Revolut clears a US bank charter hurdle but four services stay on hold
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted Revolut preliminary conditional approval for a branchless national bank in Stamford, Connecticut, American Banker reported, with leveraged currency trading, foreign exchange forwards, merchant acquiring and correspondent banking each needing separate sign-off before launch. City AM reported that founder Nik Storonsky called the approval an important first step, and that Revolut still needs sign-off from the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation before it can open.
Economics & Markets··Morning
The OCC's conditional approval
American Banker reported that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted preliminary conditional approval for Revolut Bank US, a full-service national bank planned for Stamford, Connecticut that will operate without branches. Four activities need separate supervisory sign-off before launch: leveraged currency trading, foreign exchange forwards, merchant acquiring and correspondent banking for unaffiliated foreign banks. The approval carries capital conditions, requiring Revolut to put in at least 95 million dollars of paid-in capital and hold a tier one leverage ratio of at least 10 per cent through the bank's first three years, and it lapses if the company does not raise that capital within 12 months or open the bank within 18 months. Revolut applied in March and says it remains on track to open in 2027; the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said it does not comment on specific institutions.[1]
What City AM adds about the company and its rivals
City AM reported that Revolut founder and chief executive Nik Storonsky called the conditional approval an important first step towards establishing the proposed Revolut Bank US, saying it gives the company the foundation to build in the world's largest financial market. The outlet said Revolut still needs sign-off from the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation before it can open, and that this is the fintech's second bid for a US bank charter after an earlier state-level application through Californian regulators in March 2021 stalled and was withdrawn by late 2023, following a 20 million dollar loss tied to a flaw in its US payment system and regulatory concerns over its internal controls. City AM noted that Revolut secured its full UK banking licence this year along with a fresh permit from the European Central Bank, and that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency blocked bids from rivals Wise and Bunq within the same fortnight.[2]
One regulatory step, two accounts
American Banker's account of the OCC's conditional approval and City AM's report on the same decision describe one regulatory step from two angles: the approval's capital conditions and remaining sign-offs sit alongside the company's own framing of what the step means and the history behind it. Revolut must still clear the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, raise at least 95 million dollars of paid-in capital within 12 months, and open the Stamford bank within 18 months to keep the approval alive, all before its targeted 2027 launch. That timeline follows a first US attempt that collapsed by late 2023 after a 20 million dollar payment-system loss, and it comes in the same fortnight the OCC turned down rival fintechs Wise and Bunq, a contrast that frames Revolut's conditional approval as a comparatively rare regulatory win for a European neobank chasing the US market.[1], [2]
