Revolut has announced that City veteran Martin Gilbert has been appointed non-executive chairman, as the FinTech unicorn continues to bolster its top team ahead of a global expansion drive.

The appointment of Gilbert, a former co-chief executive of Standard Life Aberdeen, co-founder of Aberdeen Asset Management and chairman of the Prudential Regulation Authority’s Practitioner Panel, is statement of Revolut chief executive Nik Storonsky’s ambitions for the challenger bank as it prepares to launch in the US by the end of the year.

Gilbert, who will take up the position at the start of January, will bring heavyweight experience of leading major institutions through strategic and regulatory challenges. He has already been working closely with Storonsky in an advisory capacity.

In recent months, Revolut has signed new global deals with Visa and Mastercard and expanded into Australia and Singapore, as customer account number continue to climb, with one million new customers registered in October.

The latest people move comes after Revolut added a number of financial services veterans to its senior management team in recent months.

Richard Davies, the former chief operating officer of HSBC Commercial Banking, joined as the company’s new chief operating officer in July, while Dave MacLean, the former finance director at Metro Bank, joined in October as chief financial officer.

Storonsky said: “As we prepare to scale the business globally it’s crucial our senior team has a blend of forward-thinking creativity and experience.

“Martin is a respected veteran of the financial world, and brings unparalleled experience to Revolut, his knowledge will prove invaluable as we continue our mission to become the world’s first truly global bank.”

Since launching its app-based foreign exchange and money transfer account in 2015, Revolut has grown to service eight million customers worldwide.

Gilbert commented: “Revolut is a unique proposition in the digital banking world, and I’m pleased to be joining the board at such an important stage in its development.

“Nik and the team have made great strides towards building the bank of the future, and I’m proud to add my deep experience of board governance and corporate growth to the board as Revolut continues to expand on a global scale.”

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