Fintech giant Revolut today said it was “really near the very final stages” of securing a banking license in the UK as it reported a near-tripling of sales and a breakthrough to profits in 2021 in a long anticipated set of results.
The Canary Wharf-based firm, which offers debit cards and crypto services to its 27 million customers, posted revenues of £636 million for the year to end-December 2021, while net profits topped £26 million, turning around a loss of £223 million the year before.
The recent turmoil in the crypto market, which has seen the value of Bitcoin plunge amid a string of bankruptcies, caused Revolut’s own turnover in digital asset activity to shrink in 2022, with crypto services accounting for only 5 to 10% of the total income last year.
But despite the decline, the company said it still sales growth of 33% in 2022 to £850 million. Revolut could not confirm profits for 2022, but chief financial officer Mikko Salovaara told the Standard profitability would show “nothing meaningful in terms of a change versus 2021.”
He said: “We’re going to continue to roll out in new geographies at a quick pace…the business to me feels quite resilient, diversified and sustainable.
“I think we’re really near the very final stages and we’ll be delighted if and when we receive a [UK banking] license – it’s the right thing for customers with things like deposit insurance, and it’s the right thing for Revolut.”
Revolut’s accounts were published two months after the statutory filing deadline. Salovaara told Reuters the delay was because “our accounting systems needed replacement.”
The company, one of the UK’s biggest unicorns has grown to become one of the world’s most valuable fintechs, with a July 2021 funding round valuing the firm at $33 billion (£27billion).
There’s no sign that the firm is slowing down its rapid expansion, having doubled its employee headcount to top 7,000 staff last year, according to LinkedIn data, and with plans to hire a further 1,700 staff in 2023.
The fast-paced growth comes despite reports payments giants Visa and Mastercard were putting the brakes on new crypto partnerships amid widespread industry turmoil including a string of corporate collapses like FTX.
Salovaara said Revolut would see “maybe a slight deceleration” in the rollout of crypto-related products but “we take a pretty long-term view of crypto.
Revolut’s lightning-quick growth has not come without its own stumbling blocks. In January the firm established a new behavioural team after it faced allegations of poor corporate culture, including staff having to work long hours and quitting after feeling under pressure to deliver unachievable targets.
The firm has been waiting for more than a year to be granted a UK banking license, which would it allow it to expand its range of services to customers in Britain. It may face more scrutiny if its EU operations, which are currently regulated in Lithuania, reach a scale that causes them to fall under the direct aegis of the European Central Bank.
