Revolut mulling plans to take on China’s fintech giants
UK fintech juggernaut Revolut is weighing expansion into China in a move that would see the company take on the likes of Ant Group-owned Alipay and Wechat.
The firm told investors on a pitchdeck during its secondary share sale last year it was assessing “hiring, licensing [and] scoping” opportunities in China.
The fintech was also considering opportunities across the Middle East in its bid to ramp up global expansion endeavours.
The pitchdeck, seen by Sifted, described the regulatory environment in the Asian Pacific as “neutral” and Middle East and North American as “friendly”.
But when discussing the UK and Europe’s regulatory regime, Revolut branded it “aggressive”.
Revolut’s regulatory rigmarole
The London-headquartered fintech has suffered a series of regulatory headaches in the UK as it sought to become a fully fledged bank.
As revealed by CityAM earlier this month, insiders expected the firm would miss its 12-month mobilisation deadline to obtain a banking license from Britain’s banking watchdog.
A spokesperson for Revolut told CityAM the company was “progressing through the final stages of mobilisation” and were “looking forward to launching a fully regulated UK banks” in 2025.
The debacle has led to Rachel Reeves attempting to intervene to secure a meeting between the fintech and regulators but the Chancellor was overruled by Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey.
The Chancellor had hoped the summit would help drive Revolut’s goal to become a fully fledged bank in the UK, according to the FT, but Bailey derailed the meeting over concerns regulation should be independent from political interventions.
The business has become the crown jewel in Britain’s booming fintech sector but concerns have spiked it may ditch the City for the US when looking to IPO.
Nik Storonsky, Revolut’s chief executive, previously said a London listing was “not rational” when compared with the deeper liquidity offered in the US.
Reeves used her Mansion House speech to launch a series of regulatory reforms aiming to galvanise fintech listings earlier this month.