How to Open a Business Account With Revolut

Having a dedicated business account to manage business finances isn’t always mandatory but it can often be advantageous due to the operationally and financially favourable features it can offer. Such modern financial technology companies as Revolut endeavour to accommodate every entrepreneur’s need pertaining to the bank account and payments which eventually leads to business growth.

What You Need to Know About Revolut

Established in 2015 in London, today Revolut serves businesses registered in and with a physical presence within the USA, the UK, the EEA and Switzerland. The financial service provider also has a waiting list for those applicants whose countries are to become supported by Revolut products and services in the near future.

Once you know that Revolut is available in our country and you can potentially apply for a business account, make sure that this type of account is also made available to the legal structure of your business.

The following types of legal business structures are serviced by Revolut:

• Private Limited Company
• Public Limited Company
• Limited Liability Partnership
• Limited Partnership
• Partnership
• Sole Trader

However, Revolut doesn’t offer services to the following types of business:

• Public sector
• Charity
• Private foundation
• Trust
• Cooperative

It’s also important to note that Revolut doesn’t offer services to numerous industries (such as gambling, fine art dealers, adult entertainment, etc.), the full list of which can be found here.

If you open a Revolut Business account, you’ll be able to receive a Mastercard or Visa debit card (or multiple cards) as well which come in two forms – physical (plastic or metal) and virtual. A physical card displays the company’s name (up to 25 characters) on the front side and the cardholder’s name on the reverse side along with a CVC and expiry date.

Why Choose Revolut

Revolut is a competitive alternative to traditional banking products and services for various reasons. You should consider it a less pricey option that provides your business with a dozen of operationally and financially efficient benefits.

Revolut Business account offers the following benefits:

• Flexible monthly subscription plans for various needs
• Low rates for accepting payments
• A multicurrency account (up to 28 currencies) means that you can accept payments in local currencies to dedicated currency accounts
• Unlimited number of physical and virtual company debit cards for employees which you can set spending limits for, monitor the spending in real-time, freeze or unfreeze and decide where cards can be used (generally, they can be used all around the world)
• Unlimited number of users and permissions
• Anti-fraud system
• Earnings can be accessed within 24 hours
• One dashboard for payments management
• Payment links can be created to request payments without having to share business account details
• QR codes for payment collection
• Custom-made payment experience powered by the Merchant API
• Revolut Business mobile application where an account owner can, inter alia, monitor accounts and transactions, send and exchange money and manage corporate cards

Depending on the size and complexity of your business, you can choose from different subscription plans – one designed for freelancers and another for companies. When you choose a free plan, you’ll be spared from monthly fees and will only pay for what you use. If you decide to go for a higher-tier subscription plan you’ll get access to exclusive features of the business account (e.g. a company card with its name on it) and higher allowances.

Requirements for Businesses

The main requirement for opening a business account with Revolut is having a physical presence either in the EEA or Switzerland. Moreover, an applying company should be fully incorporated to be eligible for a Revolut business account.

If a company is registered in the EEA or Switzerland, it must meet the following conditions and be able to prove them with supporting documents:

• Be a resident either of the EEA or Switzerland
• One of its directors or beneficial owners must be a permanent resident of the EEA or Switzerland
• The address of business operations must be either in the EEA or Switzerland

An applicant is asked to provide the following documents:

• A confirmation of the address of business operations
  • If a business doesn’t have a registered office, Revolut accepts the owner’s personal address as the address of business operations, the proof of which must not be older than three months
• Proof of identity of the shareholders and directors
• Under certain circumstances, selfies of the shareholders and directors should be taken via the Revolut webpage or mobile application
• Incorporation documents
• Proof of authority if the applying person isn’t the company’s director or a shareholder

Since Revolut is only licensed to serve companies that are physically present either in the EEA or Switzerland, they can’t accept addresses of virtual offices, P/O boxes, or similar alternatives.

