Revolut Card - anyone use this?

SortCode · 2021-07-30T21:04:36+00:00

DS off to The States....someone recommended adding money monthly onto this. He only has a kids acc here but this you can transfer and get same exchsnge rate with no charges. Any good?

Honeyroar · 30/07/2021 22:05

I was cabin crew for a long time. Lots of crew used it and raved about it.

blahblahblah321 · 30/07/2021 22:08

We used it on a US holiday, it worked really well.

It's now used for pocket money for DS2!

Betsythecheshirecat · 30/07/2021 22:22

A lot of my family have one, including me.

I use it as my main bank card now. Handy for holidays with the exchanging.

It really helped me to manage my money as I was really bad for spending a few pounds here and there and not really tracking my spending.

It's very handy for sending money between users.

I'd recommend.

riceuten · 30/07/2021 22:38

I have one. They are great, the rates are perfect, and you can load various currencies on them. You can also buy crypto currency and shares on them. Never had it refused yet, and have saved megabucks from doing so.

BUT...and it's a big but...they can very occasionally block your account for seemingly no reason and then start demanding additional ID, or claim they are "investigating" your account. the former is not easy when you are abroad They only have very few staff in this department (Compliance), so it can sometimes take weeks - months even - for them to grant you access again.

TLDR - take another card with you, just in case.

Original poster

SortCode · 30/07/2021 23:21

Sounds cool and perfect for him.

So we have one each then?
Do I apply for them.here in the UK?
Is he old enough to have one at 16?

OP posts:

artquejtion · 31/07/2021 07:24

Seems all the teens use it, DD off to Uni abroad and she has opened up an account, there are different 'levels', a free account and then levels with a fee. The free account has limited cash withdrawal amount.

Cruddles · 31/07/2021 07:52

Used it when i was in Australia for a few months, very quick to transfer money from UK bank account and used Revolut as my day to day card on store machines etc. For cash withdrawals i used a Starling Bank card as they seemed to have the best offer on foreign cash transactions

BarbaraofSeville · 31/07/2021 08:20

Are there any charges? Starling offers the same features and is totally free, but yes, completely recommend using this type of card. I don't understand why anyone who travels abroad wouldn't have one.

For Starling at least, if you don't apply for an overdraft, the criteria isn't particularly strict so it's not like you need to pass much of a credit check.

milian · 31/07/2021 08:24

@riceuten

I have one. They are great, the rates are perfect, and you can load various currencies on them. You can also buy crypto currency and shares on them. Never had it refused yet, and have saved megabucks from doing so.

BUT...and it's a big but...they can very occasionally block your account for seemingly no reason and then start demanding additional ID, or claim they are "investigating" your account. the former is not easy when you are abroad They only have very few staff in this department (Compliance), so it can sometimes take weeks - months even - for them to grant you access again.

TLDR - take another card with you, just in case.

Yeah my warning on Revolut is that they blocked my account (with luckily only a very small amount of money left in it) and no amount of ID was ever enough to satisfy them so I never regained access.

I much prefer Monzo, which can similarly be used as a pay as you go card I believe (though now also as a current account).

Chocolateteabag · 31/07/2021 09:00

Yep - Revolut blocked my card for some reason last year and I have not yet managed to get it unblocked
Then discovered the number of people world wide who are in a similar situation
Luckily I only have a couple of quid on it but some people are stuck not being able to access £££

Good while it works, shit customer service when it doesn't
Have a back up option and don't put too much on it at a time

BarbaraofSeville · 31/07/2021 09:13

Pre covid I used my Starling card in several countries for both payments and cash withdrawal and never had an issue. I've never done anything like Crypto currencies but I do use it to buy premium bonds both months as well.

Sideorderofchips · 31/07/2021 10:29

Yes I've got one. I use it to save up for when I go to the UK or my teenager uses it when she goes to town

PearlFriday · 31/07/2021 10:31

I've tried to but it won't accept my face.

Have tried a few times. It just will not accept it.

Betsythecheshirecat · 31/07/2021 10:40

How rude of them @PearlFriday!

I should clarify and say that I also have a bank account elsewhere. Just in case, although haven't had the issues others reported.

Not sure what the age is you can get one, I assumed 18 but don't know. My kids are primary aged so I get a free kids account with my card (I have the next level of card that I pay for). They cost about three quid a month to have which may be a pain.

roses2 · 31/07/2021 10:46

I've got one for spending abroad and making foreign currency transactions. I keep a minimal amount of cash in it because I've heard their AML checks are a little ropey. Great for going abroad.

Guardians can sign their children up to a junior account:

www.revolut.com/en-IE/legal/revolut-junior

cleckheatonwanderer · 31/07/2021 16:07

I've actually just withdrawn my money and closed my account based on this thread and the reports of people getting locked out of their account.

Revolut notified me of a potential fraudulent activity on my card and when I cancelled the card they wanted me to pay £5 for another. I know it's not going to break the bank but the rubbish customer service put me off and I've been meaning to get rid ever since.

The vast majority of comments on the US travel forum I'm on favour Starling so I'll go with them if I ever actually get to travel there again.

Winnona · 31/07/2021 16:11

I love Revolut for travel money and sending money to family abroad. I have Starling too and have had problems with that getting hacked. DH tells me Monzo has lost a lot of value recently.

SherryPalmer · 31/07/2021 16:19

DH had one when we were temporarily living in the US. I vaguely remember he had to change his card to a different type with them because the original one wasn’t accepted many places there (eg maestro to visa debit etc). Sorry I can’t remember more details but maybe something worth checking.

chipsandpeas · 31/07/2021 16:22

i have one for spending abroad but you are limited on the amount of withdrawals from a cash machine

LaurieSchafferIsAllBitterNow · 31/07/2021 16:36

I have one and not a stick of bother with it

I use it mostly for frivolous things, so if I flog anything off online I send the money there and then fritter it away on lunches and stuff on holidays

you can load/convert to specific currencies, or just use it like your bank card letting the card machine pixies work out the exchange rate.

BarbaraofSeville · 31/07/2021 17:10

just use it like your bank card letting the card machine pixies work out the exchange rate

If you do this, you're giving away one of the main benefits of having a card like this and not just using your main bank card.

Those card machine pixies can help themselves to quite a lot of your money for working out the exchange rate. Quite often, it's a good few quid and the worst I ever saw was nearly 10%, which would have been about £20/30/40 on the few hundred euro transaction.

MadeForThis · 31/07/2021 17:22

Rates are good. Can top up £1k per month before fees. Can withdraw €400 before fees

dementedma · 31/07/2021 20:46

We have them and use them on holiday abroad. No problems at all

Original poster

SortCode · 31/07/2021 21:07

I intend on putting around £80-100 a month on it for DS.

Do we apply for them in the uk then DS takes his abroad with him???

OP posts:

MadeForThis · 31/07/2021 21:35

Yes. The application is done via the app. The card is posted out within a few days.