Revolut, the fintech company with over nine million UK customers and 45 million globally, announced that it has received its UK banking licence “with restrictions” from the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), the regulator responsible for overseeing the UK banking sector.

Revolut hired Scottish capital markets veteran Martin Gilbert as chair about four years ago to help manage its relationship with regulators.

The fintech said it now enters the “mobilisation” stage, sometimes referred to as “Authorisation with Restrictions,” which is a common industry process, with many new banks having gone through this including Monzo, Starling, Atom Bank, Zopa Bank, GB Bank and Kroo.

Revolut first applied for the licence in early 2021 but encountered problems including a warning from auditors that they could not fully verify revenue figures in the group’s 2021 accounts.

“Nothing changes for UK customers during this restricted period, which is to allow new banks like Revolut to complete the build out of their UK banking operations ahead of launching in the market,” said Revolut.

“Until then, UK customers can continue to use their Revolut e-money account as they always have.”

Revolut CEO Nik Storonsky said: “We are incredibly proud to reach this important milestone in the journey of the company and we will ensure we deliver on making Revolut the bank of choice for UK customers.”

Francesca Carlesi, UK CEO of Revolut, said:“Today’s announcement is a significant step forward for Revolut and for our customers. It is a tremendous responsibility to be a bank in the UK and we will work relentlessly to offer products and services that improve the financial lives of everyone who uses Revolut.

“This is the next phase in Revolut’s journey in the UK – we can’t wait to get going.”

Revolut recently published its financial accounts for 2023, showing its revenues surpassed $2.2 billion, with record profits before tax of $545 million.