Revolut set for banking licence verdict within weeks

Revolut will learn its fate within weeks as British regulators close in on a decision on whether to grant it a banking licence.

The financial tech firm, one of the UK’s most valuable start-ups worth £14billion, claimed at the start of March it would receive a licence ‘imminently’ – possibly within days.

But it has been left frustrated as its attempts to win approval from regulators have been beset by delays – prompting what some saw as a tantrum last week when boss and co-founder Nik Storonsky spoke out against Britain as a place to do business.

Revolut has been trying for over two years to secure a licence, which would allow it to expand its services in Britain into taking deposits and giving loans. 

Matters were not helped after the company’s latest accounts were five months overdue and its auditor BDO stated some parts may have been ‘materially misstated’. 

But Revolut’s fate is due to be decided soon with a verdict from regulators expected to be made in the coming weeks.

The company’s impatience around the licencing process appeared to boil over last week when Storonsky said securing approval had been a ‘long and tiring process’.

‘You wait for emails or letters for months. This is not the business environment to operate in the modern world,’ he said, adding there was a ‘slowing down’ in British tech despite ambitions to become the next Silicon Valley.

Storonsky also said if Revolut ever planned to list on the stock market it would likely choose the Nasdaq in New York over London.

‘It’s hard to do business in the UK: the exchange is much less liquid so I just don’t see the point,’ he said.

But Storonsky’s extraordinary outburst prompted criticism from analysts and leaders in the UK tech sector, with one observer saying throwing a ‘tantrum’ would not help Revolut secure a banking licence.

Russ Shaw, founder of industry group Tech London Advocates, said: ‘I don’t think having tantrums is a constructive approach in terms of getting approval of the types of actions and licences that you need.’