The London-headquartered neobank has submitted applications to the OCC and the FDIC to establish Revolut Bank US, N.A., committing $500m to the American market and appointing a former Visa executive as its new US CEO.
In early 2021, Revolut told the world it was going after a US banking licence. The announcement was confident, the timeline was vague, and by late 2023 the application had quietly collapsed, a casualty of regulatory friction, internal control concerns, and a US market that had proved stubbornly resistant to European neobanks with global ambitions.
On March 5, 2026, Revolut returned for a second attempt.
The London-headquartered fintech company, now valued at $75 billion following a secondary share sale last year, filed applications with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to establish “Revolut Bank US, N.A.” as a nationally chartered bank.
The 💜 of EU tech
The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol’ founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It’s free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!
The application, Revolut’s second formal attempt at a US banking licence, comes with a $500 million commitment to the American market over three to five years and the appointment of a new US CEO.
What changed, and what hasn’t
The first attempt foundered partly on concerns about Revolut’s internal financial controls and partly on a US regulatory environment that had grown more sceptical of non-bank fintech entrants.
The conditions have shifted on both counts. Revolut’s accounts for the years 2021 to 2023, long delayed and audited by BDO, were eventually filed, providing the kind of clean financial record that regulators require. The Trump administration, meanwhile, has signalled a markedly more permissive stance toward new entrants in the US banking market.
Revolut has also replaced its US leadership. Cetin Duransoy, a former executive at Visa, Capital One, and Raisin, has been appointed as the company’s new US CEO, replacing Sid Jajodia, who remains at the company in a global role.
A banking licence application requires a credible management team in front of regulators; Duransoy’s background in the established financial system is a deliberate signal.
Why a charter matters
Revolut currently operates in the US under a patchwork of state money-transmitter licences, offering services including currency exchange, a debit card, and savings accounts through partner banks. A national bank charter would change that structure fundamentally.
With OCC approval, Revolut Bank US would be able to offer personal loans and credit cards directly, hold insured deposits without relying on third-party banking partners, connect directly to Fedwire and the ACH network, and operate across all 50 US states under a single federal regulatory framework rather than navigating 50 separate state regimes. The savings in compliance overhead alone are substantial.
The market it is entering
Revolut has more than one million customers in the US, significant, but modest compared to the tens of millions it counts in the UK and across Europe. The US market has resisted European digital banks more consistently than any other developed market.
Monzo attempted the same path and withdrew its OCC application in 2021. N26 entered and exited entirely. The cultural and regulatory architecture of American consumer banking has proved more durable than the challenger bank playbook assumed.
Revolut’s advantages this time are genuine: a larger balance sheet, a more complete product suite, and a regulatory climate that is, at least in the current administration, more open to new entrants.
Its challenges are equally genuine: incumbent US banks and established fintechs have not stood still, and the $500 million commitment, while large, will need to cover customer acquisition in a market where trust takes time to build.
The OCC and FDIC applications will take time to process, typically 12 to 18 months at minimum. Whether the regulatory environment remains as permissive through that period is a question no banking application can answer in advance.
