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Revolut has scrapped plans to buy a US lender and will instead apply for an American banking licence, betting that the Trump administration’s light-touch approach to approvals will be a faster route to growing its operations in the country.
Europe’s most valuable financial technology company has been in discussion with US officials about applying for a licence through the Office for the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), according to people familiar with the situation.
They added that Revolut was hoping that the process should be rapid because of the deregulatory push under the Trump administration.
The move represents a reversal of strategy for Revolut, which as recently as August was hunting for a nationally chartered US bank to take over, which would have allowed the combined group to lend across 50 states.
At the time, Revolut felt that an acquisition would allow it to expand in the US more quickly than if it were to apply for a banking charter by itself.
But the neobank has made a U-turn after concluding that a takeover could be tricky, according to two people familiar with the matter. One hurdle was that if Revolut bought a community bank, it might have to commit to keeping open bricks-and-mortar branches, the people added. A takeover would also require engagement with US regulators, which would have to approve a change in ownership of the target lender.
Revolut is instead betting on an accelerated approval process after an overhaul of the OCC since Donald Trump regained the presidency a year ago.
Revolut said: “The US market is critical for Revolut’s global growth strategy and our long-term plan is to establish a bank in the US. That said, we continue to actively explore all options including a de novo bank licence application.”
A de novo banking licence refers to the authorisation given to new banks by US regulators.
No final decision has been made and plans could yet change, one person familiar with Revolut’s position said.
Meanwhile, Revolut has yet to gain a full licence in its home market. While the Bank of England approved its application for a licence after a fraught three-year process, it is with restrictions and limits Revolut’s banking division to only holding a total of £50,000 in deposits.
Revolut’s internal debate comes as British fintechs, faced with a slowing rate of customer growth in their home market, set their sights on the US as a potential avenue for growth. The US has a more traditional banking sector and armies of wealthy consumers that UK-based neobanks hope to tap into.
However, the country has a patchwork of regulations. State watchdogs grant local licences but banks can also apply for national charters through the OCC, which requires a more onerous approval process that has historically taken years.
Revolut’s peer Monzo pulled out of its US banking application in 2021 after regulators indicated that it would be unlikely to be approved.
However, the Trump administration has rescinded a Biden-era OCC rule that more strictly policed bank mergers. Fintech executives said they had noticed a shift in the OCC’s attitude and that many companies in the sector were looking at applying for a licence themselves.
In 2025, there were 14 applications to the OCC — many from fintechs — for a de novo charter to become a limited purpose national trust bank, according to data from the law firm Freshfields. The number was almost as many as the total for the preceding four years.
The OCC has indicated it is much more open to applications from fintechs and cryptocurrency groups. In December, it approved five applications for US banking licences, including two for new entities owned by crypto asset companies Circle and Ripple.
The other three were for banks upgrading from state to national licences. BitGo Bank & Trust, Fidelity Digital Assets and Paxos Trust Company are all planning to use their expanded permissions to issue a stablecoin, a digital currency whose value is pegged against a regular currency.
UK business lender OakNorth bought the Michigan-based Community Unity Bank last March. Meanwhile Revolut’s competitor Starling Bank has also told the FT that it was weighing plans to buy a US lender.
Additional reporting by Martin Arnold
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