Revolut is a banking-app, designed to manage your money and track your expenses from your mobile phone. In this Revolut Card review you learn everything there is to know about Revolut.
Please note that I have switched to Revolut Metal Card which is my new daily driver. For the latest information check out this Revolut Review.
The aim of Revolut digital bank is to lower the cost of foreign currency transactions and allow users to exchange money for the real market rate.
The Revolut app comes with a no-fee prepaid debit card. The low-fee policy of Revolut attracts more than 18 million users who want to save money while using the latest banking products.
The Revolut card is currently one of the best travel cards on the market. I have been using the Revolut travel card abroad for more than five years. Read more about my experiences in this in-depth Revolut review.
The UK based digital bank Revolut, allows you to hold 32 foreign currencies within your Revolut app. This is a practical feature for any user that receives incoming funds in foreign currencies and wants to avoid the currency exchange.
You can top-up your Revolut card with your current debit card and use it as a form of payment worldwide without being afraid of hidden fees.
At the moment the Revolut card does not offer any overdrafts, you can only use the funds that you have transferred to your Revolut account.
Best from Revolut
- No-fee debit card: Upon sign up you can order your no-fee Revolut card. A shipping fee of £4.99 will be deducted for Standard plan users.
- No-fee cash withdrawals: The no-fee standard Revolut card comes with no-fee ATM withdrawals up to €/£ 200 (or equivalent in other currencies) per month.
- No foreign currency fees: If you withdraw cash in foreign currencies, your money will be exchanged with the best currency exchange rate according to the conditions from Revolut. Read further to find out more about the currency exchange pricing scheme.
- Benefit from interbank-exchange-rates: Revolut is using interbank-exchange-rates when swapping currencies. During fx hours (weekdays) there isn’t a cheaper way to transfer and exchange currencies as with Revolut. On the weekends when the markets are closed you will be however charged a small fee on specific currencies.
In addition to that, you benefit from no-fee domestic and international money transfers as well as no-fee contactless card payments in 150 currencies.
The Revolut app comes with many useful features, that you won’t find with any of the apps offered by traditional banks. You can use the Revolut app to send money instantly to any other Revolut user, split bills with friends, exchange fiat money for cryptocurrencies or use the budgeting tools to keep an overview of your finances.
Keep reading to find out how the Revolut banking-app will help you manage your finances as well as save money and time.
In this Revolut card review, you will learn the following
- What is Revolut?
- Who can apply for Revolut?
- Revolut fees: How much does Revolut cost?
- Opening a bank account in 8 minutes
- Revolut Standard Card
- Revolut exchange rates - this is what you need to know
- Revolut Premium Card
- Can you rely on the Revolut travel insurance?
- Revolut Metal Card
- The real value comes with the Revolut banking app
- FAQ about Revolut
- Is the Revolut card worth it?
- Conclusion of my Revolut review | Which revolut card to get?
The UK based company got approved from the European Central Bank received their banking licence in December 2018. That means that the banking app will now turn into a real bank. Until now, Revolut had the status of an Electronic Money Institution. The company is regulated by the British Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). All the accounts are currently opened with first-tier banks, based in the UK, such as Lloyds and Barclays.
Your money is protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme up to £85,000 per user as long as it's stored with Revolut's "Vaults" feature. .
If you are using Revolut within the EU, your funds are protected by the deposit protection scheme as Revolut is operating under their banking license. The deposit protection scheme isn't valid outside of Europe as the company is operating under the e-money license.
Revolut aims to make its products available to as many users as possible. Currently, you can apply for a Revolut card if you are a resident of the following countries.
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Australia, Chile, Singapore, Azerbaijan, Sri Lanka, Japan, USA, Canada,
Note that in countries outside of the European Economic Area (EEA) such as Australia the Revolut app might not offer all the features as there are different regulations in place.
Revolut is scaling rapidly. It is expected that Revolut will be launching its services on markets such as the US, Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, and New Zealand.
Revolut is following a low-fee policy, which means there aren’t many competitors that can beat the price-performance ratio offered by Revolut.
