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Revolut<\/a>, the fintech giant based in the U.K., has appointed a new CEO for its U.K. division. Francesca Carlesi will be in charge of Revolut\u2019s division in its home country \u2014 Nik Storonsky remains the CEO of Revolut Ltd.<\/p>\n It\u2019s worth noting that today\u2019s news comes as Revolut still doesn\u2019t have a banking license in the U.K. after years of back and forth with British regulators. The company applied for a U.K. banking license back in 2021<\/a>.<\/p>\n According to Companies House, Carlesi is the new chief executive of Revolut NewCo UK. This is the same entity that has applied for a UK banking license.<\/p>\n Before joining Revolut, Carlesi was a banking executive at Barclays and Deutsche Bank. She worked for McKinsey and Bridgepoint Capital as well. She also co-founded and headed Molo<\/a>, a fintech startup focused on online mortgages. In particular, Molo uses real-time data validation to make credit decisions instantly after you apply.<\/p>\n Carlesi will start at Revolut in December and replace James Radford. Interestingly, Radford stepped down from his role as UK CEO of Revolut back in March.<\/p>\n It took Revolut eight months to find a replacement for this role, indicating that Revolut is either moving carefully or that it\u2019s a difficult position. Today\u2019s news also comes a few days after Kitty Ussher, former economic secretary to the Treasury and a former MP, resigned<\/a> from the board of Revolut\u2019s UK division.<\/p>\n Ussher is joining Barclays as a managing director in charge of strategic policy development. \u201cObviously my new role means I must also, with equal sadness, step down from my role as a non-executive director on the UK subsidiary board of Revolut at the end of this month. I have loved being on that rocket ship for the last four plus years, have worked with incredibly talented people and have no doubt that the organisation has a very exciting future,\u201d Ussher wrote<\/a> earlier this week on LinkedIn.<\/p>\n \u201cWith nearly eight million customers in the U.K. and a diversified product offering, [Revolut] is at the forefront of change in financial services. There are so many growth opportunities and I couldn\u2019t be more excited to be leading the way for the U.K.,\u201d Carlesi said in a statement.<\/p>\n Revolut currently has 35 million customers with Romania, Poland and other countries in Central and Eastern Europe growing at a rapid pace<\/a>. But the U.K. remains Revolut\u2019s biggest market.<\/p>\n While Revolut still waits for its banking license in the U.K., the story is a bit different in Europe as Revolut obtained a banking license from the Bank of Lithuania several years ago. It is officially a bank that offers local account numbers thanks to passporting rules<\/a> across the European Union.<\/p>\n A banking license is essential in order to offer new products and reassure customers about Revolut\u2019s internal processes and its ability to manage risk.<\/p>\n For instance, Revolut offers personal loans in France<\/a> but not in the U.K. Similarly, Revolut offers credit cards in Ireland<\/a> but not in the U.K.<\/p>\n Even more important than Revolut\u2019s future product lineup, the fact that the company has been struggling to obtain its license is slowly becoming a concern<\/a> for the company\u2019s existing and future customers.<\/p>\n At the same time, with 8 million customers, the Bank of England is well aware that Revolut is a sensitive topic. It can be difficult to revoke a banking license once it\u2019s been granted. In other words, there\u2019s growing pressure on both sides.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nGrowing pressure<\/h2>\n