Revolut’s triumph reminds us what British tech sector is capable of
There hasn’t been much good news around lately – between the UK’s miserable growth trajectory, war in the Middle East and the whiff of decay in Downing Street, it’s been hard to find the optimism.
But when something genuinely impressive happens in British business, it’s worth pausing to take notice. And this week we had exactly that.
After years of scrutiny and regulatory wrangling, Revolut has finally secured its UK banking licence. On one level, it’s just another regulatory milestone on a long and interesting journey. On another, it marks the moment when an insurgent fintech disruptor becomes something much bigger: a fully-fledged bank in its home market.
For a company that began less than a decade ago with a simple travel card and a bold idea about how finance could work differently, it’s an extraordinary achievement.
The numbers alone are remarkable. Revolut now serves tens of millions of customers globally, processes billions in transactions, and has evolved from a payments app into a sprawling financial platform offering everything from savings and investments to crypto trading and business banking. Along the way it has become one of the most valuable fintech companies in the world with a $75bn valuation.
A corrective to the doom-loop narrative
That transformation hasn’t always been smooth. Like many high-growth tech firms, Revolut has faced questions about governance, culture and regulation. That’s what happens when you’re building the plane as it taxis on the runway. Well now it’s taken off. And we should recognise the sheer scale of what it has built.
At a time when Britain is suffering from a doom-loop narrative – a narrative I know I contribute to – Revolut stands out as a reminder that this country can still produce world-class technology companies. In fact, Revolut tells us something important about the potential of the UK tech sector. Britain has many of the ingredients required to produce global technology champions.
We have world-leading universities, deep pools of talent, sophisticated financial markets and a long tradition of entrepreneurial risk-taking. And every so often a company emerges that brings those ingredients together in spectacular fashion – and Revolut is one of them.
It joins a small but significant group of British technology firms that have achieved global scale — companies like Arm, Darktrace and Wise — showing that the UK can compete at the highest level of the digital economy.
Can we keep hold of our fast-growth firms?
Which brings us to the slightly uncomfortable question. An uncomfortable reality, in fact. Arm opted for a US listing over the UK. Darktrace was taken private by US private equity and Wise has one foot out the door with its dual US listing.
If Revolut eventually lists on the stock market, where will that listing take place? The honest answer is that it probably won’t be London. For fast-growing technology firms, New York remains a far deeper and more liquid market, with a larger pool of specialist investors and typically higher valuations.
From the company’s perspective, listing in the US may simply be a case of commercial good sense. But from Britain’s perspective, the prospect of yet another home-grown technology success story choosing to list elsewhere is difficult to ignore.
Public markets play a critical role in financing growth companies, creating wealth and ensuring that successful firms remain connected to the domestic economy. If Britain consistently produces innovative companies but fails to host their listings, we risk becoming a place where great businesses are born but not owned.
That is why policymakers and regulators have spent the past few years trying to revitalise the London Stock Exchange — reforming listing rules, encouraging pension funds to invest more in growth companies and attempting to rebuild the pipeline of IPOs. Revolut’s eventual decision will be another test of whether those efforts are working.
A moment to celebrate
For now, though, the bigger story is the success itself. Whatever happens with a future IPO, Revolut represents a remarkable British business story.
A startup launched in London has grown into a global financial platform serving millions of customers and challenging some of the most established institutions in banking. Armed with its banking licence it can stand alongside the high street giants in the lending and mortgage market. That is something worth acknowledging and celebrating – even if for the UK’s traditional banks it’s a moment that suggests their dominance cannot be taken for granted.
Revolut’s success also reminds us that when the conditions are right, Britain is still capable of producing companies that reshape entire industries. And in a week dominated by economic pessimism, that is a message worth remembering.