Revolut Negotiating With NBU to Obtain Banking License
Weekly news up to Monday, 5th of May 2025
👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) is interested in the entry of the neobank Revolut into the Ukrainian market, but within the framework of legislative and regulatory requirements, so it is conducting a dialogue with it about obtaining a banking license, said Deputy Governor of the NBU Dmytro Oliynyk.
"We are conducting a dialogue with Revolut, and they have announced their intention to obtain a banking license. We are also communicating with European regulators regarding the need for their licensing to provide services to Ukrainian residents," Oliynyk said in an interview with NV Business.
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
🔦 DIGITAL BANKING HIGHLIGHTS
⭐️ OakNorth Surpasses $1bn in Lending to US Businesses Since July 2023.
⭐️ PowerPay Secures $400 Million Committed Multi-Lender Warehouse Facility Led by KeyBank.
⭐️ Digital bank Maya throws hat into premium credit card market.
⭐️ Temenos veteran Martin Bailey departs after 25 years.
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🌎 REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
UK 🇬🇧
Allica Bank launches long-term sub-hire product and celebrates record-breaking month in asset finance. The innovative product means hire companies can hire the equipment to their customers for up to 36 months and opt for a fixed-rate hire purchase agreement of up to 72 months.
Revolut rebuffs investors. The company recently rejected investor interest that would have given it around a $65 billion valuation. It required the company's go-ahead, which Revolut denied. The neobank was last valued at $45 billion via a 2024 secondary sale. Read more
Square expands banking services to give sellers better control of their cash flow. Square Savings accounts now feature new personalized savings recommendations to make it easy for sellers to organize their funds into folders for key expenses like taxes and supplies.
Tide expands availability of credit product to all UK small business members. Credit Flex is a short-term credit facility integrated into the Tide app that gives eligible Tide members instant access to credit of up to £5,000. access to credits up to £5,000.
EUROPE 🇪🇺
Dutch neobank bunq launched a crypto trading service for over 300 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. The service is available to Bunq users in the Netherlands, France, Spain, Ireland, Italy, and Belgium. It’s offered via Kraken.
Revolut launches business instant-access savings account. The digital bank said its business savings account offers “Ireland’s best instant-access rate” when compared to legacy banks and other FinTechs. Meanwhile, Revolut set to offer mobile plans in Germany and the UK. The FinTech said it wants to disrupt the established market to improve customer experience, it will launch monthly mobile phone plans, hoping to disrupt the established telecoms market in the EU.
Backbase launches world’s first AI-powered Banking Platform, putting banks back in Growth Mode. By integrating Backbase’s AI experts directly into their teams, banks can rapidly co-create high-impact use cases and turn innovation into execution with speed and confidence.
Lydia, the French mobile payment app, has launched a new online banking service called Sumeria, offering a remunerated current account with interest rates of up to 4% annually. This move marks Lydia's transition from a peer-to-peer payment platform to a full-fledged neobank.
USA 🇺🇸
Santander seeks to be ‘relevant’ in the US as it mulls sale in Europe. The behaviour of Santander’s auto financing business customers in the US was “really good” in the first three months of the year, and the lender isn’t seeing credit quality deterioration. The bank feels comfortable with the guidance for its US business.
Green Dot provides embedded banking services to Crypto.com. Green Dot is enabling Crypto.com customers to utilize cryptocurrencies more easily and affordably. It also enables partners to offer their customers the ability to move funds digitally between bank accounts.
Fiserv processes the first card-based payment transactions under a special bank charter. This allows the acquirer to have a more significant financial stake in processing debit and credit card transactions for merchants, as it saves money on the bank fees that would be paid to banking partners.
Nuvo raises $45M to accelerate the future of B2B trade. With the new funding, Nuvo will deepen its reach across core markets such as alcohol and beverage, building materials, chemicals, food service, distribution, and manufacturing, while extending into new verticals.
LATAM
Colombia will launch Bre-B, a new real-time and interoperable payment system. The platform, integrated into existing banking apps and websites, will enable 24/7 instant payments using unique identifiers. ACI Worldwide has been selected as the technology provider for interoperability services, supplying the infrastructure to support seamless real-time transactions.
Regulation and lack of liquidity, challenges for medium-sized banks in Colombia. The report states that although banks have shown resilience in the face of contractionary monetary cycles, evolving funding conditions and new regulatory requirements could limit their competitiveness compared to larger banks and emerging FinTech companies.
Ualá users can now withdraw money at Oxxo shops throughout Mexico. The new partnership allows customers of this financial platform to withdraw up to 3,000 pesos per transaction, although they must pay a fixed fee of 20 pesos per withdrawal.
BofA hires from Citi, Deutsche Bank, and Santander for Latin America. Giovanni Fernandes, a former managing director at Santander covering utilities, oil and gas, and infrastructure concessions. Martin Cameo from Deutsche Bank, who’ll be a managing director for Latin America structured finance. And, Arturo Grisi, a Citigroup Senior Director covering power and infrastructure.
ASIA
ADIB taps QUALCO to enhance sharia-compliant Supply Chain Finance platform. The new system aims to automate key processes, improve transaction transparency, and streamline operational workflows for both suppliers and buyers. It supports various Islamic financing structures, ensuring flexibility while adhering to Sharia principles.
Daleel adds Binance crypto to finance marketplace in MENA. The partnership allows Daleel to display the top 10 trading pairs from Binance by offering access to digital asset information next to traditional financial products. The move aims to reflect evolving consumer preferences in the region.
AUSTRALIA 🇦🇺
Westpac online banking suffers a glitch and apologises after customers are left frustrated. Customers have vented their frustration on social media after the bank’s digital services failed this morning, leaving people unable to pay bills or use some services. Nearly two hours later, Westpac said it was resolved.
Revolut reports record profits in Australia & globally for 2024. The company announced a net profit before tax of AUD 4.4 million for its Australian operations in 2024, an all-time high for the business in this market. Australian revenue increased by 163% year-on-year. Meanwhile, the company is negotiating with NBU to obtain a banking license. The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) is interested in the entry of the neobank Revolut into the Ukrainian market.
MIDDLE EAST
BNY gets licence for Saudi regional HQ as global banks grow presence. The new regional headquarters in Riyadh will offer strategic, administrative, and corporate support for BNY's operations across the Middle East. Saudi Arabia's new rules mandate foreign firms to have regional headquarters in the kingdom before they can access lucrative government contracts.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
Revolut hires Merisa Lee Gimpel to lead supply chain finance division. Lee Gimpel joins from Lloyds Bank, where she has spent the past 11 months as managing director of client solutions and lending innovation. Before this, she spent five years with the bank in trade finance roles.