Revolut Review: An Online Banking Option with P2P Payments

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	Revolut	8.5	Visitrevolut.com

Introducing Revolut

Revolut is a company at the front end of the fintech revolution. It was founded by Nik Storonsky, formerly a trader with Credit Suisse and Lehman Bros., and Vlad Yatsenko, a software developer with Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank, in 2015. It was born out of Storonsky’s frustrations with poor exchange rates and high fees charged by traditional banks as he travelled around.

Its first product, expectedly, was a prepaid debit card that allowed users to spend money in several currencies, exchanged at the prevailing interbank rate. While this continues to be the backbone, Revolut has built on its success and scaled up rapidly with the help of several rounds of external funding. It now offers cryptocurrency products, peer-to-peer payments, accounts holding multiple currencies, insurance, stock trading, and several others.

In December 2018, it was licensed as a bank within the European Union by the Bank of Lithuania. This enabled it to start accepting customer deposits and offering lending products.

Revolut launched as a bank (instead of an e-money institution) in 10 additional European countries in January 2022: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden. This has further strengthened its ability to offer financial solutions.

In the UK, Revolut is an e-money institution – its banking license is yet to be approved by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Types of Accounts

Revolut offers a straightforward account structure comprising five plans, a free-of-charge Standard plan, Plus, Premium, Metal, and Ultra plans.

There are several layers of features built on top of the Standard plan, with a progressively higher monthly fee, but with features to match.

Standard Plan

You can withdraw up to £200 every month from ATMs, without a charge, subject to a maximum of 5 transactions.

Money can be transferred between friends on Revolut for free, globally, instantly, in 29 currencies. You can also exchange up to £1,000 per rolling month in 29 currencies, with no fees, Monday to Friday.

You can set up one linked account for a child aged between 6 and 17. This is the Revolut way of promoting financial literacy amongst the young.

Plus Plan

You can withdraw up to £200 every month, fee-free, with no limit on the number of transactions. After that, it’s just a 2% fee when you withdraw (£1 minimum).

It gives you peace of mind with purchase protection for up to a year for £1,000. You can even get reimbursement for ticketed events for the same value.

It’s possible to open up to two linked accounts for children between 6 and 17.

When you book accommodation through the Revolut network, you get 3% cashback.

Premium Plan

You can withdraw up to £400 every month, fee-free, with no limit on the number of transactions. After that, it’s just a 2% fee when you withdraw (£1 minimum).

Purchase protection goes up to £2,500 for a year, with a 90-day return window.

Cash for accommodation booking goes up to 5%. You also get worldwide emergency medical and dental coverage, as well as delayed flight and baggage insurance.

Metal Plan

You can withdraw up to £800 every month, fee-free.

While you can still make payments in 29 currencies, this plan starts giving you a cashback of 1% for these transactions.

You also get 40% off fees when you send money abroad.

Purchases cover is now £10,000 for a year.

Open up to five <18s accounts and unlock full access.

Cashback for accommodation booking goes up to 10%. You also get worldwide emergency medical and dental cover, as well as delayed flight and baggage insurance, topped up with winter sports and car hire excess cover.

Ultra Plan

You can withdraw up to £2,000 every month, fee-free.

This plan takes users into the lifestyle realm with access to partner benefits such as Financial Times Premium, NordVPN, WeWork, and many more.

Every transaction with the Ultra card earns a cashback of 1%.

An Ultra membership gives you complete flexibility on travel. You get up to £5,000 back in case of cancelled trains, flights, events and hotel accommodation.

You get an all-access pass to over 1400 airport lounges around the world, including complimentary food and beverages.

Other Bank Accounts

Revolut also offers special-purpose accounts that come with all the plans listed above but with varying degrees of features and conveniences.

Revolut Business Account

Revolut’s business accounts also have a subscription-based tiered system.

The difference between the tiers, in terms of capabilities, is not as stark as personal accounts. That being said, there are some important features missing on the free plan, which include:

• Bulk payments (starting from the Grow plan),

• Monthly allowance for fee-free international transfers,

• Transfer approvals,

• Analytics.

The main difference lies with money transfer fees. Here’s a breakdown:

While the Free plan doesn’t get much leeway in terms of the charges, the costs are nowhere near extraordinary. In fact, Revolut’s business offering offers the most value among its peers considering the features included:

• Invoicing,

• Global IBANs,

• Local EUR account,

• Ability to hold and exchange over 25 currencies,

• Accepting payments, and so on.

For comparison, capabilities like invoicing and a local EUR account are paid when using Starling, £7 and £2 per month, respectively. I find that Revolut appears more generous in including key services to its Free account.

