Revolut Has Received a License in Australia: It Will Challenge the "Big Four" Banks

One of Europe’s most valuable startups, the British fintech company Revolut—valued at $75 billion— has been granted a full banking license in Australia. It will begin offering savings and loan products in the Australian market, competing with the “Big Four” local banks. This is the company’s second banking license outside the European Union and the United Kingdom.

The company noted that receiving regulatory approval marks Revolut’s official launch as a licensed bank in Australia. Revolut will invest 400 million Australian dollars ($280 million) to expand its business in the country.

The fintech company already has 1.2 million Australian users who use the app for money transfers, trading, and other services, according to the Financial Times. Full-scale expansion in Australia has always been a “long-term strategic priority” for Revolut, CEO Nick Storonsky noted, according to a company statement.

"The company is already profitable, and its broad customer base gives it a strong head start compared to other neobanks," the FT quoted Matt Buxby, head of Revolut Bank Australia, as saying. "The new license sets the bar very high," he added.

The Australian banking market is dominated by four major players (the so-called “Big Four”): Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, Westpac, and ANZ Group, according to the Financial Times (FT). They have successfully withstood competition both from foreign giants such as Citibank and HSBC and from a wave of neobanks that have launched over the past decade but have, for the most part, failed, the FT notes.

Matthew Wilson, an analyst at Jarden Investment Group, believes that Revolut is “well-positioned” to challenge traditional banks in the lending and savings segments, much like Macquarie Group. Macquarie is Australia’s largest financial conglomerate, unofficially referred to as the country’s “fifth major bank.”

“These are very strong and experienced players,” Wilson said. “Given the scale of traditional banks, the competition won’t be easy. But Revolut already has a strong foothold in the U.K. They aren’t a new bank overall—they’re new specifically to Australia.”

At the same time, the fintech company has applied for a banking license in New Zealand, where the same “Big Four” Australian banks dominate, the FT noted. Bucksby called the country an “excellent platform” for the company’s further expansion.

For Revolut, the Australian license was its first in the Asia-Pacific region and only its second outside the UK and Europe. In October 2025, the fintech company received its first such license in Mexico. In March, the company also received a full banking license in the UK and applied for a license in the US. In mid-June, the service received approval from the Central Bank of the UAE to operate in the country.

Revolut currently has more than 75 million users worldwide. The fintech company is considering a secondary share offering, in which the entire business could be valued at $115 billion, according to Bloomberg sources. According to Storonsky, an IPO is not planned until at least 2028, and the bank may conduct several more rounds of secondary offerings before then.

In mid-July, Revolut was among the 36 payment providers selected by the European Central Bank to participate in a pilot project to introduce the digital euro.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor