The Bank of Israel on Tuesday granted global fintech company Revolut a conditional license to establish a bank in Israel, a move aimed at increasing competition in a market long dominated by five large banking groups.
Governor Prof. Amir Yaron and Banking Supervisor Daniel Hahiashvili announced the approval of “Bank Revolut Israel (in formation)” after a comprehensive review by the Banking Supervision Department and consultation with the Licensing Committee. Alongside the conditional license, the governor issued a control permit to representatives of Revolut’s controlling shareholder, Nikolay Storonsky.
The approval does not yet allow the bank to begin offering services to the public. Revolut must first complete its regulatory, technological and operational preparations and meet milestones set by the Banking Supervision Department before the license takes effect and its restrictions are lifted. No launch date, service plans or fees have been announced.
Yaron said he traveled to London at the end of 2022 to meet Revolut’s leadership, when it was still a relatively small company, to persuade them to enter the Israeli market. “Completing the licensing review today closes the circle,” he said. He called the company’s investment “an expression of confidence in Israel’s economy, its banking system and its supervision,” and said additional players are already in the process of entering the banking system.
Hahiashvili described Revolut as a “global, profitable and growing” financial group and said its entry has the potential to expand competition and increase the range of financial products and services available to Israeli consumers and businesses.
The Israeli bank will be headed by CEO Uri Nathan, former head of Pepper, Bank Leumi’s digital banking platform. Its chairman is Dr. Shmuel (Muli) Ben Zvi, a former chairman of Bank Leumi. “Our goal is to create real competition in Israel’s banking market through a world-class digital financial services environment,” Nathan said.
Revolut is the third new bank to receive a license in Israel since 2019, after a period of roughly four decades in which no new banks were established. The first was the digital bank One Zero, controlled by Amnon Shashua, which received its license in 2019 and is already operating. The second was Esh Bank, licensed in December 2022, which currently opens accounts by invitation only.
Founded in the United Kingdom in 2015, Revolut serves more than 80 million customers worldwide. A share sale completed earlier this month valued the company at $115 billion. It already holds a license to provide payment services in Israel, granted in July 2025, but has not yet begun serving Israeli customers. Earlier this month, the company changed the name of its Israeli subsidiary from Revolut Payments Israel to Bank Revolut Israel (in formation).
The approval comes as Revolut faces regulatory scrutiny in Europe. The European Central Bank has restricted the company from launching new products in the European Economic Area, citing weaknesses in risk controls, and required it to appoint an independent third party to review its risk management. In September, Revolut confirmed that sensitive customer information was exposed to an unauthorized party after it received fraudulent requests sent from a legitimate government email domain. The company said customer funds and its systems were not affected and that it maintains an ongoing dialogue with regulators.
