Revolut becomes first global fintech to launch in Australia

Revolut's mission to build the world's first truly global bank has taken another step closer to reality, with its first step into the APAC region. 

Revolut has become the first global fintech to obtain a full Australian Deposit-taking Institution (ADI) license by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).

The fintech counts 75 million customers worldwide, which includes more than one million Australian retail customers and thousands of Australian businesses. These customers can now migrate to a fully regulated banking ecosystem, as Revolut bridges the gap between secure, regulated local banking and borderless global finance. 

As customers of an APRA-authorized deposit-taking institution, they will now benefit from the protections available under Australia's banking regulatory framework, including the Financial Claims Scheme, which protects eligible deposits up to AUD$250,000 per account holder.

In the next five years, Revolut has committed to invest nearly AUD$400 million into the local market, spanning product innovation, growth and employer footprint. 

Matt Baxby, CEO at Revolut Bank Australia, commented: "Becoming a bank in Australia marks a defining moment in our journey, achieved through a relentless focus on delivering a better financial experience for Australians. It's the launchpad for our next chapter, enabling us to expand into a broader suite of products, including savings and credit, to sit alongside the innovative services our customers already rely on every day.

"Our mission remains simple: to build the most seamless, secure, and customer-first banking experience for Australian consumers and businesses," Baxby added. 

The expansion adds Australia to Revolut's established fully licensed banking footprint across the UK, EEA and Mexico, the first fully licensed banking entity outside Europe, which already serves over 500,000 retail customers.

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Global expansion continues with approval to provide crypto services in UAE

The news of Revolut's first APAC entity broke only days after the fintech confirmed it received in-principle approval from the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) in Dubai to offer broker-dealer, management and investment, and exchange services in the UAE. It also acquired approval from the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) for its payments activities – reaffirming its ambition to build a locally regulated, end-to-end financial ecosystem.

Subject to obtaining the relevant final regulatory approvals, Revolut intends to offer the virtual asset services through its retail app and standalone exchange, Revolut X. This would enable eligible customers in the UAE to buy, sell, and hold digital assets within a regulated framework. 

Revolut already serves more than 16 million crypto customers globally and says it offers one of the most trusted and accessible platforms for crypto trading in the UK and EEA.

Joseph Khair, head of Revolut Digital Assets FZE, UAE said: "The UAE continues to demonstrate global leadership in establishing a robust and transparent framework for virtual assets, and we are proud to align with that vision. This approval lays the foundation for Revolut to introduce its trusted virtual asset services within a regulated environment, supporting VARA's goal of fostering a safe, transparent, and innovation-driven virtual assets ecosystem."

Revolut building ecosystem of inter-related perks and in-app services

Revolut isn't just expanding its financial services; last year it launched MVNO operations in several markets. Confirmed in April 2025, services initially launched in the UK and Germany, soon expanding to the Netherlands and Poland.

As a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) Revolut does not own any telco infrastructure, but offers services by leasing capacity from mobile network operators (MNOs).  

Revolut's offer includes fully app-integrated plans featuring unlimited texts, calls, and domestic data, plus 20 GB of EU and US data roaming per month, with no fixed contract commitment and the option of payment via RevPoints. In Poland, the app-integrated plan design is more capped, with tariffs offering up to 200 GB of domestic data and 15 GB of roaming data monthly.

For those want a premium banking and mobile service combined, the premium, €650-per-year 'Ultra' tier bundles offer benefits such as 24/7 customer support, unlimited no-fee international transfers and weekday foreign exchange, fee-free global ATM withdrawals, inclusive global roaming data, subscriptions, airport lounge access, and travel and medical cover.

While the USP of combining finance and telecoms is convenient for its most loyal customers, for new customer acquisition, the fintech's move into the telco space isn't aggressively competitive. That's because the aim isn't to dominate the MNO space, according to Natasha Rybak, principal telecoms analyst at GlobalData. Instead, the expansion is "a smart way to reinforce and expand its own value proposition". 

"Mobile service here isn't the end product; it's the glue that helps Revolut keep customers engaged with its wider ecosystem of inter-related perks and in-app services," she said. 
GlobalData said the key to Revolut's playbook is" productizing mobile plans in a way that fits its membership model and app-first customer experience". 

Rybak continues: "What stands out is the consistency. Revolut is taking a repeatable MVNO template and employing it in multiple markets. The plan mechanics, roaming allowances, and crucially, the option to pay using RevPoints, are built to feel like a natural extension of the Revolut app rather than a direct alternative to a traditional telco product catalog."

She concludes: "This is the neobank playbook in action: stack services, deepen loyalty, and make the bundle hard to leave. Revolut Mobile is less about beating MNOs on core connectivity and more about making the Revolut ecosystem feel indispensable."

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