Digital bank Revolut is reportedly engaged in discussions with the UK’s financial regulator regarding potential failures that enabled funds to be released from customer accounts identified by the National Crime Agency as suspicious. This latest development is now part of several issues that impact the Fintech firm as it is still expecting its UK banking license.
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority, which monitors Revolut’s payments unit, is currently holding talks with the company, with the added support of the NCA, regarding the supposed failures that took place during July and August of this year. This, according to a report from FT, which cited sources familiar with the issue.
Around £1.7 million had been transacted from the flagged financial accounts, the sources claimed. As reported by the FT, Revolut informed the FCA of the issue during the past few weeks, however, the source(s) says that around £500,000 had actually been transferred.
The NCA may limit the activities of accounts due to suspicions of illicit activities like money laundering or illegal forms of finance, in an effort to enable law enforcement agencies to carry out a probe prior to additional money being transferred.
It’s worth noting that Revolut’s controls against financial crime have been overseen by regulators across the globe. However, there are certain concerns as they relate to an apparent flaw or failure in the Fintech firm’s payments solution, which enabled US bad actors to steal over $20 million.
The most recent UK issue has been revealed as talks are ongoing regarding Revolut’s nearly 2-and-a-half-year-old application for the banking license it requires to support its business growth.
After claiming that the UK license would be issued quite soon back in March 2023, Revolut noted that it will not comment on license applications for now.
The Fintech firm’s management said:
“As a global financial institution, we work closely with regulators around the world, ensuring that we maintain strong governance and compliance practices across our business. Since our founding in 2015, Revolut has obtained over 70 licences across a range of financial services and we are constantly building on this to ensure our 30m+ customers can continue to use our industry-leading products with trust and confidence.”
Established by Nik Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko to streamline the cross-border payments ecosystem, the Fintech has expanded its services to include crypto trading, savings products, wealth management as well as banking for SMEs.
Notably, Revolut recently confirmed that its 2022 accounts will be postponed until the end of December 2023.