Revolut Wins Conditional Banking Licence in Israel
The Bank of Israel has granted Revolut a conditional licence and a control permit for Revolut Bank Israel, the third new bank approved since December 2019.
Revolut has secured a conditional banking licence from the Bank of Israel, moving the UK fintech closer to operating a bank in the country. The central bank also issued a control permit for the proposed entity, Revolut Bank Israel.
The approval comes with strings attached. Revolut Bank Israel must satisfy regulatory, technology and operational requirements before it can begin operations, and the Bank of Israel will supervise that work before the remaining restrictions on the licence are removed.
Shmuel (Molly) Ben-Zvi will chair Revolut Bank Israel, with Uri Nathan serving as chief executive.
The licence is the third granted to a new bank in Israel since December 2019, following roughly four decades in which no new entrants joined the sector. The Bank of Israel has framed its approval process as a way to raise competition among lenders.
For Revolut, the permit turns a long-flagged market entry into a supervised build-out with a named local leadership team. For Israeli borrowers and depositors, a third new licence in six years is a modest but measurable shift in a market long dominated by a small group of banks.
