Revolut Targets Finnish Banking Licence for 250,000…

Revolut has applied to open a banking branch in Finland, the latest step in its push to turn existing European users into primary banking customers.

Kuba Fast, CEO of Revolut Bank EU, confirmed the application. If approved, the branch would let Revolut's roughly 250,000 customers in Finland use local account identifiers and banking services built around the country's domestic payment system, including receiving salaries and managing local bills. Currently, Finnish customers sometimes need cross-border account details for domestic transactions, making Revolut less practical as an everyday account.

Finland is not a new market for Revolut, so a local branch is less about customer acquisition and more about deepening relationships. A customer who receives wages and pays household bills through Revolut is likely to create a stronger banking link than someone who mainly uses the app for travel or occasional transfers.

Fast said the application reflects Revolut's commitment to investing and growing locally and to cooperating with Finnish authorities. Local account details would make it easier for users to route salary payments and recurring bills through the app, narrowing the gap between Revolut and established Finnish banks.

The filing follows broader European moves by Revolut. The company has received a full banking licence in France from the French prudential regulator and the European Central Bank. It has also allocated more than €1 billion to Western Europe over the past year, plans to hire over 600 staff across the region, and expects to open a Western European headquarters in Paris in 2027.

For incumbent banks, the competitive threat now goes beyond cheap international transfers. A Finnish branch would let Revolut compete for the daily banking activity that tends to keep customers anchored to domestic institutions. The main test will be whether Finnish users move salaries, regular bills and meaningful deposit balances away from traditional lenders.