Revolut offers three different plans:
- Revolut Standard
- Revolut Premium
- Revolut Metal
Does this sound familiar to you? The German competitor, the N26 mobile bank, calls its product range exactly the same. Read more about how N26 compares to Revolut here.
The three different plans come with one no-fee version, basic features, and two paid versions with more advanced features such as insurance, cashback bonuses, and concierge services.
Brief comparison between the Revolut cards
Revolut Standard Card
Revolut Premium Card
Revolut Metal Card
The Revolut Standard Plan with the no-fee Revolut card is for most users sufficient. You can pay in any currency that you hold in your account. Additionally, you can withdraw up to € 200 a month at no additional cost, which will be enough in most countries that adopted the cashless payment system.
In my comparison of international bank accounts for travelers, Revolut made first place.
Find more about Revolut's fees here.
If you want to increase the no-fee withdrawal limits and add insurance to your Revolut card you can always opt-in for the paid Premium and Metal Plan.
Continue reading to find out more about this later.
Opening a bank account with Revolut is simple. Personally, it was the easiest and least frustrating registration for a bank account that I went through.
Here is how it works:
- Download the Revolut app to your mobile phone. Use this link to test Revolut Premium at no extra cost.
- Open the app and insert your phone number, choose a password, and confirm the step with an sms-code you will receive.
- In the next step, insert your personal information, such as name, address, and your email.
- To open your Revolut account, you need to transfer € 10. You will have the option to transfer it back to your old account if you wish to do so.
- The next step is verification. Take a photo of your passport, id card or driving license to verify your identity.
- To finalize the identification process, you must take a selfie with your mobile phone.
- Click on the verification link you received to your inbox from Revolut and log into the Revolut app.
Compared to many other digital banks, Revolut allows opening an account within 8 minutes. You can order the Revolut card straight from the app.
Some features will be unlocked as soon as you activate your Revolut card; however, most of the functions you can already use.
Additionally, you can request a no-fee virtual card and use it for online payments. This is handy, especially if you are traveling abroad and want to use some of the mobile apps to call a cab or order food.
Now, let’s look at the features of the Revolut cards to find out which card to get!
The basic Revolut card comes with no monthly fees and no-fee ATM withdrawals of € 200 per month (or equivalent in other currencies). Additionally, there are no foreign currency fees when you pay your bills abroad.
Revolut’s goal is to expand globally. This might be the reason, why Revolut does not make any differences between currencies when it comes to cash withdrawals.
Other banks often limit you not only on the amount you can withdraw but also on the ATMs or currencies.
Revolut makes it more convenient for the user.
There is a fee of 2% on cash withdrawals above € 200 per month. In most European countries, you won’t need more cash than € 200 as you can pay cashless with your Revolut Mastercard almost anywhere.
All Revolut users benefit from the best fx (foreign currency exchange) rates as Revolut exchanges your money for the interbank exchange rate.
This means that you will get almost the same amount for your money as your conversion shows on Google.
As someone who is traveling full-time and changing countries every few weeks I had to figure out how I lower my bank fees for currency exchanges.
When paying abroad or withdrawing money in a foreign currency there are three factors to consider. (Note that some of those factors are not relevant to wire transfers between accounts in foreign currencies)
- Foreign currency exchange rate
- Your bank’s fees
- Local ATM fees
There are few tricks on how to lower the fees for each of those items.
Local ATM fees can be avoided in some countries if you just look for another ATM (usually the ATM tells you how much you will be charged). Note that in some countries, such as Thailand, you are charged a flat fee in all ATMs.
Your bank’s fee consists of the spread between the bank’s exchange rate and interbank-exchange-rates as well as fees for foreign currency transactions and foreign currency cash withdrawals.
- Revolut uses the interbank-exchange-rates, there is no hidden fee in the spread
- Revolut does not charge any foreign currency transaction fee
- Revolut does not charge foreign currency cash withdrawals on weekdays and within the no-fee monthly limit
This means that Revolut waives more than two-thirds of the fees that you will be charged by a traditional bank.
