The sometimes-controversial London-based fintech company Revolut has applied for a banking license in the UK, as it looks to provide its UK customers with a complete banking experience.

Should the application be approved by the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority, Revolut will be able to begin providing full service current accounts – including products such as overdrafts, loans, and deposit accounts – for people in the UK.

“A UK banking licence allows us to provide the essential financial products UK customers expect from their everyday primary bank account, such as loans, credit cards, overdrafts and deposit accounts, coupled with the additional trust and security that is offered through FSCS protection,” said Nik Storonsky, Founder and CEO of Revolut.

“We want to be the best in class for customer experience, value and capabilities, and offering full bank accounts allows us to do just that. In the future, we want to offer many more innovative products to our UK customers and we are excited to continue driving innovation and competition in the banking industry. Becoming a fully licenced bank in the UK is a central pillar of that ambition.”

Revolut secured an EU banking license in Lithuania at the end of 2018 and has since begun rolling out services across Central Europe. The UK application is part of the company’s plans to use the launch of services in smaller European markets as a springboard into larger ones, which also include France, Germany, and Poland.

The financial app, which added a web portal last month, has welcomed more than 13m customers and employed over 2,000 people around the world since its launch in 2015. A little over a year ago, it became the UK’s most valuable fintech startup and was last valued at $5.5bn.