Revolut Aims to Become New Zealand’s First Global Digital Bank

Revolut’s ongoing expansion efforts have the U.K. FinTech focused on New Zealand.

While Revolut already provides services to customers in the island nation, it now plans to provide banking services there, applying for a banking license from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, according to a Friday (Dec. 6) press release.

“Receiving a banking license will result in Revolut becoming the first global digital bank in [the] market, enabling it to continue delivering innovative and essential financial services that meet the needs of Kiwis who have long been underserved by traditional banking players,” the release said. “This will include the ability to offer interest-bearing savings products and a broader range of credit options tailored to empower Kiwis and enhance their financial management.”

Revolut launched in New Zealand in 2023 and has since processed more than 350 million New Zealand dollars (about $206 million) in transactions to date, according to the release.

In May, Charlie Short, head of growth at Revolut, said the company is committed to speeding growth in markets such as Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.

In September, Revolut was exploring an expansion of its business into Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)-member countries such as the United Arab Emirates, although the company declined to comment.

Speaking at the Dubai FinTech summit earlier this year, Revolut CEO Nik Storonsky said the company wants “to build a truly global bank.”

At another conference in Finland last month, Storonsky appeared to hint that the company is also pursuing a banking license in the United States and that the American market is more credit card-centic, making it harder to compete without that option.

“In the U.S., you need to be credit-driven,” he said. “So, in the U.S., we need to have a banking license to launch a product.”

However, he added that the FinTech isn’t in as much of a hurry to expand into new markets as it once was, saying Revolut’s original “grow fast” ethos was ill-advised.

“For a long time, I wanted to be as less regulated as possible,” he said. “It was the completely wrong decision.”