In November 2021, we presented a brief report on the business opportunities of Revolut Bank UAB and Revolut Payments UAB in the Republic of Croatia. Namely, from the day when the Republic of Croatia became a member of the European Union (EU), it was confirmed that payment service providers in the Republic of Croatia can also be electronic money institutions established in another EU Member State.
At that time, Revolut Bank UAB from Lithuania started providing mutually recognized services in the Republic of Croatia, but only those from Directive 2013/36/EU related to the receipt of deposits and other repayable funds, while other services of the same directive that included payment services were not allowed to be provided.
However, on 7 June 2022, the Tax Authority issued an official opinion on the Change related to the operations of the credit institutions of Revolut Bank UAB. Namely, the Tax Authority received a notice from the Croatian National Bank (CNB) that as of 1 June 2022, Revolut Bank UAB received approval for expansion of the service providers in the Republic of Croatia.
What services are involved?
In addition to providing deposits and other services, Revolut Bank UAB will also be able to start providing payment services, which means opening and maintaining payment accounts such as regular and giro accounts.
Considering the above, it is stated that there is no obstacle to payment of receipts to the accounts that will be opened in that bank. This means that Revolut customers will be able to receive a salary through the Revolut account.
The citizens of the Republic of Croatia are interested in Revolut due to the reduction of costs. Namely, Revolut does not charge for the account management service in the basic package and has lower transaction costs compared to banks based in Croatia.
This change brings with it many more questions. Namely, the exact procedure for calculating and paying salaries, submitting JOPPD forms, conversion costs after the arrival of the Euro in Croatia, enforcement procedures, etc. is still unknown. It is expected that due to the same there will be some legal and procedural changes.
