UK based fintech Revolut is preparing to make a big splash in the Australian lending market after securing a full credit licence from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
The licence, which was issued to Revolut Payments Australia Pty Ltd last Thursday (3 February), allows the fintech to directly finance and supply residential mortgages, car loans, consumer credit cards, asset lease contracts and other forms of lending covered by the National Credit Code.
This represents a major expansion of the local Revolut business, which is currently focused on the provision of a global currency card, payments management services, share trading and access to crypto exchanges.
While Revolut has not made any public comments about how it plans to use the licence, within a few hours of securing the ASIC authority it embarked on a big recruitment pitch for credit executives and specialists.
The fintech has posted advertisements on LinkedIn and other recruitment sites for a string of positions in its credit unit based in Melbourne covering executive, policy and product development roles.
It has also launched a search for a new head of credit risk.
In the advertisements Revolut Australia indicates that it might be prioritising the development and roll out of unsecured personal loans and credit cards.
According to a job description for the head of credit risk role Revolut said the successful candidate would be required to “manage the credit policy and procedures for targeting, underwriting and life cycle management of credit products like unsecured personal loans and credit cards”.
Revolut states in the job descriptions for several product development roles that it wants to hire people with “hands on experience building products and features in Australian retail credit” and “strong new product design experience”.
The Australian subsidiary’s pivot to lending follows a recent capital injection by the UK parent.
According to filings made to regulators in the second week of January, Revolut Ltd almost doubled the paid up capital base of Revolut Payments Australia to $13.1 million.
The capital boost could be an indication that Revolut is moving closer to securing a restricted or full banking licence from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority.
In the fallout from the demise of Xinja Bank in 2020, APRA has tightened criteria for assessing licence applications from fintechs and now requires applicants to have a track record of offering revenue-generating products before a licence is issued.
Revolut is applying for banking licences in most of the country markets it currently operates in, including its UK home market.
The company’s founder and global chief executive Nick Storonsky told a Financial Times conference in December that he expected the Bank of England to grant a UK banking licence “early in 2022”.
He also told the FT conference that Revolut would submit a licence application with US banking regulators before the end of March.