The only fees you will be charged is on the weekend when the fx markets are closed. To avoid any loss in currency value Revolut charges a flat fee on foreign currency transactions (currency that you don’t hold in your account) on the weekend. This includes cash withdrawals, card payments, and wire transfers.
Here are more details about the Revolut fees for currency exchanges:
Revolut changes their currency exchange fees based on the time of the conversion as well as the foreign currency.
- USD, GBP, EUR, AUD, CAD, NZD, CHF, JPY, SEK, HKD, NOK, SGD, DKK, PLN, and MXN: 0% during fx hours (weekdays), 0.5% when the markets are closed (weekend)
- THB, RUB, UAH: 1% during fx hours (weekdays), 2% when the markets are closed (weekend)
- all other foreign currencies: 0% during fx hours (weekdays), 1% when the markets are closed (weekend)
The fees won’t change if you upgrade to the Premium or Metal Plan, however, note that for transactions in foreign currencies above € 6.000 (£ 5.000) per month you will be charged 0.5% fee in case you use the Standard Plan.
When to exchange money with the Revolut card?
In my last article where I compared the N26 and Revolut I showed you an example for the exchange rate during wire transfers.
If you use the basic Revolut card and you withdraw money during weekdays in foreign currencies up to your limit of € 200 per month you are better off as if you would use the free N26 card.
Both banks, Revolut and N26 show you exactly how much money you will receive for the currency exchange for wire transfers in the dedicated banking app. This is also something you should not expect from any typical bank.
When exchanging certain currency pairs you can also compare the exchange rate with TransferWise to make sure you get the best rate.
The Revolut Premium card comes in three different colors: grey, silver, rose-gold.
It also offers higher limits on no-fee ATM withdrawals up to € (£) 400 a month, no-fee express delivery as well as travel insurance.
Additionally there is no limit of € 1.000 (£ 1.000) on no-fee currency exchange as with the Standard Plan.
Revolut Premium cardholders will also benefit from faster bank transfers and disposable virtual cards.
With the Revolut Premium card, you will also receive LoungeKey Pass access to over 1.000 airport lounges, which does not grant you access at no cost but allows you to purchase a pass. Most lounges cost € 27.99 and you can use them as long as needed.
It is a nice option for long layovers, as many lounges offer good internet, showers, drinks, and small snacks.
You can also purchase a LoungeKey pass for your travel companion.
The Premium card comes with an annual subscription and monthly fee of € 7.99 / £ 6.99.
When you decide to pay upfront for the whole year you can get a discount of € 13.88 / £ 12 and pay only € 82 / £ 70 in total.
Having travel insurance connected to a debit card always comes with certain restrictions.
Usually, you need to take into account certain deductibles, trip duration and whether the insurance is connected to you as a person or to the card.
Confused? Don’t worry I will explain it to you in just a minute.
The insurance that comes with the Revolut Premium and Metal card covers you only for trips that don’t exceed the duration of 40 days. This means that for any long travels you won’t be covered. This insurance is clearly not made for digital nomads and long-term travelers.
If you look for comprehensive travel insurance you could actually use long-term, look at the offers from Safetywing and Worldnomads.
The insurance is connected to you as a cardholder and not to the card itself. This means that you don’t necessarily need to pay all your expenses for your trip with the card to activate the insurance as its the case with the insurance that comes with the competing N26 Black card.
When it comes to travel insurance, my tip is to always look for deductibles. It is the amount that you need to pay before the insurance covers any expenses. This means that the higher the deductible the more expensive your insurance. Most people look at the insurance coverage and skip the part about deductibles that they need to cover from their own pockets.
These are the deductibles for certain insurance items that you should be aware of. Have a look at the following table.
| Insured item with the Premium / Metal card | Deductible / Excess |
|---|---|
| Foreign Medical Expenses up to € 17 Mio. (£15 Mio.) | € 86 (£ 75) |
| Delayed Flights over 4 hours ( € 80 / hour up to max. € 382) £320 | none |
| Luggage-Delay Insurance for delayed flights over 4 hours up to € 382 (£ 320) | none |
| Emergency Dental Treatment abroad up to € 350 (£ 300) | € 86 (£ 75) |
Note that Revolut is not the provider of the insurance but rather an insurance broker. Your expenses are covered by the Whitehorse Insurance based in Ireland. This is also the company where you will need to make a claim in case you decide to use the insurance.
