What's the difference between an e-money licence and a UK bank licence?
Revolut currently has an Electronic Money (e-money) licence in the UK, and we are required to safeguard customer balances in line with the Electronic Money Regulations 2011. As a result, UK Revolut customers have e-money accounts without Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) protection, unlike UK bank accounts, which do offer this protection.
We've recently received our UK banking licence with restrictions and will be entering a 'mobilisation' or 'authorised with restrictions' period, a common regulatory stage for many new banks. During this phase, UK customer accounts will remain as e-money accounts. Our team will notify customers in advance when we plan to move from an e-money licence to a full banking licence. We'll also share what the next steps in the process will be for existing Revolut e-money accounts to become UK bank accounts.
Please note, money in Revolut savings accounts is held with partner banks. Eligible deposits with these banks have FSCS protection up to £85,000 per bank.