Major roadblock for Revolut’s "Global Super App" ambitions 👀; Coinbase results were poor 😕 (but there’s huge upside nobody’s talking about); Google’s new feature that just killed a 100 FinTechs 🤯

Good Morning FinTech, 13 May

Good morning Everyone,

And happy Friday! The week is almost over but don’t relax just yet as today’s 3 FinTech stories are like a cherry on top of this week’s chocolate cake 🍒 Major roadblock for Revolut’s Super App plans, Coinbase’s huge upside many are missing and Google’s new feature that just killed hundreds of FinTechs (+ lots of funding news), that’s something you cannot miss today. So let’s go:

A major roadblock for Revolut’s Global Super App ambitions 👀

The news 🗞 UK-headquartered Revolut is one of the most valuable private FinTechs, which is on a quest to create the No. 1 Global Finance Super App. Having over 18 million customers globally, it sure is at a good pace to achieve if there wouldn’t be one BUT.

And that but is the UK banking license, which is the critical piece missing for the $33B FinTech giant to achieve the global super app status. According to various sources, its crypto approach and the war in Ukraine have stopped the process from moving forward.

More on this 👉 One can remember that back in 2015, Revolut began as a prepaid card offering low-cost foreign-exchange fees. The company then quickly expanded its product and service offerings and branched out geographically. While Revolut already offers money transfers, store purchases, share trading, and pet insurance in the UK, it’s still not a bank in its home market. And banking license would add protected UK current accounts with overdrafts and loans, which are the backbone of any grownup bank.

In search for compliance 🔎 If you are in the FinTech business, compliance should be at the backbone of everything that you do. If you are a bank, this becomes even more important. This is exactly what Revolut is being challenged for right now.

In short, the British regulators want to be sure that Revolut has the proper compliance and risk-management capabilities to avoid any stumbles of other finance challengers, especially given that it works with cryptos and a new vigilance around any Russian-linked businesses hasn’t helped (hint: Revolut CEO’s Ukraine-born father, Nikolay Mironovich Storonsky, is a director at Gazprom Promgaz OAO, a division of the Russian gas giant). On top of that, Revolut also wants a US license though a person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg the Americans are unlikely to oblige until the British situation is resolved.

And this is tough because without these licenses the Global Super App ambition might fade away. Here’s the takeaway: