Revolut closed your business account. Here's what's still open.

The process is unnervingly consistent. It typically begins not with a human conversation but with an automated flag. Your account may be temporarily suspended while they conduct a review, often requesting a deluge of documentation you have already provided. Following this, you receive the termination notice. It will refer to a section of their terms and conditions, but it will not specify the exact breach. This is intentional. Disclosing the specific trigger could, in their view, help others circumvent their compliance controls.

The most common triggers are automated. A sudden spike in transaction volume, a change in the geographic source of your payments, or a series of chargebacks can all raise red flags. Your Merchant Category Code (MCC) might 'drift' from your initial application, or their screening software may generate a false positive on a director's name. You are then stuck dealing with a support system that is not equipped to handle appeals for complex cases. The final decision is almost always irreversible, leaving you with the urgent need to find a new home for your company’s finances.

Revolut’s business model is predicated on scale and automation. With millions of customers, individual, manual case reviews are not commercially viable. They rely on algorithms to manage risk, and these systems are inherently rigid. When your business activity deviates from the profile they have assigned you, the system flags it as a potential risk. For their banking partners and regulators, Revolut must demonstrate that they have tight control over illicit financing risks. The easiest way to do this is to 'de-risk' entire categories of clients, jurisdictions, and industries.

Commercially, your business may simply not be profitable enough to warrant the compliance overhead. A high-risk business might generate more compliance checks and manual reviews, costing them money. Operationally, their support staff are trained to follow scripts, not to conduct deep-dive analyses of a complex international business model. When their system says no, the support agent has little power to override it. This combination of regulatory pressure, a low-risk commercial appetite, and operational automation creates a perfect storm for founders of perfectly legitimate but non-standard businesses.

While a rejection from a major fintech like Revolut feels like a dead end, it is not. The issue is not that banking is impossible, but that you were at the wrong institution. The market consists of Tiers. Tier 1 institutions like Revolut, Wise, or Mercury are built for scale and simplicity. When they reject you, the solution lies in specialist institutions that have a declared and understood appetite for higher risks.

These include Bank of Lithuania-licensed Electronic Money Institutions (EMIs), which often have more flexible compliance frameworks than their UK or Irish counterparts. Certain Belgian-licensed EMIs have also carved out a niche in serving international businesses. For more complex cases, particularly those involving offshore entities or cryptocurrency, a Caribbean offshore bank or a Puerto Rico International Financial Entity (IFE) may be more appropriate. In the UAE, banks licensed in the ADGM or DIFC financial zones cater specifically to international corporate structures. In all cases, the key is approaching an institution whose business model is based on servicing complexity, not avoiding it.

Finding the right institution is not about sending out dozens of applications. That approach will only generate more rejections, creating a negative history for your company. The correct process is methodical. It begins with a deep diagnostic of your business profile. We analyse your corporate structure, UBOs, directors, transaction history, industry, licensing, and the specific reason for the Revolut closure. This allows us to identify the core risk factors from a bank's perspective.

Armed with this profile, we identify a shortlist of institutions whose documented risk appetite matches your business. This is not guesswork. It is based on an understanding of their compliance department's preferences and past approvals for similar clients. We then prepare a comprehensive application package that preemptively answers the questions the bank will have. The file is presented through established channels, a 'warm introduction' to a decision-maker at the institution, not just a generic online portal. This ensures your case is reviewed by a human who has the context and authority to understand it.

Success depends entirely on the fit between your profile and the institution's risk framework. After a closure from a platform like Revolut, the new bank's primary concern is understanding *why*. They will want to see the full picture. A transparent narrative is critical. If your chargeback ratio was too high, you must present a clear plan for reducing it. If your transactions were from jurisdictions Revolut dislikes, you need an institution that explicitly accepts them.

The ultimate beneficial owner (UBO) and directors' profiles are paramount. A clean personal record, with no criminal history or adverse media, is non-negotiable. The business model must be coherent, legal, and clearly documented. The source of funds and wealth must be verifiable. In essence, the bank needs to build a complete, logical story of your business. Any gaps, inconsistencies, or attempts to hide previous issues will result in a swift decline. A well-prepared application presents the story clearly and provides the evidence to back it up, making the underwriter's job of saying 'yes' as easy as possible.

Securing a new account for a business that has been de-risked by a major fintech is not an overnight process. A placement with a specialist EMI in a jurisdiction like Lithuania can take between two to five weeks from the moment a complete application file is submitted. For a more traditional brick-and-mortar bank, whether in Europe or an offshore jurisdiction, the timeline is longer. Expect between four and twelve weeks, and in some complex cases, it can extend further. Anyone promising a guaranteed account in a few days is not being honest about the process.

This is a specialised service that involves significant advisory work. The costs reflect this. The process typically involves an upfront engagement fee to cover the initial diagnostic and file preparation, followed by a success-based placement fee once the account is successfully opened. This ensures we are aligned in achieving a positive outcome. For a detailed assessment of your specific case and the associated costs, the first step is to submit your profile for review. You can begin the process at xavioncapital.com/start.