VILNIUS, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- UK fintech startup Revolut has been granted a European banking license by the European Central Bank (ECB) via the Bank of Lithuania, announced the Bank of Lithuania and the company on Thursday.

Revolut has been granted a specialized bank license allowing the fintech to accept deposits and offer consumer credits. The main difference between a specialized and a full-range bank is that the former is not authorized to provide investment services, said the Bank of Lithuania.

Lithuania's central bank, a member of the European System of Central Banks, has acted as the facilitator in Revolut's licensing process by conducting assessment and providing proposal to the ECB to grant the startup with the banking license.

The news comes amid efforts from the Bank of Lithuania to become a hub for fintech companies looking for favorable licensing environment.

"Development of an environment conducive to competition and innovation in the field of finance is one of our strategic goals," Marius Jurgilas, Member of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania, said in a statement by the bank.

In recent years, Lithuania has licensed around 100 fintech companies.

The majority provide services in payments, electronic money issuance, peer-to-peer lending and crowdfunding platforms, according to the Bank of Lithuania.

Since Revolut has been granted a Lithuania-facilitated European banking license, Lithuanian consumers will be the first in Europe to receive Revolut's banking services, such as deposits and consumer credits, said the fintech company.

"We plan to have our systems ready to start offering banking services in the second half of next year," Andrius Biceika, Revolut's head of business development, told local media on Thursday.

Using Europe's passporting rules which allow providing services with one license to the entire region without separate authorization in each country, Revolut would later launch banking services in Poland, Britain, France, Germany, according to Biceika.