Spear’s Review

The over-cautiousness of UK regulators is a common grumble among the new generation of financial entrepreneurs in the City. Yet few grumbles have been more widely reported than those to have emanated from Nik Storonsky’s company Revolut. 

The Russian-born physics graduate relocated to London in his early twenties, where he worked at Lehman Brothers and Credit Suisse. In 2015 he left the trading desks to create the online payments app. Within a year, the business had become one of London’s fastest-growing financial companies, with a dedicated Millennial customer base drawn to its promise of low-cost foreign exchange transfers. Valuations soon put the company in the ‘unicorn’ bracket, on the assumption that Revolut would be able to offer more conventional financial products in time.

In 2021 Storonsky applied for a retail banking licence with the aim of doing just that. It was a move that would begin a three-year back-and-forth struggle, with regulators objecting to everything from Revolut’s share structure to its inconsistent accounting processes. In July 2024 the saga ended, as regulators announced they had approved Revolut’s banking licence, allowing it to offer loans and mortgages to its 9 million UK customers, as well as providing full retail banking services (including guaranteeing customer deposits in line with UK regulations).

As of September 2025, Revolut's valuation stood at around $75 billion, and the company was reported to be considering a dual listing in London and New York. The move would position it among the world’s most valuable fintechs and unlock a major payout opportunity for staff through share sales – as well as provide a major boost to the City of London. 

Read next: The 2025 Spear’s Power List – who made the cut