Portugal Colonial - UK fintech Revolut valued at $75 bn: source to AFP

The company, founded in 2015, has been a leader in rolling out financial services to customers via smartphones, initially focusing on allowing clients to easily exchange currencies and make transfers.

A source close to Revolut said on Monday that it is allowing employees to sell shares at a valuation of $75 billion, significantly higher than its previous $45 billion valuation.

Revolut said "an employee secondary share sale is currently in process, and we won't be commenting further until it is complete."

The Financial Times reported last month that the company is in discussions with investors to raise additional funds.

Revolut last year obtained a UK banking licence "with restrictions" from UK industry regulator PRA, a key step in getting long-awaited recognition as an official bank in its home country.

The company aims to compete with traditional European banking giants and is targeting 100 million customers in 100 countries.

However, its rapid growth has also drawn criticism in recent years regarding its ability to comply with financial regulations, particularly those aimed at combating fraud and money laundering.

Last year, the company more than doubled net profit to £790 million ($1.1 billion) as customer numbers surged.

T.Vitorino--PC