Revolut

Is Revolut safe?

Mostly yes, if you understand where your money sits. Revolut is now a licensed bank in the UK, Lithuania and France, it is profitable, and it keeps most of its balance sheet in cash and government bonds. But a Revolut app can hold four very different things: bank deposits, safeguardedSafeguardingThe legal duty of payment and e-money firms to keep customer money separate from their own, so it can be returned if the firm fails.More in the glossary e-moneyE-moneyMoney held as a stored balance with a payment firm rather than as a bank deposit. It is safeguarded, not covered by deposit insurance.More in the glossary, investment funds and crypto. Only the first is covered by deposit insuranceDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary. We score it 65/100, below the big banks on this site, because protection is less straightforward and the company has no credit ratings and no crisis record.

Which Revolut holds your money

Where you live	Entity	What protects your balance
UK, account moved to the bank	Revolut Bank UK Ltd	FSCSDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary, £120,000 per person
UK, account not yet moved	Revolut Ltd (e-money institutionE-moneyMoney held as a stored balance with a payment firm rather than as a bank deposit. It is safeguarded, not covered by deposit insurance.More in the glossary)	SafeguardingSafeguardingThe legal duty of payment and e-money firms to keep customer money separate from their own, so it can be returned if the firm fails.More in the glossary, no FSCS
EEA (e.g. Ireland, France, Spain)	Revolut Bank UAB, Lithuania, often via local branches	Lithuanian deposit guarantee, €100,000
France, then Germany, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain, once moved	Revolut Bank S.A., Paris	French scheme FGDR, €100,000
United States	Partner banks	Pass-through FDIC cover via the partner bank, on eligible balances

The UK story has been slow. Revolut applied for a UK banking licence in 2021 and got one with restrictions in July 2024, the "mobilisation" stage during which a new bank can hold only limited deposits. It took about 20 months, much longer than usual, before the Prudential Regulation Authority let it exit on 11 March 2026. Revolut then said it would move its 13 million UK customers from the e-money company to the bank in batches, with at least two months' notice each.

Safeguarding is not the same as insurance. E-money firms must keep customers' money in segregated accounts or covered by insurance or a bank guarantee. If the firm fails, an administrator returns that money, which can take time and can involve costs, and there is no government-backed payout. Stricter FCA rules in force since 7 May 2026 require e-money firms such as Revolut Ltd to reconcile safeguarded money every working day, keep a resolution pack so funds can be returned faster after a failure, report monthly to the FCA and, for larger firms, have an annual safeguarding audit. That makes shortfalls less likely, but it does not turn e-money into an insured deposit.

In the EU the structure is changing too. On 10 August 2026 Revolut Bank S.A., a French company, received a full banking licence after a joint review by the ACPR and the European Central Bank. Revolut says it will move customers to the French bank in phases, France first, then Germany, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain, while Revolut Bank UAB keeps the rest of the EEA. The limit stays €100,000 either way, but the paying scheme becomes France's FGDR instead of Lithuania's, so check which bank your account details name after any notice. Outside Europe, the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency gave conditional approval for a Revolut national bank on 3 September 2026; until it opens, planned for 2027, US balances sit with partner banks. Revolut also applied for a Swiss banking licence in September 2026.

Money market funds and crypto

Many Revolut users keep savings in Flexible Cash Funds. These are money market funds, investments in short-term, low-risk assets. They are not deposits, so neither the FSCSDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary nor the Lithuanian scheme covers them, and their value can fall. Crypto and shares are not deposits either. Shares are held by separate Revolut brokerage companies with their own investor compensation (£85,000 FSCS in the UK, €22,000 in the EEA); see our Revolut trading page.

Capital and liquidity

Revolut's 2025 annual report shows revenue of $6.0 billion and a profit before tax of $2.3 billion, with customer balances up 66% to £50.2 billion. Its regulatory capital rose to £4.9 billion, all of it CET1CET1 ratioA bank's highest-quality capital (mainly shares and retained profits) as a share of its risk-weighted assets. Higher means more room to absorb losses.More in the glossary, from £2.6 billion a year earlier, and the company says this is comfortably above requirements. It does not publish a group CET1 ratio in the annual report, and no major agency rates it.

On liquidity, Revolut looks very safe on paper. About 90% of its assets were cash and high-quality bonds, and loans were only £2.2 billion. The risk is behaviour. Digital deposits can leave in minutes, as Silicon Valley Bank showed in 2023, and Revolut has never been through a run.

Conduct and fraud

In April 2025 the Bank of Lithuania fined Revolut Bank UAB €3.5 million, the central bank's largest fine to date, for weaknesses in monitoring business relationships and transactions. It found no confirmed money laundering. In April 2026 Italy's competition and consumer authority (AGCM) fined Revolut Bank UAB and Revolut Group Holdings €5 million because customers were cut off from their accounts for long or open-ended periods, without proper notice or help, and €1.5 million for unclear information on getting an Italian IBAN. A separate €5 million fine concerned the investment arm (see Revolut trading). In September 2022 a social-engineering attack gave a hacker access to data on about 50,150 customers. In September 2026 Revolut confirmed that it had answered fraudulent data requests sent from an email address of a real government agency, reportedly a hijacked Italian state account. It warned about 680 customers that identity documents, verification selfies, addresses and phone numbers may have been exposed, and said its systems and customers' funds were not affected. Expect targeted phishing if you were one of them. Since October 2024 UK payment firms, including Revolut, must usually reimburse authorised push payment fraud victims up to £85,000.

How to use Revolut safely

1. In the app, check the legal entity named in your account details and terms. If you are in the UK and still on Revolut Ltd, your balance is e-moneyE-moneyMoney held as a stored balance with a payment firm rather than as a bank deposit. It is safeguarded, not covered by deposit insurance.More in the glossary, not an FSCS-protectedDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary deposit.
2. Keep large savings in deposit accounts at the bank entity, under £120,000 in the UK or €100,000 in the EEA. Remember that Flexible Cash Funds and crypto are not covered.
3. Turn on in-app payment approval and biometric login, and use disposable virtual cards for online shopping.
4. Never move money because someone calling as Revolut, your bank or the police tells you to. Revolut support works through the in-app chat.
5. Keep an account at a second bank such as Barclays or ING in case your Revolut account is frozen for a compliance check.

How we scored it

Liquidity (80) is Revolut's strongest factor. Capital (62) is the weakest because there are no ratings or published group ratio, and deposit protectionDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary (66) is held back by the split between banks, e-moneyE-moneyMoney held as a stored balance with a payment firm rather than as a bank deposit. It is safeguarded, not covered by deposit insurance.More in the glossary, funds and crypto. Digital security (63) reflects the 2022 breach, the 2026 leak of identity documents to fake government requests and scam exposure.