Revolut has applied for a local banking licence in Switzerland alongside unveiling a plan to invest over 150 million Swiss francs (£135.63 million) in the market over the next five years, continuing a pattern of tying investment proposals to market expansion.

On Wednesday, the bank announced that it had submitted an application for a Swiss banking licence to the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), and that its licensing procedure is currently pending.

Revolut said it already has more than 1.3 million customers in the country, currently served by its Europe-wide bank Revolut Bank UAB. The bank, licensed in Lithuania, maintains a representative office in Switzerland but does not hold a local licence. If it is granted, the permit would represent what it describes as the “logical next step” in expanding its offering for Swiss customers.

The licence would not only lay the foundation for a full banking product offering in the country, but also enable a new level of product personalisation for Swiss customers, Revolut said. This includes adding Swiss IBANs, salary accounts, eBills, a form of electronic invoice, merchant acquiring and access to the country’s deposit guarantee scheme.

Additional features including private pension accounts, known as pillar 3a, and functionality with Swiss mobile payments system TWINT, are under consideration, the bank added.

David Tirado, chief commercial officer at Revolut, commented: “Today marks a pivotal moment for Revolut’s European strategy. By applying for a Swiss banking licence, we are taking an important step towards becoming a more deeply rooted part of one of the world’s most important and advanced financial markets.

“Together with our existing banking licences and regulatory infrastructure across Europe, this would further strengthen our compliance, governance and regulatory framework. It would give us the right structure to be closer to our customers, regulators and talent across our key European markets, while continuing to grow responsibly.”

Alongside announcing its submission, Revolut has pledged to invest more than 150 million Swiss francs in the country over the next five years. The funds will be used in part to develop new products and create jobs in the country, with the lender adding that planned appointments at executive board and senior leadership level will further strengthen the build-out of its “locally anchored” banking structure.

This is the latest pairing of investment commitments and banking license applications from Revolut in recent months. In August, the bank secured a full French banking licence with a view for expansion across Western Europe following a commitment to invest more than €1 billion and hire over 600 employees in the region.

A month prior, it became the first global FinTech to launch a full-service bank in Australia, backed by a planned investment of nearly 400 million Australian dollars (£209 million) in the local market over five years.

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