Revolut pumps £3bn into the UK financial services sector
London-born fintech juggernaut Revolut has capped off a hefty week of investment for the UK financial services sector as the firm officially launched its global headquarters.
The digital bank said it would pump £3bn into the UK and create 1,000 highly-skilled jobs over the next five years.
The fresh injection of capital follows asset manager Blackstone pledging £100bn in investment as well as £7bn from Blackrock and £1.25bn from top US financial giants.
Nik Storonsky, Revolut’s co-founder and chief executive, said the “commitment will not only create 1,000 new jobs but will also fuel the innovation from our London hub that will help us deliver on our global ambitions”.
The fintech maverick – renowned for his relentless attention to detail – has long been a critic of the UK’s regulatory landscape.
Storonsky has previously slammed the “extreme bureaucracy” that made it hard to do business in the country.
Revolut is currently in the process of becoming a fully-fledged bank in the UK but has faced a series of headaches on the regulatory front.
Most recently, it was reported Governor of the Bank of England Andrew Bailey had blocked a meeting ordained by Rachel Reeves to help the fintech to secure a licence.
Revolut’s vote of confidence in the UK
But Chancellor Rachel Reeves hailed the new investment as a “major vote of confidence in the UK” as she spoke at the launch of Revolut’s global HQ on Tuesday.
“The UK is well and truly open for business under this government,” Reeves said.
She touted the Leeds Reforms announced over the Summer as “making Britain the best place for financial services companies to do business”.
The Treasury aimed to slam its foot on the accelerator in its mission to deregulate and “cut the red tape” to unleash economic growth in the government’s Leeds Reform package.
Reeves said the changed would “rewire” the financial services ecosystem.
These included a crackdown on the Financial Ombudsman Service – branded by the industry a “quasi-regulator” – and consultations on ring-fencing and MREL regulation for the banking industry.
Revolut is speculated to have notched a valuation of $75bn after kicking off a secondary share sale at the beginning of this month.
The sale marks yet another sharp rise in Revolut’s price tag at being valued at $45bn only last year.
The investment into the UK comes as part of the fintech’s mission to invest £10bn globally and create 10,000 new jobs worldwide.
Elsewhere, the firm revealed its business-to-business arm – dubbed Revolut Business – surpassed $1bn in annualised revenue.
Speaking at Tuesday’s event Storonsky laid out the company’s next ambitious milestone to seal 100m customers.