(Bloomberg) -- Revolut Ltd. is seeking licenses to start operating in the Middle East as the London fintech hunts for growth beyond its home market.
The firm has submitted applications to the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates to become an electronic-money institution and offer remittances in the country, according to people familiar with the matter. The goal, the people said, is to eventually apply for a full banking license, similar to the one it recently received from regulators in the UK after years of work.
A spokesperson for Revolut declined to comment, while a representative for the UAE’s central bank did not respond to requests for comment.
With 9 million customers in the UK, Revolut already has three times as many customers compared with rivals like Metro Bank Holdings Plc, which has branches across the country. But the push into the UAE is the latest sign that Revolut — which has begun operating in countries as far away as Mexico, Brazil and New Zealand in recent months — will have to count on geographic expansion as it tries to get its app in the hands of more customers.
Office Expansion
Revolut first set up an office in the United Arab Emirates in 2022 and now has a workforce of 140 housed in offices in the Dubai International Financial Center. In many cases, early staffers in the city were those who were displaced from the company’s offices in Ukraine after Russia’s invasion of the country in 2022.
Nik Storonsky, Revolut’s billionaire chief executive officer who frequently visits Dubai, has long espoused goals of expanding into the Gulf. For years, though, it has not been possible for UAE residents to open an account because Revolut lacked the requisite licenses.
In addition to its plans to expand its operations in the UAE, Revolut is also looking at ways to expand in neighboring Saudi Arabia, the people familiar with the matter said.
“We want to build a truly global bank,” Storonsky said at the Dubai Fintech Summit in May.
The London-headquartered digital bank is now hunting for a head of finance to join its team in the UAE, according to a job posting seen by Bloomberg. The company is hoping to hire someone for the role with at least 10 years of experience in finance functions and knowledge of local tax regulations.
The company is also searching for a head of legal for the region and has open roles in Dubai in compliance, engineering, crypto and product, according to the job listings.
Trade Flows
With its plans to expand in the UAE, Revolut is targeting a country where expatriates far outnumber Emirati nationals. It’s also grown to become one of the top spots for remittances, according to a recent report from the Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion.
The upstart’s latest plans come as ministers in its home market have sought to entice the UAE — which is home to nearly $2 trillion in sovereign wealth — to invest more in British projects and expand a free trade deal with the six Gulf nations that form the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Revolut executives have previously attended diplomatic events with UK lawmakers hoping to make inroads with those countries, according to people familiar with the matter.
It wouldn’t be the first time Revolut took a note from the UK’s efforts to expand its trade agreements with other countries as it sought to establish ties in new geographies.
In November, officials from both the UK and Mexico were hammering out ways to expand their trading relationship. Soon after, Revolut announced it obtained its banking license in Mexico.
The firm is also planning to expand in India, another strategic market for the UK’s trade plans.
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