Revolut is stepping up its challenge to traditional banks by targeting FTSE 250 companies as part of an aggressive expansion into corporate banking. The UK fintech is looking beyond its established retail customer base and smaller businesses, aiming to win larger corporate relationships from banks such as Barclays, HSBC, NatWest and Lloyds.
The move comes as Revolut tries to build its business division into a much larger contributor to revenue. The company currently has around 800,000 business customers globally and has set a target of reaching 1 million by 2027.
Revolut Wants a Bigger Share of Business Banking
Revolut Business already provides current accounts, payment services and corporate debit cards. Its customers include companies such as Booking.com and Barry’s Bootcamp.
However, the fintech has historically had less penetration among larger businesses. One reason has been its limited ability to provide credit products, an important part of corporate banking relationships.
That constraint has started to change.
Revolut received a full UK banking licence in March after a lengthy regulatory process. The licence gives the company greater scope to develop lending products and compete more directly with established banks.
For Revolut, the opportunity is significant. Larger companies tend to maintain multiple banking relationships covering payments, working capital, foreign exchange, credit and treasury services. Winning even a portion of those relationships could generate substantially more revenue per customer than Revolut’s traditional retail business.
Business Banking Is Becoming a Larger Revenue Driver
Revolut’s business division generated 16% of the company’s £4.5 billion revenue in 2025, with revenue from the unit increasing 53% year over year.
That growth provides a foundation for the company’s next phase.
Rather than simply adding more small-business accounts, Revolut now wants to move further up the corporate market. Its strategy is to use its technology infrastructure and digital customer experience to challenge banks that have traditionally depended on long-standing corporate relationships.
That will not be easy.
Large companies typically require sophisticated credit facilities, treasury management, risk controls and highly reliable payment infrastructure. Traditional banks have spent decades developing those capabilities and maintaining relationships with corporate finance teams.
Lending Will Be a More Difficult Test
Credit could become one of the biggest tests of Revolut’s corporate strategy.
The company has indicated that it plans to expand lending cautiously rather than immediately attempt to replicate the balance sheets of major UK banks. It is also hiring specialists from traditional banking institutions to strengthen its corporate-credit capabilities.
That approach reflects the complexity of moving from payments into lending.
Providing a corporate account or payment card is relatively straightforward compared with underwriting a large business loan. Banks must evaluate cash flows, collateral, industry exposure, repayment capacity and broader credit risk.
Revolut’s technology could make parts of the process more efficient, but technology alone does not eliminate the underlying financial risks.
Traditional Banks Face a New Kind of Competition
Revolut’s expansion is another sign that competition in banking is increasingly coming from companies that were not originally built as conventional banks.
Its retail success has already demonstrated that customers are willing to move financial relationships to digital-first providers. The corporate market, however, is a considerably more difficult arena.
If Revolut can successfully combine its digital infrastructure with the credit, treasury and financial-management services demanded by larger businesses, it could begin taking a more meaningful share of the corporate banking market.
The company’s push toward FTSE 250 customers therefore represents more than another customer-acquisition campaign. It is an attempt to move Revolut from being primarily a digital challenger bank into a broader competitor to the UK’s largest financial institutions.
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