Revolut Pro

This is a simple and convenient tool made for freelancers, contractors, and side hustlers, to enable them to keep their business running from anywhere, anytime. It’s a separate account that can be opened with any of the plans and ensures your business activities stay separate from your personal finances.

It’s possible to earn up to 1.2% cashback on the Pro card.

You can accept payment from clients in a variety of ways, such as QR codes, payment links, invoices, and card readers. You can also accept contactless payments with an iPhone.

Revolut <18

This account also can be added to any of the five plans, with some differences in the privileges based on the plan chosen.

An adult with a Revolut account can open this account for a youngster aged between 6 and 17. A card can also be issued to the account.

The youngster gets to access a myriad of features such as budgeting, receiving and paying, in a safe and secure manner, under the supervision of the adult opening the account.

Benefits & Additional Features – 10/10

Revolut addresses the most common money management requirements – holding funds, making and receiving payments (both domestic and international), earning interest on the balance, you name it.

In addition, it offers a host of other features, both financial and non-financial, which make it an attractive proposition for most people.

Benefits

Unlike high-street banks that offer accounts decorated with benefits like cashback or insurance, Revolut adds these services to its paid tiers. With each tier, the benefits increase.

Cashback Offers

Revolut offers extensive cashback offers spread across various spending categories, including:

• Shopping,

• Food,

• Travel,

• Wellness,

• and Entertainment.

At a glance, you may come across lesser-known brands, but a little digging reveals well-known brands like JustEat (applicable for all orders), O2, and Flixbus. The offers are generally generous, with popular brands like Adidas offering up to 30% cashback.

The best part is the very high cashback limit. The monthly cashback UK customers get is capped at £200 – for comparison, Santander allows £15 a month.

Insurance

Insurance is built in every tier Revolut has in offer bar the free Standard plan. The plans range from everyday insurance all the way to personal liability with exceptionally high limits. Here’s a breakdown of the plans you can get per tier:

When compared to other packaged accounts that include insurance within their services, Revolut’s Premium and Metal tiers offer great value. Costing only £6.99 and £12.99, respectively, they come in cheaper than many of the other banks – for comparison, Natwest’s packaged account sets you back £20 per month, while Monzo’s comparable tier that includes insurance services costs £15 monthly.

Virgin Money’s Club account (costing £12.30 a month) comes closer in terms of the price/performance ratio unless you’re looking to use your benefits largely for travelling. In that case, it’s more reasonable to use Revolut to benefit from low overseas usage.

SmartDelay & Lounge

Revolut grants discounted access to lounges at a number of airports – which sounds good in theory, but it actually is a walk-in service. This means that your entry depends on availability, if the attendants deem the lounge to be too busy, they probably won’t grant you access. On the whole, it’s a bit of a hit-and-miss – definitely not something worth upgrading for on its own.

SmartDelay allows you to log your flight and if it’s delayed for longer than an hour, you can get free access at participating airports. But again, this depends on availability and is not set in stone.

Features

Besides the wide array of benefits and rewards, Revolut is also renowned for its versatile app which brings together a host of banking and money management features that high street banks simply can’t match.

Budgeting

Smart budgeting and analysis facilitate fiscal discipline for its users. You can set limits for cost heads and be warned when you are in danger of exceeding them.

The budgeting feature includes a forecast vs actual spending graph, displays the upcoming payments, and how much you are safe to spend per day – your spending is broken down into categories, all of which display where are you in your budget, as well as countries and merchants you’ve made payments to.

All in all, it’s fairly intuitive and includes the analytics you would expect from a budgeting app.

Round-up

An online bank flagship capability, a round-up feature also exists on Revolut, and its arguably more versatile than its competitors. It rounds up your purchases to the

You can set up your round-up change to feed your investments, donations, or your saving vaults as you wish. It’s worth noting that for those who don’t have substantial amounts in their savings, round-up usually adds faster than interest.

Open Banking

You can stay on top of your finances by enabling access to your other accounts via the Revolut app. This is a great help considering that Revolut is hardly anyone’s main account – this way, you can get a one-stop view of all your funds spread across different banks and budget accordingly.

It’s important to note you cannot manage (make transactions, etc) your other accounts through the Revolut app, this is only a viewing functionality.

Subscription Management

The app lists all your subscriptions in one place – and recognises them as separate from other commitments like bills.

Perhaps one of the most convenient features in this day and age is that you can actually block cease your subscriptions through the app and block all future payments.

Pockets

A version of Saving Vaults for bills, Pockets allow you to separate your funds dedicated to bills. With Pockets, you can squirrel funds away to meet payments that are committed and make payments straight from there without worrying about transferring it back to your account.

