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British fintech Revolut tops $1 billion in profit as revenue jumps

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Revolut CEO Nikolay Storonsky at the Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal, Nov. 7, 2019.

Pedro Nunes | Reuters

LONDON — British fintech firm Revolut on Thursday announced it topped $1 billion in annual profit for the first time, a major milestone for the company on the road to an eventual initial public offering.

Revolut, which offers a range of banking and financial services via an app, said that net profit for the year ending Dec. 31, 2024, totaled £1.1 billion ($1.5 billion), up 149% year over year. Revenues at the company increased 72% year on year to £3.1 billion, driven by growth across different revenue streams.

Revolut’s wealth unit — which includes its stock-trading business — saw outsized growth, with revenue surging 298% to £506 million, while subscriptions turnover jumped 74% to £423 million.

Revolut also saw significant growth in its loan book, which grew 86% to £979 million. Coupled with a jump in customer deposits, this contributed to a 58% increase in interest income, which totaled £790 million.

UK bank rollout

Revolut’s financial milestone arrives at a critical time for the almost decade-old-firm. The digital banking unicorn has been preparing a transition to becoming a fully operational bank in the U.K. after securing a banking license last summer.

It was granted a banking license with restrictions in July 2024 from the U.K.’s Prudential Regulation Authority, bringing an end to a lengthy application process that began back in 2021.

The restricted license means that Revolut is now in the “mobilization” stage, where it is focusing on building out its banking operations and infrastructure in the run-up to a full launch. The period typically lasts about 12 months.

Francesca Carlesi, Revolut’s U.K. CEO, told the Wall Street Journal last month that it views its journey to becoming a fully authorized U.K. bank as a crucial step in its global expansion and eventual IPO. “My main strategic focus is making Revolut the primary bank for everybody in the U.K.,” she told the WSJ.

Revolut is still awaiting approval from regulators to transfer all of its U.K. users to a new banking entity this summer. Once fully up and running, the firm will be able to begin offering loans, overdrafts and mortgages, opening up the path to new income streams.

It has a steep hill to climb — rivals Monzo and Starling have had a lengthy head start on Revolut. Monzo obtained its full banking license in 2017, while Starling was granted its own permit in 2016.

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Key AI hub China restricts schoolchildren’s use of the tech

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A student is playing chess with an intelligent robot in Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province, China on May 13, 2025.

Cfoto | Future Publishing | Getty Images

BEIJING — China’s latest education policies for the year restrict the extent to which children can use generative artificial intelligence in the classroom, according to a local government report on Thursday.

The guidelines cited in the report, which weren’t publicly available, covered AI education and generative AI use in primary and secondary schools during 2025.

China’s Ministry of Education did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Primary school students are prohibited from using unrestricted generative AI tools on their own, although an instructor may use the tech to assist with teaching, according to the local government report.

It added that middle schoolers can explore how generative AI reasons and analyzes information, while high schoolers are allowed to use the tech more broadly.

The report said the policies banned students from directly copying AI-generated content into homework and called on schools to establish a list of approved generative AI tools that can be used on school grounds.

The People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, mentioned the new guidelines on the sixth page of its Thursday edition.

But the national state media report did not discuss specific limits on AI use, and instead focused on how the policies aimed to promote “scientific” and “standardized” promotion of AI education suited to various stages of education, according to a CNBC translation.

Use of generative AI in China has increased significantly after DeepSeek, a homegrown rival to OpenAI, in late January released a chatbot app. Tencent, ByteDance and other companies have released similar chatbots that have surged in popularity in China. 

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Steve Cohen says stocks could retest their April lows, sees a 45% chance of recession

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Warren Buffett tells WSJ he stepped aside as CEO after finally feeling old

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Warren Buffett does a walkthrough of the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting in Omaha, Nebraska on May 3, 2025.

David A. Grogen | CNBC

Age isn’t just a number for Warren Buffett after all.

The 94-year-old investment legend recently surprised shareholders by announcing his intention to step down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO after an epic 60-year run. The reason behind the decision was the physical effects of aging he’s been experiencing, Buffett said in a new interview with the Wall Street Journal.

“I didn’t really start getting old, for some strange reason, until I was about 90,” he told the Journal in a phone interview. “But when you start getting old, it does become—it’s irreversible.”

The Oracle of Omaha, who turns 95 in August, revealed to the paper that he started to lose his balance occasionally, while experiencing issues remembering someone’s name sometimes. His vision also turned less clear when reading newspapers.

It marked an end of an era at Berkshire, which was a failing New England textile mill six decades ago and was transformed into a one-of-a-kind conglomerate with businesses ranging from Geico insurance to BNSF Railway. Buffett is handing over his reins on a high note as Berkshire shares are near a record high, giving the conglomerate a market cap of nearly $1.2 trillion.

Berkshire’s board voted unanimously to make Greg Abel, now vice chairman of noninsurance operations,  president and CEO on Jan. 1, 2026, and for Buffett to remain as chairman.

Still, Buffett said he remains mentally sharp to make investment decisions when opportunities arise. The value investing icon is known to take advantage of market turmoil and depressed prices to make big purchases.

“I don’t have any trouble making decisions about something that I was making decisions on 20 years ago or 40 years ago or 60 years,” he told the Journal. “I will be useful here if there’s a panic in the market because I don’t get fearful when things go down in price or everybody else gets scared….And that really isn’t a function of age.”

— Click here to read the original WSJ story.

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