UK-based challenger bank Revolut is reportedly in talks with Australian regulators to secure a banking licence in the country.

“Our mission is to directly challenge the incumbent banks that … offer a suboptimal user experience, and their business models are really quite reliant on customer apathy,” Reuters quoted Revolut country head Matt Baxby as saying.

As per the report, Baxby told a parliamentary committee: “We’ve engaged with APRA (Australian Prudential Regulation Authority) and are intent on filing an application to become an Aussie bank.”

Last year, the lender had obtained a financial licence for its subsidiary in the country and is registered with the anti-money-laundering agency as a digital exchange.

Over 100,000 people have subscribed to Revolut in Australia for services like pre-paid card payments, foreign exchange, and crypto trading, Baxby added.

Almost 80% of the Australian banking industry is dominated by Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group and National Australia Bank.

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Founded in 2015, Revolut offers banking, investing, currency transfer and other money management services to around 16 million users globally.

In July this year, the challenger bank raised $800m at a valuation of $33bn, which made it the most valuable fintech in the UK.

In other Australian banking news, last week, Commonwealth Bank of Australia launched its buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) platform in a bid to compete with Afterpay.

Recently, Afterpay launched a banking app in Australia where it is said to be a leading player in the BNPL market.