Revolut Clears the OCC Hurdle for a US Bank, With the Fed and

Key facts Revolut secured preliminary conditional approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) on 3 September 2026 to establish a national bank. The decision, published as OCC Corporate Decision #1390, lets the London-based fintech work toward serving American customers directly rather than through partner banks. The proposed bank would operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Revolut Holdings US. The parent group remains regulated in the United Kingdom by the Prudential Regulation Authority.

Charter lets Revolut offer deposits, loans and credit cardsThe charter would allow Revolut to provide deposits, personal loans, and credit cards to U.S. customers under a single federal license. Deposits would be federally insured up to $250,000 per account once the firm completes the remaining regulatory steps. The bank also plans to offer Revolut-branded stablecoins through a third party. According to the OCC decision, Revolut would not issue those stablecoins or manage their reserves, and digital-asset services are projected to account for less than 2% of the bank's revenue.

Revolut still needs Fed and FDIC approval before openingConditional approval is not a final green light. Revolut must still obtain deposit insurance from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and approval from the Federal Reserve before the bank can open. The company filed its charter application in March 2026 and expects the bank to begin operating in the first half of 2027. According to Bloomberg, the new entity would be based in Stamford, Connecticut, with an initial capital contribution of about $95 million. The preliminary approval does not cover Revolut's proposed retail foreign-exchange business.

US customers would gain a federally supervised providerA national charter would place Revolut's U.S. business under direct federal supervision for the first time. Today the company relies on partner banks to hold deposits and process payments for its American users. Owning a bank would let Revolut control those functions itself, connect directly to Federal Reserve payment systems once approved, and expand its products without a sponsor bank in the middle. Revolut has described the United States as a priority market and aims to reach millions of American users.

USDC trades near one dollar at time of publicationStablecoins are one product Revolut wants to bring to U.S. customers. USDC, a U.S.-dollar stablecoin, traded at about $1.00 with a market capitalization near $74.3 billion at the time of publication (CoinPaprika, 4 September 2026). Its price held within a fraction of a cent over the prior 24 hours. Trading volume in USDC reached about $18 billion over the same period (CoinPaprika, 4 September 2026).

OCC moves to revive de novo bank charteringThe approval fits a broader OCC push to revive de novo bank chartering, the creation of new banks rather than takeovers of existing ones. Comptroller Jonathan Gould has said firms active in digital assets should have a path to become federally supervised banks. The agency has cleared several crypto-linked charter applications during 2026, reflecting a more open stance toward the sector.

"Conditional OCC approval is an important first step towards establishing the proposed Revolut Bank US. It gives us the foundation to build in the world's largest financial market and bring the full Revolut experience to millions of Americans", 3 September 2026.