. Many of its American users first encountered the fintech while traveling or living in Europe, Latin America, or Asia, according to Duransoy. The US plan follows the company's long-running effort to build what it has called "the world's first truly global bank," and comes after Revolut received approval earlier this year to launch a fully licensed bank in the United Kingdom.

The privately held fintech reported 4.5 billion pounds, or about $6 billion, in revenue last year, along with 1.3 billion pounds, or roughly $1.75 billion, in net profit. Its latest funding round valued the company at $75 billion. CEO Nik Storonsky has said publicly that Revolut does not plan to list its shares before 2028.

The company has also been building out its crypto infrastructure. Last year, Revolut tapped Polygon to support remittances, POL staking, and crypto card payments in its main app. It was also selected by the Financial Conduct Authority to join a fiat-pegged stablecoin sandbox payments trial, according to Reuters. Adding FDIC-insured accounts to a platform already doing stablecoin sandbox work is one way to bridge TradFi and on-chain finance, assuming the regulators stay in a cooperative mood.