Revolut Challenges Europe’s Banking Giants as Global Growth Accelerates

Revolut has become Europe’s most valuable startup, emerging as a serious challenger to established banking giants after growing rapidly from a fintech focused on cheaper foreign exchange services.

The London-based digital bank is now privately valued at $115 billion, putting its valuation above Barclays and Societe Generale. Revolut reported £1.7 billion ($2.2 billion) in pretax profit for 2025, compared with Barclays’ £9 billion, but its earnings are expanding quickly.

CEO Nik Storonsky is pursuing an ambitious global expansion strategy, targeting markets including Mexico, Australia and the United States. Revolut has secured several new licences as it seeks to build a rare global retail banking network.

Customer growth has been particularly strong. Revolut says it now serves 80 million customers worldwide, approaching JPMorgan’s 84 million and well above HSBC’s 41 million. In Ireland, the fintech says about 80% of adults have a Revolut account.

However, converting that scale into banking revenue remains a major challenge. Revolut generates substantially less revenue per customer than traditional lenders and holds much smaller average deposit balances. Its loan portfolio stood at just £2.2 billion at the end of 2025, giving it a loan-to-deposit ratio of 6%, versus 55% at HSBC and 86% at Societe Generale.

Revolut says its diversified model deliberately relies on multiple products and services rather than traditional lending, reducing its dependence on interest rates.

The company has also faced regulatory and security setbacks. Lithuania fined Revolut over anti-money-laundering shortcomings, while customer information was mistakenly provided to hackers impersonating government investigators in September. Revolut said its systems and customer funds were unaffected.

Another hurdle is persuading more users to make Revolut their primary bank. The company said primary-account customers increased 45% in 2025 but did not disclose the total.

Investors including Andreessen Horowitz are closely watching primary-account adoption and customer balances as Revolut attempts to turn its enormous user base into a sustainable global banking powerhouse.