Revolut Business publishes its own list of prohibited and restricted business categories, separate from what any other provider publishes, and that page is the first thing a broker or prop firm should read before applying for an operating account there. We have not found a specific line about forex, CFD or funded-trader businesses on Revolut's own site, so this article does not guess at one. What it does instead is walk through what a firm can check publicly today, then look at the accounts trading firms use as Revolut Business alternatives when the operating account needs a second option or a faster answer.
This is about the operating account: payroll, office costs, supplier payments and moving money between a firm's own entities. It is not about how client deposits or trader payouts get processed, which normally runs through a separate card, crypto or PSP connection rather than a business current account.
The short version
| Option | What it is | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Wise Business | Multi-currency business account with a linked debit card | Its Acceptable Use Policy names FX, CFD and options trading platforms among prohibited activities |
| Airwallex | Global business account, cards and payments API | Lists "offering of regulated financial services" among industries needing extra checks |
| Payoneer | Payments platform for cross-border receiving and mass payouts | No policy verified here; check Payoneer's current terms directly |
| A traditional or correspondent bank | A licensed bank with a direct or correspondent relationship | Slower to open, built to underwrite regulated and higher-risk sectors |
| An EMI | A regulated electronic money institution | Safeguards client funds instead of offering deposit insurance |
Check Revolut's own policy first
Before looking at Revolut Business alternatives, read Revolut's own current prohibited and restricted business categories, published on Revolut's own site. Policies at every provider in this space change without much notice, and a description written today can be out of date by the time an application goes in. Nothing here states what that page currently says about forex, CFD or prop trading activity; a firm should read it directly rather than rely on a secondhand summary from any blog, including this one.
Firms in this position often apply to Revolut Business and a second provider at the same time, rather than waiting on one answer before trying another. The rest of this article covers what those second options publicly offer.
1. Wise Business
Wise Business is a multi-currency account that holds balances in a range of currencies, gives local receiving details in several of them, and converts between currencies inside the account. A linked business debit card draws from those balances, and Wise publishes an API that supports batch payment uploads for firms that want to send many payments in one call.
Wise's own Acceptable Use Policy names businesses running platforms that trade or exchange FX, CFDs or options among prohibited activities, alongside binary options and crypto exchanges. That is stated directly on Wise's Acceptable Use Policy page, which is worth reading in full since it also changes over time. A firm weighing this option in more depth can read our Wise vs Revolut Business comparison.
2. Airwallex
Airwallex offers a global business account with multi-currency balances, cards and a payments API, built for companies moving money across several countries. Airwallex publishes an Unsupported Industries help article that lists categories of business needing extra checks or falling outside its risk appetite, and "offering of regulated financial services" appears on that list alongside a catch-all for activity its banking partners will not support.
That category is broad rather than forex-specific, and it covers far more than trading platforms. A broker or prop firm considering Airwallex should read the Unsupported Industries page directly and talk to Airwallex about the firm's specific licence and activity before applying.
3. Payoneer
Payoneer is a payments platform widely used by marketplace sellers, freelancers and companies receiving international payments across multiple currencies. It offers a business account, a card and mass payout tools built for businesses paying many recipients at once, which is part of why it also comes up in conversations about prop firm payouts rather than only operating accounts.
We have not found a current statement from Payoneer about forex, CFD or prop trading businesses. Check Payoneer's own terms of service and acceptable-use policy directly before applying, and describe the firm's regulated activity accurately on the application itself.
4. A traditional or correspondent bank
The slowest option on this list is often the most durable one: a licensed bank willing to open the account directly, whether it operates in the firm's own jurisdiction or reaches it through a correspondent banking relationship. Expect the bank to ask for a full compliance pack covering the firm's licence, ownership structure, AML policy, source of funds and a description of how client money moves, and expect the process to run in weeks rather than minutes.
