UK digital bank Revolut said on Monday that it had secured a French banking licence, marking a major step in its European expansion and strengthening its push to build a fully regulated footprint across the EU.
Source: Sharecast
The London‑based fintech plans to make Paris its Western Europe headquarters and begin shifting customers away from its Lithuanian entity. Revolut, now one of Europe's largest digital banking challengers, will compete directly with the online arms of France's biggest lenders, including Société Générale's BoursoBank.
The licence, granted by France's ACPR regulator and the European Central Bank, will allow Revolut to offer locally regulated products such as loans and savings accounts, rather than relying solely on passporting its Lithuanian licence.
Revolut, which gained a UK banking licence in March, has pledged $1.1bn of investment in France, hired former Société Générale chief Frédéric Oudéa as Western Europe chairman and signed a ten‑year Paris lease. It plans to hire more than 600 staff across the region, including 400 in France.
Revolut, which has over 75m customers and no physical branches, will migrate French users first, followed by Germany, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain. It also launched a share sale at a reported $115bn valuation, which would make it worth more than Société Générale and Barclays.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
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