Revolut Is Building a Very Different Kind of Bank
Hey Digital Banking Fanatic!
One number from a new Financial Times interview with Revolut CEO Nik Storonsky really stood out to me: 6%.
That is Revolut’s current loan-to-deposit ratio.
For comparison, a traditional bank can sit around 100%.
And that difference says a lot about how Storonsky thinks the bank of the future should be built.
His ambition is to create a truly global bank with what he describes as “effectively zero risk.”
Revolut does not plan to move anywhere near traditional lending levels. Storonsky says loan exposure should remain around 10–20%, with loans potentially sold or securitised instead of sitting permanently on the balance sheet.
The idea is simple: keep the model capital-light, generate more revenue from fees and financial services, and avoid taking the kind of balance-sheet risk that has defined traditional banking for decades.
And Revolut now has serious scale behind that strategy:
→ 80M customers
→ 40 countries
→ $115B valuation
→ 15,000 employees
→ 40–50% return on equity, according to Storonsky
→ ambition to eventually operate in 100+ countries
And that global ambition is already playing out market by market. Revolut has just hit 1M customers in Mexico.
What makes this especially interesting is that Revolut increasingly looks less like a neobank trying to become a traditional bank.
It is trying to build an entirely different kind of global bank.
What if the next generation of global banks makes most of its money without doing very much traditional banking at all?
That’s one of the stories I’m watching closely today. Keep scrolling, there are plenty more important banking updates waiting for you in today’s edition👇
Cheers,
INSIGHTS
💰 $23 trillion is sitting in low-rate accounts, according to McKinsey, with Tuum highlighting how AI agents could finally get that money moving by searching, comparing, and executing transactions for customers. For banks, being the “bank of choice” increasingly means being machine-readable, API-accessible, and always on.
NEWS
🇲🇽 Revolut hits one million customers in Mexico, less than eight months after launching full banking operations. The digital bank has invested $167 million locally and is using Mexico as a platform for its Americas expansion.
🇨🇴 Revolut Colombia plans 1,000 ATMs and a 2027 public opening after receiving its banking licence. The British digital bank has committed 400 billion pesos (about $125 million) over five years, with credit cards and remittances among first products.
🇨🇴 Nubank plans to invest $1.58 billion in Colombia by 2030, CEO David Velez announced. The digital bank has grown to five million Colombian customers and now holds over $3.49 billion in local deposits.
🇨🇴 Lulo Bank launches Lulo Empresas, a fully digital business banking ecosystem in Colombia. The platform has already onboarded 194 companies and mobilized over $500 billion COP through enterprise accounts in 2026.
🇦🇿 Bir says digital banking now reaches 5 million users, covering more than half of Azerbaijan's population. CEO Farid Huseynov presented the group's strategy at Money20/20 Middle East in Riyadh.
🇲🇽 Klar Empresarial expands its 360 platform to Mexican PFAEs and RESICOs, opening credit, debit, investments and cashback to independent professionals and small businesses. The platform targets a segment of 10 to 12 million registered taxpayers who have historically lacked access to tailored corporate banking products.
🇺🇸 Bastion receives conditional OCC approval to operate as a national trust bank, becoming one of the first crypto-native firms to reach this regulatory milestone. The approval allows Bastion to offer crypto custody and related services under federal oversight.
🇰🇷 Bank of Korea launches a 24-hour offshore won settlement network trial, aiming to lower barriers for foreign investors. The pilot program will enable round-the-clock settlement of won transactions outside traditional banking hours.
🇰🇷 Hana Bank taps Euroclear blockchain for a $100M bond issuance, marking South Korea's first digital bond directly using Euroclear's infrastructure. The distributed ledger network shortened settlement from days to same day for the five-year foreign-currency bond.
🇸🇦 GFH Bank partners with AlNassr Saudi Club for the 2026-2027 season, aiming to strengthen brand presence across key regional markets. The deal creates new fan engagement opportunities across Saudi Arabia and beyond.
🇬🇧 Reward taps Lloyds veteran Enrique Del Rio as president, UK & Europe. Del Rio brings over 30 years of financial services experience to lead commercial development across banking loyalty, transaction intelligence and commerce media.
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