Revolut introduces a private banking division with a £500,000 minimum requirement as it aims for a $200 billion IPO.

      **TL;DR:** Revolut is set to introduce a private banking unit in the UK and Europe this summer with a £500,000 eligibility threshold, catering to the mass-affluent market that Coutts, with its £3 million minimum, has overlooked. The £4.5 billion revenue fintech is developing a universal banking structure in anticipation of a potential $200 billion IPO on Nasdaq.

      Revolut intends to launch a private banking unit in the UK and select European countries this summer, as reported by a source familiar with the situation. The threshold for eligibility will be £500,000, approximately $675,000. Coutts, a private bank under NatWest, recently increased its minimum to £3 million, effectively leaving a gap in the market. That gap represents the mass-affluent population across the continent, which Revolut is poised to target.

      The announcement regarding the private banking unit coincided with Revolut obtaining approval from UK regulators for portfolio management, leveraged products, and investment services tailored for high-net-worth and professional clients. Achieving two regulatory milestones on the same day is not a coincidence; it reflects the culmination of a strategy developed over the past three years.

      The company's UK banking license was secured in March 2026 after a lengthy three-year application process, the most extensive in recent times, due to regulatory apprehensions regarding its global compliance framework. This license, granted by the Prudential Regulation Authority, transitioned Revolut from a payments platform into a fully regulated bank. Now, customer deposits are secured up to £120,000 through the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, and the firm is authorized to provide consumer credit, mortgages, and lending. This license forms the legal backbone for any future product expansions.

      The push into private banking would not have been feasible without this license. Providing wealth management, portfolio construction, and investment advice to high-net-worth individuals necessitates regulatory permissions that Revolut lacked as an electronic money institution; it now has acquired all necessary approvals. The FCA's endorsement of complex investment products, announced in tandem with the private banking initiative, introduces leveraged instruments, discretionary portfolio management, and professional-tier services to a platform that previously offered only basic stock and cryptocurrency trading.

      The order of events is crucial: first the license, then regulatory approvals, and subsequently, private banking. Each step relies on the preceding one. Revolut has dedicated three years to constructing the regulatory infrastructure needed to compete with institutions that have spent centuries developing theirs.

      Founded in 2015 by Nikolay Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko, Revolut began as a prepaid card offering favorable foreign exchange rates. Now, a decade later, it boasts over 70 million customers in more than 100 countries, holding banking licenses in the UK, Lithuania, and Mexico, with applications for charters in the US and France. In 2025, the company's revenue soared to £4.5 billion, reflecting a 46% year-on-year growth, and profit before tax reached £1.7 billion, up 57%. Projections for 2026 anticipate revenues of $9 billion and profits of $3.5 billion.

      A secondary share sale in November 2025 valued the company at $75 billion, and by April 2026, management revealed they had discussed IPO valuations between $150 billion and $200 billion with investors. A subsequent secondary sale anticipated for the latter half of 2026 is expected to elevate the company’s valuation above $100 billion. Storonsky has indicated the IPO is roughly two years away and will take place on Nasdaq rather than the London Stock Exchange.

      Storonsky confirmed that Revolut’s IPO is set for two years out and will happen in the United States, attributing this choice to greater liquidity, higher valuation multiples, and the UK’s 0.5% stamp duty on share transactions. Launching a private banking unit that generates recurring fee-based revenue from affluent clients aligns well with investor preferences in public markets. The timing of this private banking announcement reflects the sharpening IPO timeline.

      The opportunity for the UK’s mass-affluent segment is substantial, valued at around £9 trillion, exceeding the combined wealth of both ultra-high-net-worth and retail segments. By raising its minimum asset requirement to £3 million, Coutts effectively abandoned a client base that holds between £500,000 and £3 million. UBS requires a minimum of £1 million in investable assets. Traditional private banks have shifted to serve higher wealth brackets, leaving a significant gap within the lower tiers of the wealth spectrum.

      Revolut's £500,000 threshold is designed to capitalize on this gap. Its target clients are not billionaires, but rather successful professionals, small business owners, property investors, and early retirees who have accumulated notable wealth yet fall short of the minimums set by established private banks. Moreover, this demographic predominantly consists of individuals already utilizing Revolut for their daily banking, currency exchange, and initial investment needs. Thus, the private banking unit focuses on enhancing services for