Revolut Adds A French Banking Hub While Evaluating Canada

August 10, 2026 | NCFA Companies On The Move | Digital Banking And BaaS, Competition And Market Structure

French Banking Licence Extends Revolut’s Global Bank Expansion

On August 10, 2026, Revolut secured a French banking licence from the ACPR and European Central Bank. France will become Revolut's second EU banking base alongside Lithuania, with Germany, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain expected to follow.

Revolut enters this phase with more than 75 million customers and $6 billion of 2025 revenue. It is also building licensed banks in several major markets, which changes the competitive significance of its renewed interest in Canada.

Revolut Now Has Bank-Scale Economics

Revolut's 2025 results show a business well beyond its original foreign-exchange and card proposition. Revenue rose 46% to $6.0 billion, profit before tax reached $2.3 billion and net profit was $1.7 billion. Customer balances reached $67.5 billion.

Eleven product lines generated more than £100 million each. Card payments produced $1.3 billion of revenue, wealth $876 million and foreign exchange $800 million. Revolut Business accounted for 16% of group income.

Credit is becoming substantial enough to change the risk profile. The loan book grew 120% to $2.9 billion across personal loans, credit cards and an early mortgage portfolio, while commercial real estate lending has extended the company into more specialized credit.

Private-market pricing has climbed with the operating results. Revolut completed a secondary transaction at a US$75 billion valuation in November 2025. A new secondary sale confirmed in July 2026 is reportedly pricing the company at US$115 billion. The current sale has not been announced as completed.

Revolut Is Adding Local Banking Operations In Major Markets

The French licence divides Revolut's European banking structure more deliberately. Lithuania remains the banking base for much of the European Economic Area, while the French entity will take responsibility for six Western European markets with roughly 30 million Revolut customers.

Revolut completed the next stage of its UK banking licence in March, launching the bank for a domestic customer base of 13 million after receiving the licence in 2024 and completing its mobilisation period.

Mexico began full banking operations in January, and Australia became its first licensed bank in Asia-Pacific in July.

Revolut moved toward a standalone U.S. banking licence in January and formally applied for a national bank charter in March.

Owning more of the banking infrastructure gives Revolut greater control over deposits, credit, payments and pricing. It also requires more local capital, compliance and operating capacity. In Western Europe, Revolut has committed more than €1 billion to the new regional structure and plans to build its headquarters in Paris.

Canada Is A Different Proposition Than It Was In 2019

Revolut's renewed Canada strategy follows an earlier attempt built around prepaid cards and foreign exchange. The company entered a limited Canadian beta in 2019 and withdrew in 2021 without establishing a domestic banking presence.

Jan Pilbauer was appointed to lead Revolut Canada in 2025 after senior roles at Payments Canada and the Bank of Canada. Revolut has described Canada as attractive but remains early in its evaluation. It hasn't announced a launch date, and there is no public evidence of a Canadian bank licence application.

The regulatory setting has changed too. OSFI's Streamlined Approvals Framework creates a clearer federal route for eligible innovative banking models, while consumer-driven banking could reduce data-access barriers once regulated sharing is operating.

Revolut would also be operating a different business. A payments and FX app would add another fintech option. A Canadian operation spanning deposits, credit, wealth and business banking would compete for much more of the customer relationship.

Local Licences Put More Responsibility On Revolut

Italy offers a recent reminder that localization cuts both ways. In April, the country's competition authority fined Revolut entities more than €11 million over investment disclosures, account restrictions and information concerning Italian IBAN availability.

The Italian action touched the same customer-treatment and localization issues Revolut has to manage as more markets gain their own banking entities. Revolut disagreed with the findings and said it would appeal.

See: Revolut’s Crowdfunding Success from Start-up to $45 Billion

Revolut now has the customers, earnings and product breadth to compete much more directly with established banks. Its French licence shows how much regulatory infrastructure that ambition requires. A Canadian return would reveal whether Revolut is prepared to build the same depth here.

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