The freshly MiCA-licensed Revolut announced instant crypto purchases directly to Binance’s Trust Wallet across Europe in December 2025, signalling that regulated crypto services supply is beginning to catch up with growing consumer interest. Yet within the same week, all Revolut crypto accounts in Hungary were closed following local regulatory tightening. This move coincided with Revolut recently receiving approval from Hungarian central bank Magyar Nemzeti Bank (MNB) to operate as a full local bank under the scope of national regulation.
Committing to full local bank licensing entails complying with all national banking regulation and playing by the incumbents’ rules. Nevertheless, it is proving to be the most important step toward obtaining primary banking relationships for challenger banks.
In the 10 years since launching, Revolut has taken key European market by storm, virtually putting an end to the era of costly peer-to-peer transfers and account-keeping fees for good. Furthermore, free accounts, free transfers, and cheap currency and crypto exchange have attracted particularly strong interest around the emerging markets of Europe, whose retail banking industries are often still characterised by high fees and limited innovation.
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GlobalData Macroeconomic Indicators highlights Revolut growth
The bank reached 2 million customers in Hungary as of mid-2025, which is 25% market penetration according to GlobalData’s Macroeconomic Indicators. But so far, having to operate via a Lithuanian IBAN has obstructed Revolut’s quest for primary banking relationships in Hungary and similar markets, as customers were unable to receive their salaries to a foreign Revolut account. With approval from the MNB, Revolut can now issue domestic IBANs for all 2 million accounts and make all Hungary-based money movements domestic.
Incumbents fight back
Nonetheless, Revolut is faced with a fresh set of challenges now that it begins to operate as a bank in Hungary, such as high banking taxes and transaction fees, as well as enhanced requirements for live customer support and cash access. The cost of this has typically been passed down to consumers by incumbents, raising uncertainty as to whether Revolut will be able to absorb these elevated costs moving forward to maintain its initial unique selling point. Meanwhile, the signs of its heightened competitive threat are already showing as incumbents begin to offer free or discounted services, albeit bound by limits and conditions.
While operating as a fully licensed bank is normally expected to open up new product opportunities in a market, Revolut has already been forced to discontinue all its crypto services in Hungary due to a domestic regulatory crackdown on the digital assets space. However, this is unlikely to impact the bank’s overall popularity in the country, as it sets out to solidify primary banking relationships as a newly approved local bank. Elsewhere, Revolut has been pursuing a full UK banking license for several years, although Barclays’ CEO C. S. Venkatakrishnan has argued that the challenger continues to benefit from its non-bank status in the UK compared to traditional banks.
Blandina Szalay is an analyst, banking & payments, GlobalData
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