Revolut’s UK lending expansion faces PRA governance review as bank plans to sell loans
Oct. 27, 2026 • Article • Banking & Payments
Revolut’s expansion into UK consumer lending is facing closer regulatory scrutiny. The Financial Times reported on October 27, 2026, that the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority had ordered a Section 166 skilled-person review of the bank’s product approval processes and internal risk governance. The review comes as Revolut offers unsecured personal loans and prepares to introduce a domestic credit card, with mortgages planned later.
Revolut UK CEO Francesca Carlesi has said the bank intends to package and sell loans through securitisation rather than retain substantial long-term credit exposure. Revolut is targeting a loan-to-deposit ratio of roughly 6%, far below the roughly 100% typical of incumbent British high-street banks. The strategy could support lending growth while limiting loans held on its balance sheet, but it does not eliminate credit risk. S&P Global has cited the possibility of higher credit losses as Revolut expands lending across multiple jurisdictions.
Revolut’s push into UK consumer lending is drawing regulatory scrutiny as the bank tries to expand credit without building a large loan book. The Financial Times reported on October 27, 2026, that the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) had issued a Section 166 skilled-person review order examining Revolut’s product approval processes and internal risk governance.
The review comes as Revolut offers unsecured personal loans and prepares a domestic credit card. It also puts attention on the bank’s proposed approach to lending: Revolut UK CEO Francesca Carlesi has said it plans to package and sell loans rather than retain substantial long-term credit exposure. A review of governance is not, by itself, a finding that the bank’s controls have failed. It does, however, make those controls a central issue as Revolut adds credit products.
Lending growth with a smaller loan book
Revolut’s unsecured personal loans range from £2,000 to £25,000, with annual percentage rates of 6.9% to 29.3% and repayment terms of one to five years. The range of rates matters because borrowers taking the same type of product may face substantially different borrowing costs. For Revolut, offering the loans also means making decisions about creditworthiness and managing the risk that borrowers do not repay.
Carlesi has said Revolut plans to offload credit risk by packaging and selling loans through securitisation. In broad terms, securitisation turns a pool of loans into assets that can be sold to investors, transferring exposure associated with those loans rather than keeping every loan for its full term. The stated plan concerns how Revolut intends to manage lending as it grows; it should not be read as confirmation that the bank has already sold these UK loans.
Revolut aims to keep its loan-to-deposit ratio at roughly 6%, compared with ratios of roughly 100% typical of incumbent British high-street banks. That ratio compares the size of a bank’s lending book with its deposits. The contrast illustrates the balance-sheet model Revolut is seeking: a larger consumer-credit business without holding loans on the scale that traditional banks commonly do relative to deposits.
Selling loans would not remove the need for sound underwriting. Revolut still has to assess applicants when it originates credit. Because it lacks decades of proprietary data on borrower behaviour, it is supplementing automated underwriting algorithms with information purchased from external data providers. The quality of those decisions is relevant whether a loan remains on Revolut’s balance sheet or is eventually sold.
Product plans widen the governance test
Revolut UK has confirmed that it is actively preparing to launch a domestic credit card in the near future, followed by an eventual move into UK residential mortgages. Those are plans, not completed launches. Each additional product would broaden the decisions covered by product approval and risk oversight, the areas identified in the reported PRA review.
The expansion follows Revolut’s receipt of a full UK banking licence in March 2026. The PRA had granted authorisation with restrictions in July 2024, before Revolut completed its mobilisation period. The licence gives context to the bank’s domestic lending ambitions, while the reported review shows that supervisory attention to governance continues as its product range develops.
Revolut is also broadening what it offers retail customers beyond lending. It has unveiled a partnership with asset management company Carne that would allow them to invest in private technology companies. That initiative is distinct from consumer credit, but it adds to the range of products for which approval processes and oversight matter.
Rating highlights the credit question
On October 22, S&P Global assigned Revolut Ltd a BBB+ long-term issuer credit rating with a positive outlook. The agency also cited a risk that rapid lending growth across multiple jurisdictions could lead to higher credit losses over the next two to three years. Its assessment does not say those losses will occur; it identifies a risk accompanying expansion.
The commercial reason for the UK credit push is clear in the research: Revolut wants to raise average revenue per customer, a measure on which it trails traditional lenders including NatWest, Lloyds, Barclays and HSBC. Its scale offers an existing customer base for new products. Revolut serves 14 million UK users among more than 80 million customers globally.
The question is whether Revolut can turn that reach into a broader lending business while maintaining the low loan-to-deposit ratio it is targeting. Its proposed securitisation approach addresses how much credit exposure it intends to retain. The PRA’s reported review, and S&P Global’s warning about potential losses, focus attention on another part of the strategy: how reliably Revolut approves products and assesses credit as lending grows.
Revolut’s expansion into UK consumer lending is facing closer regulatory scrutiny. The Financial Times reported on October 27, 2026, that the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority had ordered a Section 166 skilled-person review of the bank’s product approval processes and internal risk governance. The review comes as Revolut offers unsecured personal loans and prepares to introduce a domestic credit card, with mortgages planned later. Revolut UK CEO Francesca Carlesi has said the bank intends to package and sell loans through securitisation rather than retain substantial long-term credit exposure. Revolut is targeting a loan-to-deposit ratio of roughly 6%, far below the roughly 100% typical of incumbent British high-street banks. The strategy could support lending growth while limiting loans held on its balance sheet, but it does not eliminate credit risk. S&P Global has cited the possibility of higher credit losses as Revolut expands lending across multiple jurisdictions.
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