Bill Splitting

While the app lacks IOUs, there’s a very handy group bill-splitting feature. From smaller payments like restaurant tabs or cab feres to bigger payments like rent, you can split the payments easily with other Revolut users and non-users.

For those who are not on Revolut, you can simply share a payment link with which people can pay directly.

On-Demand Pay

This is a very rare feature available across online-only banks and their high-street counterparts alike. For those who get their salary paid into their Revolut account, it allows you to ask for a portion of it that you’ve already earned.

You can withdraw up to 50% of your earnings to date or after every shift, with no interest accrued. This feature presents an excellent alternative to payday loans and overdrafts for emergencies.

Revolut Shopper

The browser extension from Revolut not only helps you check out faster by auto-filling personal details, you get a unique virtual card number for every spend, while your real card remains hidden, safe from fraudsters and hackers.

Donations

Revolut hosts a variety of charities and other not-for-profit organisations you can make donations with a few taps.

The biggest ease, though, you can choose the way you donate – you can set up recurring payments, arrange your spare change to donate, or make one-off payments. The amount is fully paid; Revolut doesn’t get a cut from any of your gifts.

Investing

Revolut also makes investing easy for its customers, by offering commission-free trades, starting with 1 per month for Standard plan customers, to 10 per month for the Ultra plan customers, after which 0.12% would be the applicable commission.

You can invest in cryptocurrencies, commodities, and shares through the app. The app is by no means a versatile investing platform – and its fees are considerably higher than a dedicated broker.

Perhaps the most attractive features come with cryptocurrencies – just as donations, you can set up your spare change to go to your crypto investments and participate in the Learn & Earn scheme where you can collect coins as you go through classes and quizzes. In the midst of the UK’s crackdown on cryptocurrencies, Revolut remains one of the most crypto-friendly financial products available.

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	Revolut	8.5	Visitrevolut.com

Savings & Interest Earned – 8.3/10

Balances held in a savings vault in Revolut are eligible to earn interest. Rates start from 2.29% for customers on the Standard plan and go all the way to 3.55% for the Ultra plan.

While the rates may not be highly competitive, they are still fairly respectable for an online e-money institution. The biggest caveat is that Revolut doesn’t offer any more savings facilities beyond Saving Vaults unlike its close competitors Monzo or Starling.

Topping Up Savings Vaults

The savings vault requires a conscious decision on the part of the account holder to start collecting money in order to earn interest.

Once decided, Revolut makes it easy to start collecting the money. Customers can:

• transfer money to a vault as a one-time transaction and do so as and when they can,

• set up a schedule for periodically transferring money into the vault,

• choose the spare change roundup option, through which every spend will be rounded up to the nearest pound with the rounded-up value being deposited into the vault.

Overdraft Limits & Fees 0/10

Currently, Revolut does not offer overdrafts or personal loans to customers in the UK.

Overseas Usage and International Money Transfers – 9.8/10

The pound sterling is the designated ‘home’ currency of the account, but you can also hold balances in the following currencies:

AED, AUD, BGN, CAD, CHF, CLP, COP, CZK, DKK, EGP, EUR, GBP, HKD, HUF, ILS, INR, ISK, JPY, KRW, KZT, MAD, MXN, NOK, NZD, PHP, PLN, QAR, RON, RSD, SAR, SEK, SGD, THB, TRY, USD, ZAR.

The list of currencies in which you can transact is much larger. Your Revolut account also comes along with a European IBAN, for cross-Europe money transfers.

Revolut’s physical cards can be used to make payments overseas as well as withdraw cash from ATM machines. Withdrawal limits are subject to the plans.

The Currency Exchange Rate

Revolut offers the interbank rate to exchange money, which is technically the best rate available, between Monday and Friday. On the days the foreign exchange markets are closed, Revolut applies a markup, presumably to cover itself against adverse exchange rate movements.

This is, though, limited to £1,000 per month for Standard and Premium plans, whereas higher tiers don’t have a limit. Which is, in a way, slightly more limiting than its peers. Most notably Starling and Wise.

Nevertheless, the ability to hold money in multiple currencies is a great advantage if you can plan ahead. This way, you can convert and keep the money in a preferred currency at a managed rate of conversion, instead of leaving yourself open to the vagaries of the exchange rate at a time when one needs to convert and spend in a foreign currency.

Usability – 10/10

Revolut has become a flagship product in the fintech sphere in many ways. Besides the low-cost banking services, its versatile app that holds user experience above all is among the main drivers of its success.

