Revolut seeks FDIC bank while trust charters advance

Revolut filed applications with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation on March 4 to form an FDIC‑insured national bank, Revolut Bank US. The application remains under review.

The filing requests authority to accept insured deposits, issue credit cards, make consumer and commercial loans, and connect directly to Fedwire and ACH. Revolut reports more than 70 million customers across 40 markets and a valuation of about $75 billion from a November 2025 secondary offering.

In recent months regulators have approved national trust charters for several crypto firms, including Circle, Ripple, Coinbase, Paxos and BitGo. Those trust charters focus on custody, reserve holdings and stablecoin services and generally do not include FDIC insurance or primary deposit-taking activity.

A full insured national bank charter requires regulators to assess capital and liquidity to cover deposit risk, credit underwriting and loss reserves for lending, compliance with anti‑money‑laundering and sanctions rules, and whether management can operate a U.S. national bank safely. Insured status would bring Community Reinvestment Act obligations and exposure to the Deposit Insurance Fund.

Other applicants have taken the same full-bank path. Nubank and Upstart received preliminary conditional approvals for insured national banks and must secure FDIC insurance and preopening approvals before final sign-off. The OCC denied bunq’s application, citing concerns about capital, management experience in U.S. banking, financial projections and potential risk to the Deposit Insurance Fund.

Revolut’s review has faced formal objections and regulatory questions. Fair Finance Watch filed formal opposition on May 7 citing the company’s international compliance history and its Community Reinvestment Act plan. The Federal Reserve has pressed Revolut on anti‑money‑laundering controls, sanctions compliance, the timing of CRA commitments and plans to serve low- and moderate-income communities. Lithuanian authorities fined Revolut €3.5 million in 2025 for anti‑money‑laundering deficiencies identified in an inspection; regulators reported no confirmed instances of money laundering and Revolut has pledged corrective action.

Comptroller Jonathan Gould noted, “the OCC had received 40 new charter applications since President Trump took office, with 23 involving digital assets.” The agency says it resolves many complete applications in roughly 120 days but may return incomplete filings or request additional information when supervisory, compliance or CRA issues remain open.

Regulators may grant conditional approval if capital, compliance and management standards are met, require additional conditions or information, deny an application, or return it for revision. The decision on Revolut’s filing will determine whether it receives insured-depository powers comparable to other full-bank applicants or remains outside that category while trust charters continue to be issued for custody and stablecoin activities.