Revolut Signals a Canadian Comeback with New Country CEO
Revolut moves toward re-establishing its Canadian presence with the appointment of new Country CEO
Revolut appointed Jan Pilbauer as CEO of its Canadian business, marking the firm’s first concrete step toward reassessing a market it exited in early 2021. The appointment follows internal efforts to rebuild local leadership and evaluate whether conditions now support a renewed presence. While Canada has been identified as a potential expansion opportunity, no timeline or product rollout details have been confirmed.
Key Highlights of Revolut’s Expansion Efforts in Canada
New leadership to guide market re-entry assessment: The newly appointed Canadian CEO is positioned to evaluate the feasibility of re-establishing operations, rebuild market strategy, and oversee foundational decisions required for a potential relaunch.
Responsibilities centred on regulatory licensing and operational setup: The role includes securing required Canadian regulatory approvals, establishing market infrastructure, coordinating with internal teams, and managing expectations across external stakeholders. The mandate reflects the need to rebuild the Canadian business from an early-stage foundation.
Background context: initial entry in 2019 and retreat in 2021: Revolut first introduced a limited beta version covering banking, crypto, and stock trading in 2019. It paused operations two years later due to an inability to offer the full suite of products available in other regions. The firm publicly then stated an intention to return once conditions allowed.
Past public statements referenced intentions to relaunch: Following its withdrawal, representatives indicated plans for a future comeback, though timelines were later re-evaluated and no definitive schedule for re-entry was shared.
Global context influencing renewed interest: The company’s expanded scale, valuation of approximately USD 75 billion ($105B CAD) following recent secondary share activity, and broader international hiring initiatives suggest an ongoing review of new markets, including Canada.
About Revolut
Revolut, founded in 2015 in London, UK - it operates globally as a neobank offering services including prepaid cards, currency exchange, peer-to-peer payments, stock trading, and cryptocurrency trading. The company has expanded across markets such as Europe, the United States, Australia, Singapore, Japan, Brazil, India and more.