What a firm gets in exchange is a relationship built to underwrite exactly this kind of business, rather than a self-serve form that was never written with a trading firm in mind. See why banks refuse brokers for the underwriting questions a traditional bank raises before saying yes, and correspondent banking derisking for why that relationship can be harder to secure than it used to be.
5. An EMI
An electronic money institution, or EMI, is a regulated entity licensed to issue electronic money and hold client funds, distinct from a bank licence built around deposit-taking and lending. EMIs commonly serve businesses that traditional banks take longer to approve, including regulated trading firms, precisely because the licence is built around payments rather than deposits.
The structural point every firm should understand before choosing one: EMI balances are typically safeguarded, meaning the EMI keeps client funds apart from its own operating funds, rather than covered by a national deposit protection scheme the way a bank account usually is. That is a feature of the EMI model in general, not a claim about any one EMI's own arrangement, which should always be confirmed directly with the provider. Our EMI accounts for brokers guide and safeguarding at an EMI cover this in more depth.
How to pick a Revolut Business alternative
Start with what the account actually needs to do. A firm that mainly needs multi-currency balances and a card for day-to-day spending gets that from Wise Business, Airwallex or an EMI without much difference in shape. A firm that expects underwriting scrutiny either way often does better applying directly to a bank or EMI built for regulated sectors rather than cycling through neobank signup forms one at a time.
Whichever account a firm lands on, it is separate from how client deposits and trader payouts actually get processed. SGHK is a software provider, not a bank or a payment processor: it does not open accounts or move client money itself, but the Broker CRM and Prop Firm CRM connect to any KYC provider and any card, crypto or PSP processor by API, and SGHK introduces firms to processors in its own partner network where that side of the business needs help.
"Every provider on this list publishes its own restricted-business page, and every one of those pages can change. We tell firms to read the current version before applying, not to trust what anyone wrote about it last quarter."
— The SGHK Team
Key Takeaways
- Revolut Business publishes its own prohibited and restricted business list; read it directly rather than assume what it says about trading firms.
- Wise's Acceptable Use Policy lists FX, CFD and options trading platforms among prohibited activities; Airwallex lists regulated financial services broadly among industries needing extra checks.
- A traditional or correspondent bank and an EMI both take longer to onboard but are built to underwrite regulated trading businesses directly.
- An operating account is separate from client deposit and payout processing, which normally runs through a dedicated card, crypto or PSP connection.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Revolut Business accept forex brokers or prop firms?
We have not found a specific published statement from Revolut about forex, CFD or prop trading businesses, so we are not stating one. Revolut publishes its own prohibited and restricted business categories on its own site; read the current version directly before applying.
What is the closest alternative to Revolut Business for a trading firm?
Wise Business is the closest feature match: multi-currency balances, a linked card and an API for batch payouts. Its own Acceptable Use Policy names FX, CFD and options trading platforms among prohibited activities, so read that policy before assuming it fits.
Why would a broker choose a traditional bank over a neobank account?
A traditional or correspondent bank takes longer to onboard but is built around underwriting regulated and higher-risk businesses directly, with a relationship manager reviewing a full compliance pack, rather than a signup form designed for a general small business.
Is an EMI account insured the way a bank account is?
Not in the same way. An EMI typically safeguards client funds by keeping them separate from its own operating money, rather than covering them under a national deposit protection scheme. Confirm the specific arrangement with any EMI before relying on it.
Where does SGHK fit into a firm's banking setup?
Nowhere directly. SGHK does not open accounts or process payments. The Broker CRM and Prop Firm CRM connect to any KYC provider and any card, crypto or PSP processor by API, and SGHK introduces firms to processors in its partner network when a firm needs help finding one.
About SGHK
SGHK is a FinTech company that designs and builds its own software for the trading industry: the eTrader trading platform, Launch your Broker and Launch your Prop Firm. Every product is written, hosted and supported in-house and licensed to trading firms, with the CRMs branded to them, all hosted by us in the cloud, managed by each firm and built to scale across clustered servers as our clients grow. Everything is encrypted, and each firm is the only one with access to its data and its clients' data.