Following the news that Revolut secured banking licences in New Zealand and Israel, and plans to invest at least $1bn into its LatAm expansion, Vladimir Vukicevic, Banking and Payments Senior Insight Analyst at GlobalData, a leading intelligence and productivity platform, offers his view:
“Revolut’s rapid international expansion raises the question of whether it can keep growing abroad without damaging its performance and reputation in the UK and Europe. The London-based global neobank was valued at $115bn in a share sale earlier this month, about 19 times its 2025 revenue of $6.0bn. That multiple is typical of global technology companies rather than banks. By comparison, Nubank trades at about four times revenue.
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Revolut: 80 million retail customers
Since its launch in 2015, Revolut has expanded into more than 40 countries and attracted over 80 million retail customers. No other digital bank combines this country coverage with banking licences across most regions. The UK and Europe still generate about 96% of its fee and commission income, although income from the rest of the world grew 175% in 2025.
“GlobalData notes that foreign expansion has previously damaged digital banks at home. After expanding into 25 markets, N26 struggled with compliance, prompting Germany’s regulator to cap its new sign-ups at 50,000 monthly between 2021 and 2024 over anti-money-laundering weaknesses, which slowed domestic growth and cut its valuation by roughly two-thirds. Similarly, while loss-making in the UK, Monzo withdrew its US banking licence application in 2021 ahead of a signalled rejection, alongside Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) scrutiny over financial-crime controls that led to a £21m fine in 2024. Although Revolut has repeatedly faced UK and EU regulatory attention, the consequences have been far smaller.
“Other banks’ experience shows that compliance controls must scale along with expansion into new markets, or regulators intervene at home. Foreign units that lack scale also take up management attention and capital without contributing profit. Revolut has so far avoided these problems because it has achieved profitability before it expanded significantly, which gives it room to absorb setbacks abroad. However, financial-crime compliance remains the main regulatory risk to its expansion.
“Revolut is less exposed to interest-rate changes because fees generate more than three-quarters of its revenue, compared with about half for N26 and just over a quarter for Monzo. Its low loan-to-deposit ratio also means its earnings depend little on bad-debt cycles. Unlike N26, whose platform is largely confined to Europe, and Monzo, which remains UK-focused, Revolut runs a single product platform across all its markets, so each new country adds revenue at little extra cost.
GlobalData Q2 2026 consumer survey
“Customer sentiment in Revolut’s core markets remains strong. GlobalData’s Q2 2026 consumer survey, conducted among 66,333 consumers aged 18+ in 48 markets globally, shows Revolut has the third-highest net promoter score (NPS) among UK banks, behind Nationwide and First Direct. Its NPS rose 19% year on year, the largest increase of any major UK bank. Revolut also leads NPS rankings in Italy and France, and its score in Spain is above the market average. Strong customer loyalty in its core markets and sound financial management so far give Revolut a solid base for continued international expansion.”
