Revolut moves a step closer to becoming a bank in America. The London-based fintech’s pursuit of a Revolut US bank charter has passed a major regulatory milestone.
On September 3, 2026, Revolut announced it had received conditional approval from the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to form a national bank. The approval allows creating a new legal entity in the United States, Revolut Bank US, N.A. That, in turn, would let Revolut stop relying on a partner bank to serve its US customers. Revolut filed its charter application this March to compete directly with American banking players and take control of its own deposits, lending, and payment infrastructure.
“Conditional OCC approval is an important first step towards establishing the proposed Revolut Bank US. It gives us the foundation to build in the world’s largest financial market and bring the full Revolut experience to millions of Americans.”
Revolut Founder and CEO Nik Storonsky
The OCC is the federal agency that charters and supervises national banks. Its core activity is to decide whether a company can legally call itself a bank and hold customer deposits under one federal framework. Another alternative is applying for permission state by state. A national charter also gives a company direct access to core payment systems on a nationwide scale, instead of routing transactions through another bank. Some examples of such infrastructure are Fedwire and the ACH network.
“We’re grateful for the OCC’s open and transparent dialogue throughout this process. They were both diligent and expedient with our application, allowing us to remain on track for a 2027 launch of our proposed national bank.”
Revolut US CEO Cetin Duransoy
Nevertheless, conditional approval, as one Revolut received, is not a green light to open for business. For that second part, Revolut still needs sign-off from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the agency that insures customer deposits, and from the Federal Reserve, before Revolut Bank US can actually launch.
On top of that, several of Revolut’s planned product lines are reported to be subject to separate approvals that are not covered by this single charter. Many advisors find that condition unusual compared with how earlier fintech charters were structured. Which specific products face that extra layer of scrutiny hasn’t been officially detailed, though crypto services and lending are widely seen as the likely candidates, given Revolut’s product mix and its past regulatory friction around digital assets.
Thus, Revolut previously suspended crypto services in US because of regulatory uncertainty. In Europe, it faces much scrutiny from regulators too. For instance, UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has delayed approvals several times and flagged concerns regarding Revolut’s internal risk controls and governance frameworks. In EU, the Bank of Lithuania fined Revolut’s European banking arm €3.5 million for AML failure. And it wasn’t the firm’s first enforcement action in latest years.
All these concerns aside, if Revolut clears the remaining steps in the States, it would join a small group of digital-first companies, including Nubank and SoFi, that operate as fully chartered US banks rather than fintech apps working through partners. Revolut said it plans to begin US banking operations in 2027. It will be offering FDIC-insured deposits, multi-currency accounts, and eventually stablecoin services, out of a new headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut.
