{
  "id": 7741344,
  "title": "Expansion: Britische Neobank Revolut beantragt Banklizenz in der Schweiz",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/16/expansion-britische-neobank-revolut-beantragt-banklizenz-in-der",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-16T08:18:46.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Handelsblatt",
    "slug": "handelsblatt",
    "url": "https://www.handelsblatt.com/finanzen/banken-versicherungen/banken/revolut-beantragt-banklizenz-in-der-schweiz-und-will-millionen-investieren/100254915.html"
  },
  "original_language": "de",
  "account": "British neobank Revolut has applied for a banking license in Switzerland to expand its business in the lucrative market. The company submitted the request to the Swiss Federal Financial Market Supervision Authority (Finma) on Wednesday. With a license, Revolut aims to offer customers in Switzerland a broader range of services, including salary accounts, access to Swiss deposit insurance, and local IBAN bank account numbers. This would make Revolut the fourth independent bank operating in Europe after the UK, Lithuania, and France, according to Revolut's head of sales, David Tirado. Currently, Revolut is limited in Switzerland as it cannot offer salary accounts or Franken-denominated investment accounts. Despite this, Revolut is the leading digital bank in the country, with over 1.3 million customers, representing about 24% market penetration, Tirado said. In two to three years, Revolut plans to surpass a 40% market share. Currently, Revolut operates in Switzerland and Germany through the Revolut Bank UAB, licensed in Lithuania and overseen by the European Central Bank. The lack of trust is what Revolut currently lacks in competition with established Swiss banks, Tirado explained. With regulatory approval from Finma, all processes would be validated by the authority. Revolut also aims to provide a better user experience and price-performance ratio compared to its competitors, from investment to payments. Revolut plans to triple its workforce in Switzerland over the next five years, increasing the current 30 employees to over 90, said Switzerland CEO Julian Biegmann. \"We will significantly expand our local team and deploy all functions necessary for operating a Swiss bank.\" Currently, more than half of the Swiss customers use Revolut monthly. More important than increasing the number of customers is getting them to use Revolut as their everyday bank. Expanding into wealth management is one of the issues the group is currently considering, but it is not a priority in Switzerland. The license application in Switzerland is part of the company's expansion strategy. At the beginning of the month, the neobank received a provisional approval for a national bank license in the US. In March, Revolut secured a banking license in the UK, followed by an approval in France. Revolut has around 80 million customers worldwide. According to Tirado, the company is in the midst of an equity placement round, selling employee shares to new investors at a valuation of $150 billion. This makes Revolut the largest private technology company in Europe.",
  "summary": "Revolut hat bereits 1,3 Millionen Kundinnen und Kunden in der Schweiz. Um zu wachsen, plant die Digitalbank jetzt Millioneninvestitionen, Gehaltskonten und Schweizer IBANs.",
  "key_points": [
    "Revolut applied for Swiss banking license to expand business.",
    "Company aims to offer salary accounts and Swiss deposit insurance.",
    "Revolut is currently the leading digital bank in Switzerland with 1.3 million customers."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}