With regard to the proof of authority, the applying person should arrange it in one of the following ways:

• Invite the company’s director via email to complete a full identity verification that also includes their authorisation to open and manage a Revolut Business account
• A Power of Attorney signed by the company’s director and giving the applying person the “consent to open, manage and reauthorise other users to manage the Revolut Business account” by including this exact statement and the below information
  • The name of the applying company
  • Signatures of the director and beneficial owners or all parties authorised by the company’s by-laws to appoint representatives
  • A date no later than the past three months
  • Apostille (only if the place of issuance isn’t Lithuania)

The following documents are accepted by Revolut as proof of incorporation:

• Notarised registry extract
• Articles of Incorporation
• Certification of Incorporation
• Articles of Association
• Memorandum of Association
• Audited Annual Report
• If relevant, a certificate of name change showing the date and authority that change the name

Notarisation is only required when the Revolut team can’t verify the applicant’s details against an independent data source. If an applicant can supply a link to a free governmental source where the document is made available, the notarisation requirement can be waived.

During the onboarding process a company is asked to provide the following information:

• A description of the business activities, location and industry
• What purposes the business account will be used for
• Selected Revolut Business plan
• Incorporation details (business name, legal form, trading name, incorporation number, etc.)
• Details about the company’s shareholders and directors

Revolut accepts documents in any language, although their preference is English. When the documents are reviewed, an applicant might be asked to provide additional documents to prove or clarify certain information.

Quality applications are usually successful, however, rejections occur due to the following reasons:

• The type of the applicant’s industry isn’t supported
• Revolut doesn’t support the country where the applicant is registered
• Lack of physical presence
• The applicant’s status is inactive in the registry

Legal requirements for the company’s directors and beneficial owners are aligned with KYC regulations and therefore include the following information requests, supported by appropriate documentation, the purpose of which is identity verification:

• Full name
• Date of birth (must be over 18 years old)
• Residential address
• Email address
• Phone number
• Nationality

It’s important to note that the verification doesn’t itself grant access to the Revolut business account. Whoever is applying on behalf of the company should manage access to the account by inviting directors to use and manage the account.

An applicant can prove their address of business operations by supplying any of the following documents:

• A rental agreement for the office of business operations that’s either valid on the day of onboarding and lasts at least six months or has no duration at all
• An extract from the national registry that includes the address of business operations (it must be issued within the last three months)
• A utility bill (landline phone, electricity, etc.) posted to the address of business operations (it must be issued within the last three months)
• A bank statement that includes the address of business operations (it must be issued within the last three months)
• Government correspondence (e.g. court order or business rates bill) that includes the address of business operations (must be dated within the last year)
• Proof of paid rent of the office of business operations (paid within the last three months)
• Three consecutive invoices and a contract from a co-working space provider valid on the date of onboarding and containing the address of business operations (must be dated within the last six months)
• A contract that includes a customer outlining a range of services at the address of the company’s business operations (must be dated within the last three months)
• A payslip of an employee that includes the address of business operations (must be dated within the last three months and accompanied by the process of the employee’s residential address and their identity document proving their right to reside in the country)
• A document of the bank card delivery to the address of business operations

If you’re representing a startup that hasn’t started business activities, you may be required to supply the following documents in order to prove the nature of the business:

• Proof that the company has been registered in the last three months
• A clear description of the business activities that matches the industry in which the company is
• A business plan, a leaflet, or a PowerPoint presentation describing business activities

The Process of Opening a Business Account With Revolut

The process of opening a Revolut business account starts with filling out a short online application form which only takes around 10 minutes. The application is then placed in the queue for review. At this stage, the Revolut team may reach out to the applicant to ask for additional details or documents.

The application and onboarding process can be pretty quick if an applicant fills out the application duly and transparently. All the required documents must be up-to-date, provided in a timely manner and in accordance with legal requirements to ensure seamless onboarding.

If you’re not sure how to supply the information and required documents correctly to the Revolut team, our legal team here at Regulated United Europe will be more than happy to guide you through the process. We have eight years of experience in helping clients to open bank accounts in Europe. We tap into our vast network of trusted partners in the European financial services industry to offer the most suitable and cost-effective solutions that improve the functioning of the businesses we serve.