Revolut has obtained a full banking licence for its French entity, Revolut Bank S.A. (RBSA), following a joint assessment by the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR) and the European Central Bank, with the decision formally adopted by the ECB Governing Council. The licence was announced on 10 August 2026.
The approval gives Revolut a second regulated banking hub in continental Europe, sitting alongside its Lithuanian entity, Revolut Bank UAB, which is supervised by the Bank of Lithuania and the ECB. The company describes this as a dual-hub model, with RBSA now becoming the primary operating entity for Western European markets including France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain, rolled out in phases.
Why France, and why now
Revolut’s choice of France as its Western European anchor reflects both the scale of its existing customer base in the country and a deliberate regulatory strategy. The ACPR is one of Europe’s more demanding prudential supervisors, and securing its sign-off alongside the ECB Governing Council carries credibility weight that a smaller jurisdiction might not. The company has signalled its intent to treat the licence as a trust-building instrument: Frédéric Oudéa, former chief executive of Société Générale and now Chair of RBSA’s board, said the approval “reflects our long-term commitment to building a bank that meets the highest governance, regulatory and compliance standards.”
Founder and chief executive Nik Storonsky framed the licence as foundational infrastructure. “This licence gives us the foundation to build the next generation of banking for more than 30 million customers across Western Europe,” he said. “France has become a leading financial hub, supported by a dynamic financial ecosystem and a robust regulatory framework.”
Béatrice Cossa-Dumurgier, CEO Western Europe, said execution is now the priority, beginning with France before expanding progressively across the region.
The company says it will invest more than €1 billion in Western Europe and hire more than 600 people across its Western European markets. Its new Western European headquarters in Paris is confirmed for a 2027 opening. Revolut Business, its corporate banking arm, already serves hundreds of thousands of companies across the continent, from sole traders to large enterprises.
Regulatory read-across and competitive context
The licence has broader implications for how digital-first banks operate in the eurozone. Under the EU’s single passport framework, a banking licence granted in one member state permits the holder to offer deposit-taking and credit services across the EEA, subject to notification requirements. By holding licences in both France and Lithuania, Revolut can distribute regulatory risk and service continuity across two supervised hubs, reducing dependence on any single competent authority.
The move also sharpens competitive pressure on incumbent retail banks in France, where digital adoption in banking has accelerated but full-service neobank penetration remains lower than in the UK. Revolut’s Western European customer count of approximately 30 million, with close to eight million joining in 2025, puts it alongside or ahead of several mid-tier retail banks in the region by customer volume, though deposit and loan book figures were not disclosed.
For the wider neobank sector, the approval is a marker that European regulators will grant full licences to scaled digital players that can demonstrate governance depth. Revolut’s path to its UK banking licence, finally awarded in 2024 after a protracted process with the Prudential Regulation Authority, was closely watched as a test case. The French approval, secured more swiftly, suggests the regulatory relationship has matured on both sides. The next milestones to track are the pace of customer migration onto RBSA, the product suite offered under the French licence, and whether the Lithuanian entity’s role narrows as RBSA scales.
The post Revolut Secures French Banking Licence from ACPR and ECB appeared first on The Fintech Times.
