The Bank of England is reportedly planning to reject a UK banking license for leading neobank Revolut.

Revolut is currently regulated as an digital money institution. A UK banking license would allow the neobank to offer lending products like mortgages and loans. 

There has been no official comment as to why the application was declined. 

In March, however, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) told the Treasury that it is planning to issue a warning to Revolut soon. 

According to PRA, the neobank’s application was going to be declined due to concerns over its overdue accounts on its balance sheet. 

However, according to The Telegraph, it is “understood that the warning notice has not been served and there are now urgent talks taking place behind the scenes in a bid to rescue the license application.”

The news comes shortly after Nik Storonsky, Revolut’s chief executive, toyed with the idea of moving the company overseas if he was not granted a license. 

Stronsky criticised Britain’s high taxes after accusing strict regulators of slowing down the application for a banking license. 

“It’s hard to do business in the UK: the exchange is much less liquid so I just don’t see the point,” Storonsky said.

“In the UK there are higher taxes to pay and an extremely bureaucratic regulator.”

Revolut is one of Britain’s most valuable private tech companies and one of the most valuable fintech companies in the world. The neobank, which was founded in 2015, had an estimated value of around $33bn when it first applied for a license two years ago. 

Last month, Schroders, one of its biggest investors, valued Revolut at just $18bn.

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