Revolut has cleared the primary hurdle to open a full financial institution in Colombia. The British fintech gained authorization to ascertain “Revolut Bank Colombia S.A.” — the primary of two approvals it wants earlier than taking deposits and issuing playing cards.
The firm has earmarked roughly COP 146 billion (about €32 million) to construct native techniques and employees, and is aiming for a 2026 launch.
That’s the information. The story behind it’s bigger than one license. Colombia runs a deliberate, two-stage regime for brand new banks: first, permission to type; later, an working license as soon as regulators see working controls, capital, and buyer protections.
By getting into that pipeline now, Revolut is betting that Colombia’s monetary market — already snug with app-based companies — is prepared for extra competitors on charges, velocity, and person expertise.
Why Colombia? Because it sits on the middle of a fast-digitizing area the place on a regular basis cash jobs nonetheless really feel laborious and costly: getting paid, paying payments, transferring cash to pals or household overseas, and maintaining financial savings in a single place.
Local gamers have primed the market — Lulo Bank as a licensed digital financial institution, and Nu and RappiPay as financing corporations — so Revolut doesn’t have to show Colombians how one can financial institution on a telephone. It must be higher.
Why Revolut’s Colombia Entry Matters Beyond the Region
This transfer additionally completes a Latin America backbone. Revolut launched in Brazil in 2023, secured a banking license in Mexico in 2024, and has introduced plans to construct in Argentina.
Add Colombia, and you’ve got a four-market footprint that traces up with the area’s largest shopper economies and busiest cross-border flows.
If Revolut delivers the fundamentals — immediate transfers between customers, clear pricing, strong playing cards and financial savings — clients and small companies ought to really feel it shortly.
Globally, Revolut already operates throughout the European Union and in main markets from the UK to the US and Asia-Pacific. But Latin America is the place the corporate can nonetheless change habits at scale.
That’s why this issues past Colombia: a reputable, low-friction various nudges incumbents to chop prices and lift service requirements, and it offers regulators an opportunity to indicate that sturdy oversight and monetary innovation can advance collectively.
