Revolut has secured a full French banking licence, which the FinTech said will allow it to expand its banking operations across Western Europe.

The licence was granted to Revolut Bank S.A. following a joint assessment by France's prudential regulator, the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution, and the European Central Bank (ECB), with the decision formally approved by the ECB Governing Council.

The company said the new banking entity will begin serving customers in France before expanding to Germany, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, and Spain in later phases. Its Lithuanian banking arm, Revolut Bank UAB, will continue serving customers across the rest of the European Economic Area under what the company describes as a dual-hub model, with both entities supervised by the ECB.

The announcement follows Revolut's commitment to invest more than €1 billion in Western Europe, hire over 600 employees across the region and establish its Western European headquarters in Paris in 2027. Revolut serves around 30 million customers across Western Europe, including almost eight million who joined during 2025.

The company said the French licence would enable it to accelerate localisation of its products and services while strengthening relationships with customers, local talent, and business ecosystems.

Nik Storonsky, founder and chief executive of Revolut, said: “This licence gives us the foundation to build the next generation of banking for more than 30 million customers across Western Europe.

“France has become a leading financial hub, supported by a dynamic financial ecosystem and a robust regulatory framework. It is the ideal platform to accelerate Revolut's next phase of growth, bringing us one step closer to our ambition of becoming one of Europe's largest and most trusted banks.”

This is the neobank’s latest in a series of successful expansions this year. In April, Revolut announced it had secured regulatory approval to establish a banking entity in Peru, and it has also launched in Australia and Mexico.

In March, the company finally gained a banking license in the UK from the Prudential Regulation Authority, enabling it to operate as a fully authorised bank in the UK for the first time.

The approval allows Revolut to offer retail and business accounts with deposits protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme and follows a four-year licensing process.

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