Revolut, the UK-based FinTech company, has announced plans to establish Paris as its Western European headquarters and apply for a French full banking license. The move is part of a €1 billion investment in France, marking an aggressive push to become a major financial player in the EU after Brexit.
At first glance, this sounds like a milestone in Revolut’s evolution — from a digital wallet to a full-fledged bank. But beneath the polished PR campaign lies a fundamental question:
Should Revolut be allowed to operate as a fully licensed bank — while it’s still under fire for enabling fraud and illegal activities?
The Timing Is… Convenient
Revolut’s move comes just as scrutiny intensifies over its role in multiple scandals:
- ⚠️ Phishing Payments: In a recent case, Revolut received funds that had been stolen via a phishing scam disguised as a Booking.com transaction. Despite being presented with full evidence, Revolut failed to freeze the recipient’s account or take action.
- 🎰 Illegal Gambling Transactions: Investigations by RateX42 show Revolut processed payments for 20Bet, a gambling platform with no legal right to operate in Germany. Revolut served as the payment gateway – even for users who were registered in the country’s national self-exclusion system (OASIS).
- 🛑 Lack of Cooperation: In both cases, victims and partners (such as Wise) were met with silence or generic responses. Revolut appears to prioritize transactional volume over accountability.
Do We Really Need Another “Too Fast, Too Loose” Bank?
Granting Revolut a banking license is not just a rubber stamp. It’s a powerful signal — one that says: “We trust you with people’s money, savings, and livelihoods.”
But Revolut’s record suggests otherwise. The company has demonstrated:
- Weak internal controls for fraud detection
- Minimal response to users affected by scams
- Inadequate regulatory compliance, especially in sectors like gambling and crypto
Add to that ongoing questions about Revolut’s AML (Anti-Money Laundering) policies, and you have a FinTech that still operates more like a tech startup than a responsible financial institution.
France as a Strategic Cover?
There’s also a geopolitical angle. With Brexit making it harder for UK financial firms to operate across Europe, Revolut’s move to Paris seems less about embracing regulation — and more about rebranding for legitimacy.
But if the French regulators fast-track Revolut’s application without serious due diligence, they risk endorsing a system that has repeatedly failed to protect users.
Final Thoughts: A License Is Not a Solution — It’s a Responsibility
Revolut may want to position itself as Europe’s next big bank, but first it needs to clean up its act. That means:
✅ Proactively investigating fraud reports
✅ Shutting down accounts involved in scams
✅ Complying with local and EU-wide gambling and KYC/AML laws
✅ Becoming transparent about how it protects (or fails to protect) consumers
Until then, granting Revolut a banking license would not be innovation — it would be regulatory negligence.
The future of finance isn’t just about digital speed. It’s about digital trust.
And right now, Revolut hasn’t earned it.