Revolut takes ‘important’ step toward becoming a US bank with conditional OCC approval

Revolut said on Thursday that it has secured conditional approval from the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a preliminary regulatory green light in the fintech company's effort to operate as a bank in the United States.

The approval puts Revolut on a path toward offering banking products directly to US customers, spanning loans, credit cards and stablecoins, according to a company statement. The London-based firm currently serves American users through other arrangements rather than as a federally supervised bank.

"It gives us the foundation to build in the world's largest financial market and bring the full Revolut experience to millions of Americans," chief executive Nik Storonsky said, describing the OCC decision as "an important first step."

A growing queue of charter applicants

Revolut has already assembled a portfolio of banking licences outside the US, having obtained approvals in France, Australia and the UK, the company said. A US charter would extend that footprint into the country's largest market by customer base.

The conditional approval lands amid a broader push by crypto and technology firms to obtain US bank charters. Over the past year the OCC has issued conditional approvals to Coinbase, Paxos, BitGo, Ripple and Circle, reflecting an agency posture that has grown more receptive to digital-asset businesses. Last month the regulator extended the same preliminary status to World Liberty Financial, the venture backed by President Donald Trump's family, a move that attracted scrutiny over possible conflicts of interest.

OCC chief Jonathan Gould has said that companies working with crypto and other emerging technologies should "have a pathway to become federally supervised banks."

Application activity at the agency has picked up sharply. Since 2025, the OCC has received 40 de novo charter applications, approving 21 and denying two, according to the figures cited alongside Revolut's announcement.

Conditional approval does not guarantee a final charter. Applicants typically must still meet capital, governance, compliance and operational conditions before receiving full authorisation, a process that can take months or longer. For Revolut, the decision marks the opening of that review rather than its conclusion, with the company framing the milestone as the base for a broader US expansion.