As you can see, the insurance that comes with the Revolut Premium, as well as Metal Plan, is quite basic. For most short-term travelers this is a good option although keep in mind that you will need to cover everything that is below the deductible amount of € 86 / £ 75 by yourself.
The Revolut Premium card makes sense if you are sure that the additional benefits will be of use for you.
Read my Revolut Premium review here.
The Revolut Metal card is a Mastercard made of stainless steel that weighs 18g. It is perceived as the luxury card from Revolut. You will benefit from the same features as you will get from the Revolut Premium.
Additionally,
- the no-fee ATM withdrawal limit worldwide expands to € 600 a month
- you can use the exclusive concierge-service,
- you will get 1 no-fee LoungKey Pass to one of the listed airports as well as
- 0.1% cashback for payments in Europe and 1% cashback for payments outside Europe
Does that appeal to you? The Revolut Metal card cost only € 13.99 / £ 12.99 per month. If you decide to get the annual discount and pay upfront you can get it for € 135 / £ 116 a year.
In case you use the card outside of Europe, the card pays off as soon as you pay more than € 1.125 / £ 971 a month. The 1% cashback that you will receive covers the monthly fee (annual discount considered.)
Apart from the mentioned features, there isn’t much more upside owning a Revolut Metal card. This card is suitable for users who withdraw a significant amount of cash every month or users who can cover their bills of more than € 1.125 / £ 971 with their card.
Read my Revolut Metal review here.
Fees are one factor that can differentiate your bank account from the competition. However, nowadays it's not the only differentiator that you should look at.
The digital banking era allows you to manage your finances from everywhere with one single app. The app is, in my opinion, the real value that comes with digital banking products from banks such as Revolut or N26.
There are endless options to improve the way we handle our finances. The Revolut banking app offers exactly what should be offered by any bank in 2019. Let’s have a closer look at the features that will help you monitor and improve your personal finance.
The Revolut app is available for iOS as well as Android mobile devices. You can just insert your number here and Revolut will send you the link where you can download the app.
Push Notifications
Push Notifications notify you about important actions on your account as well as marketing promotions. There is an option to turn off marketing notifications within the app if you wish to do so. This function is useful when you pay for your bills abroad in foreign currency. You will see right away how much was deducted in the currency of your bank account.
Card Settings
Card Settings allow you to freeze your card, view or block your PIN, manage your card security as well as set the monthly spending amount. It’s a very useful feature. In the past, you had to contact your bank to set up a new pin or freeze your card. Now you can do it within seconds via the Revolut app.
Hold up to 32 currencies
Revolut enables you to use multiple currency accounts within your Revolut banking app. You can open an account with one click in any of the supported 32 currencies (29 fiat currencies and 3 cryptocurrencies).
Payment Options
The banking app comes with various payment options. You can split bills with friends, other Revolut users around you, make wire transfers, set up recurring payments or send someone a link to pay you. Revolut also supports digital wallets such as Google Pay and Apple Pay. Be aware however that some of those features are only available after you activate your Revolut card.
Analytics
Track your finances with Analytics. Revolut offers one of the best analytics tools to manage your monthly budget. You can set up your budget and monitor your expenses based on categories, merchants and even countries. It’s a simple, yet very helpful budgeting tool.
Currency Exchange
Revolut makes it possible to exchange currencies with the real exchange rate. You can either exchange the currencies between your currencies in your account or between different user accounts through bank transfers. There is no third party service involved during the money exchange, therefore, no additional fees apart from the earlier mentioned cost.
Revolut comes with additional small features that might be of interest to you:
Vaults allow you to regularly save money. There is no interest on your balance however it keeps your money separated from your available funds, so you don’t get into the temptation to spend it. You can also set up the function accelerate spare change, which will round up your spare change automatically and add the difference to your vault.
