Revolut receives conditional license to establish bank in Israel

The Bank of Israel granted Revolut a conditional license to set up Bank Revolut Israel, the third new bank license since 2019. The fintech firm, serving over 80 million customers globally, must complete regulatory and operational steps before launching. CEO Uri Nathan will lead the bank.

The Bank of Israel today (Tuesday) granted the Revolut group a conditional license to establish a bank in Israel, to be called "Revolut Bank Israel (under establishment)", as well as a control permit for the controlling shareholder Nikolay Storonsky. The license is the third granted to a new bank in Israel since December 2019, after about four decades without a new bank. The start of operations depends on meeting supervisory requirements, and the banking supervision will accompany the establishment and examine compliance with milestones. The bank will be managed by Uri Natan, former CEO of Pepper, and chairman Shmuel (Muli) Ben Zvi. Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron said the contacts began on his initiative in late 2022 in London, and that "the royal road to increasing competition is by bringing in additional players." Banking Supervisor Danny Hahiashvili saw the entry as a potential to expand competition. The article notes that Revolut serves more than 80 million customers worldwide, and that it is expanding recruitment in Israel.