Revolut started as an app promising cheaper foreign exchange. Just over a decade later, it is privately valued at US$115 billion and wants to become a truly global bank.
The London-based fintech has grown to around 80 million customers, making it Europe's most valuable startup and putting its customer numbers within reach of some of the world's largest traditional banks.
Revolut's ambitions have grown with it.
The company is expanding internationally while adding more of the services associated with traditional banks, from savings and credit to business accounts, merchant payments and mortgages. Availability varies between markets.
But having millions of customers is not quite the same as replacing their bank.
Reuters reports that Revolut still generates significantly less revenue from each customer than established banking groups. Average customer deposits are also much smaller, while relatively few customers appear to use Revolut as their primary bank account.
It also lends far less money than traditional banks. Revolut had £2.2 billion in loans at the end of 2025, giving it a loan-to-deposit ratio of around 6%, compared with 55% at HSBC and 86% at Société Générale.
That partly reflects a different business model. Revolut earns money across services including subscriptions, payments and foreign exchange rather than relying as heavily on lending.
It is nevertheless moving deeper into traditional lending. Revolut entered the mortgage market in Lithuania in 2025 and now offers both home-purchase mortgages and mortgage refinancing. It is also considering entering Australia's highly competitive mortgage market.
Revolut took a major step in Australia in July 2026, when it received a banking licence and became an authorised deposit-taking institution. It now offers products there including savings accounts, debit cards and credit cards.
New Zealand is at an earlier stage. Revolut has operated here since 2023 and launched Revolut Business in June 2026, but it is not yet a registered New Zealand bank. Its application remains under consideration by New Zealand regulators.
Kiwi customers can already receive NZ dollars through local account details, have their salary paid into Revolut, exchange currencies, make transfers and use physical and virtual Revolut cards. Revolut's New Zealand Help Centre currently classifies its physical cards here as prepaid Visa cards, which can be used for purchases and ATM withdrawals.
Revolut is also pushing deeper into merchant payments. Australian businesses can already use Revolut to accept Visa and Mastercard payments online and in person. In New Zealand, Revolut has established similar merchant services covering online card payments, payment links and physical terminals, but the service remains in testing and is currently available only to businesses invited by Revolut.
The next challenge is persuading more of those 80 million customers to make Revolut their main financial provider, moving salaries, savings, borrowing and business activity onto the platform rather than using it mainly for travel or occasional spending.
Revolut has already proved it can attract customers. The harder task is turning those millions of accounts into deeper, everyday banking relationships.
