Future Of British Business
Nik Storonsky has been held up in his hunt for a U.K. banking license —a crucial part of his plan to create global finance’s No. 1“superapp.”
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Nikolay Storonsky, once a championship swimmer in his native Russia, doesn’t like to hang around in the slow lane. His $33 billion fintech Revolut Inc. has a neon sign in the office telling staff to “Get sh*t Done.”
It was in this spirit that the 37-year-old buttonholed U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak at a London event in February. Revolut has applied for a British banking license, a crucial step in its plan to become a globe-spanning financial “superapp.” It already offers money transfers, store purchases, share trading and pet insurance. A license would add protected U.K. current accounts with overdrafts and loans, the backbone of any grownup bank.