Quite a neat feature if you ask me. Saving up in small amounts might turn into a bigger sum at some point.
The Revolut app is packed with a ton of useful features that allow you to manage your personal finances. With the upcoming transformation of the company, Revolut will soon come with additional offers such as overdrafts and personal loans.
Personally, I hope to see some interesting saving or investing options as well. What kind of features would you like to see added to the Revolut app? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
The Revolut card is a prepaid debit card which is fully managed through the Revolut banking app on your mobile phone. The Revolut Mastercard enables you to exchange currencies with the real exchange rate. The card is suitable for anyone who is looking for a bank account with low cost and maximum features.
The delivery time depends on the chosen delivery method. My standard Revolut card arrived in 7 workdays. The Revolut Premium card took only 3 days to arrive. Depending on your location you can expect a delivery time up to 12 days. The Revolut Premium card comes with no-fee express delivery.
To get a no-fee Revolut card, you need to sign up at the Revolut website. Insert your phone number and download the Revolut app. Follow the process, pass the verification and order your card from the Revolut app. The Revolut card will be delivered to your home address within a few days.
The Revolut card cannot be used as a credit card at the moment. Currently, there is no overdraft feature available. Thanks to the banking license that Revolut obtained last year, you will be able to expand your balance on your Revolut card in the near future. At the moment you can only use the money on your account.
All the balance on your Revolut account is stored at one of the partner bank Lloyds or Barclays, that collaborate with Revolut. Your money is protected by the FSCS up to up to £85,000. Revolut will in the future expand this protection and your deposits will be covered by the European deposit scheme up to € 100.000 or around £86,000. What is a Revolut card?
How long does Revolut card take to arrive?
How do I get a no-fee Revolut card?
Can you use Revolut as a credit card?
Is Revolut FSCS protected?
By this time you should have an idea about what kind of value you get with a Revolut account. Let’s look at a few variables that you should always compare when choosing the right bank.
Opening an account with Revolut
Opening an account with Revolut is very intuitive and simple. Revolut has the least frustrating verification process I have encountered when signing up with a bank. You don’t need to face-call anyone. Just take a selfie and a photo of your ID card, and you are good to go. You can open a Revolut account at no extra cost and use it to transfer money within minutes.
Revolut Banking App
The Revolut banking app comes with a lot of valuable features. The user interface is quite intuitive. I personally prefer the design of the N26 banking app. When it comes to innovative functions, the Revolut app clearly takes the lead. As soon as Revolut expands its portfolio and starts offering loans and investment opportunities, the features of the app will likely appeal to a broader audience.
Revolut Fees
The pricing structure for Revolut products is very competitive. There are not many banks that can compete with Revolut when it comes to pricing. There are not many options where Revolut can make a cut and lower its fees as they are already very low.
At the end of the day, it comes down to what the user needs. Most of the users that use the no-fee Revolut card won’t find a better deal.
Revolut Customer Support
As until now, I haven’t had any negative experience with customer support. You can connect with the Revolut support team through your Revolut app within one minute. So far I talked with Revolut on several occasions, mainly for informative purposes only.
I haven’t had any extraordinary problems that would be outside of the norm, so I can’t predict how the support would handle more tricky situations.
A fact that I personally like is that if you lose your card abroad, Revolut can send you a new one anywhere in the world. Just the first card needs to be sent to your home address. That’s not as common as you would think. I have had a very frustrating experience with N26 bank regarding this exact topic. Read more about it here.
As with every product, there are always some differences to consider. At the end of the day, it all comes down to what you need.
Most users will be just fine with the no-fee Revolut Standard Plan.
If you travel frequently and withdraw more than €/£ 400 per month, you might as well get the Revolut Premium card.
I don’t see much upside with the Revolut Metal card unless your expenses outside of Europe exceed € 1.125 / £ 971 per month. That’s the amount you need to spend to get back the monthly fee in the form of cashback.
Higher no-fee ATM limits, no currency exchange limits, and light insurance packages are also worth considering.
Are you fed up with paying high fees every time you use your card? Sign up for a Revolut account today and start saving money.