Revolut and Nationwide sharpen swords in battle to bank Britain
The claws are out in the battle to bank Britain and in this week’s column Samuel Norman takes a look at the latest shots fired from Revolut and Nationwide.
If you had ‘Graham Norton sitting on a horse’ on your banking bingo card, congratulations.
The BBC chat show host has swapped his famous sofa with a more equine-shaped seat in a TV appearance already sparking chatter among the upper echelons of the banking sphere.
But take a closer look and beyond the Irish comedian’s witty jokes and flaunting of his mobile app, the herd of black stallions surrounding him offer a clear and cunning message.
Indeed, the five-time BAFTA award winner is holding an app that doesn’t belong to Lloyds, famous for its iconic horse logo. Instead, Norton is re-introducing Revolut to the British consumer in its final form as a fully-fledged banking rival.
As he trots away on his obedient brown steed, Norton quips “it’s a metaphor” leaving the several black horses – a nod to the name of Lloyds motor finance lender – behind.
It took Nik Storonsky’s $75bn titan just under a week from clinching its licence to ramping up the game of financial fisticuffs to lure banking customers. The sly dig has left the fintech superfans of social media salivating as Revolut fired the starting gun on its ambitious plans post-licence.
In a revealing LinkedIn post, Tobi Fink, who steers brand activation at Revolut, said the fintech opted to “gently poke” at the “big, emotional promises” made by banks.
But it isn’t the only firm going on the offensive in the battle to bank Britain.
Nationwide has pulled away from the keyboard and taken a swing at Lloyds for apparently leaving customers behind. Walking down my own high street, I was met with a rallying call in the window of Britain’s biggest building society’s branch: “Lloyds is leaving Streatham. Maybe it’s time you left Lloyds.”
Of course, it is no surprise the big four giant, the largest retail and commercial bank in the UK, is a target for these attacks.
Revolut and Nationwide aim for the top dog
Revolut already has around 13m customers in the UK, within touching distance of the 16m Nationwide clocked after its takeover of Virgin Money, while Lloyds boasts over 28m users in the UK. So when the challengers aim for disruption, it is no wonder they target the top dog – or horse.
And for the bank that likes to call itself the “front runner,” it may feel no need to buck at the ponies in the dust.
The traditional bankers would of course like to shrug off the mud thrown at them from the disruptors.
Last summer, fintech challenger Zopa paraded through London with two giant boxes on the back of a lorry that were filled with biscuits, comparing the value of saving with Santander’s ‘Everyday’ product and Zopa’s new ‘Biscuit’ account.
“Don’t settle for crumbs,” a sign on the truck said. I recall a conversation with a senior big four banker at the time who described the stunt as a “nibble” at the traditional incumbents as opposed to something they were genuinely threatened by.
But is the cookie slowly crumbling for the traditional giants?
The numbers do tell a story: those going on the offensive are gaining ground.
The current account switching service from Pay.UK reveals of the three quarters thus far accounted for in 2025 Lloyds shed over 17,000 users, with a net loss in each quarter.
Meanwhile, Nationwide has reigned supreme in the switching battle gaining over 40,000 in the third-quarter alone. Monzo, which has often framed its branding around challenging the legacy banks, scored second gaining around 10,000.
Armed with its banking licence, Revolut is expected to make its debut on the rankings in the coming months as speculation ramps up of a “deposit war” with the incumbents.
Revolut’s triumphant arrival will also overlap with Lloyds’ tech blunder in early March, which left a number of users seeing rogue transactions across their mobile banking apps. The escapade even prompted the high priest of personal finance himself, Lord Martin of the Holy Money Saving Expert, to issue an immediate statement calling for struggling customers to get in touch.
Going by past records, the incident signals an exodus on the horizon after outages at Barclays and Santander left each losing customers. And the commotion opens yet another area for the disruptors to go on the offensive – not least for a bank that positions itself as ‘Britain’s biggest digital banking group.’
Perhaps it’s time the chiefs of the big four pull out their cheque books to strengthen their marketing team’s artillery – if only to stem the outflow.