Revolut App Review

Versatility and top-notch user experience are applicable to almost every online-only bank. Simply because these organisations created their products with a digital mindset – the mobile product was always prioritised. This is as opposed to legacy banks, which had to go through a hefty digitalisation process.

Yet, Revolut still has something unique to it. I find its app not only much more visually appealing than Monzo’s simplistic app and Starling’s serious product, but it’s also a lot more intuitive and compact.

Revolut Design and Navigation

The dashboard brings together all of the banking features and analytics available – at a glance, you can view your balance, latest transaction, ongoing actions (such as talking to the support), budget, monthly spending analytics, scheduled payments, recent payees, and your net worth encompassing the current account and vaults.

Besides the fundamental banking features, you’ll also see the nearby rewards on a Google Maps widget (which, to say the least, is ingenious).

The dashboard is customisable to a degree, you can change the order of the aforementioned widgets, but you can’t add more. I found it a bit strange decision to hide some important capabilities like Pockets (through which you can manage your bills) or Salary in the Hub, accessible via the bottom bar.

While some actions are click-hungry, it’s still fairly easy to navigate around the Revolut app. Beyond the ease of basic banking actions, I find having budgeting tools and spending analytics visible to me whenever I access the app extremely useful.

For comparison’s sake, I need to change tabs to access HSBC’s budgeting tool – while tapping on a different tab is not the end of the world, higher visibility helps me remain on top of my spending.

One of the most convenient tricks that make Revolut a breeze to use is digital access to your debit card number. On the cards tab, you can view your debit card virtually, and copy all of the information on it (card number, expiry date, and security code) for your online purchases. This is also possible for disposable virtual cards.

Login and Security Features

Upon signing up, Revolut requires you to set up a pin which you’ll be using to access the app. Alternatively, you can set up a biometric login as well.

For subscription-based services like Amazon, Revolut requires an initial authentication that you can confirm on the app. For any one-off online purchase, you have to confirm it on the app.

Other security features include disposable virtual cards to combat online hacking and instant spending notifications, so you know whenever your card is used.

The fact that the app is the focal point of access to a Revolut account is good in some ways but can be quite a drag in others. Even when signing up online you need to confirm access through the app – which means that if you ever break your phone or lose it, it’d be pretty difficult to access your account.

This is where having no phone support or physical branches can become an issue.

Money Transfers

If you’ve already sent money to a contact, it takes less than a minute to transfer funds. If not, you can set up a new transfer straight away.

While it’s fairly easy to set up a UK account as a payee, you have to enter the address of an international recipient – which in some cases proves to be a hassle.

The transfer choices are extensive: on the New Transfers page, you’ll see the option to set up a group bill, transfer money to a crypto wallet, and create a payment link. You can also view your contacts that use Revolut as well as your past payees.

Additionally, you can send money to a contact using their phone number or email address – a very useful feature long been used by the likes of PayPal.

Opening a Revolut Account

One of the major benefits offered by Revolut is a hassle-free account opening experience. It is completely digital and can be completed on your phone without a need to visit any place or submit anything physically, and it takes less than a day.

Your first Revolut card is delivered free of charge within a few days.

Here are the steps involved:

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	Revolut	8.5	Visitrevolut.com

Customer Satisfaction & Reputation – 8.5/10

Revolut has rapidly gained in popularity amongst younger population sets, and digital natives, by making money management mobile and versatile.

It is estimated that over half of its active users are no older than 34. And almost 75% of its users are 44 or below. These users are driving adoption as well as customer satisfaction scores for the app.

While convenience is a big factor in its adoption, the fact that it doesn’t have a UK banking license does hold Revolut back. Customer deposits are not protected by the FSCS cover of £85,000 available to regulated bank deposits.

Certain transactions like cash and cheque deposits cannot be done, not that there are many of them. Being an app-only service, digital security is of uppermost concern, for Revolut as well as its users.

Customer Reviews

Reviews on Trustpilot reveal an appreciation of several features such as

• foreign exchange rates,

• ease of spending while on overseas travel,

• the ability of a human chat agent to resolve issues.

Several customers who have appreciated Revolut also say that the product is a work in progress. Some of the challenges they have faced are:

• account closures without prior information,

• blocking of funds.

Revolut does keep track of reviews and has an impressive response rate of 96%. The messages are personalised and ensure that queries are answered by the appropriate support team.

Revolut on App Store

While Revolut has a high rating of 4.7/5 on the App Store, the reviews tell a different story. There are not many complaints about the app itself or its performance, rather, the complaints are much more serious.

The poor customer service that lacks a phoneline for customers (bar Ultra customers is the main culprit behind many of the negative reviews. Incidents described, such as the card order not being filled or fraud victims not being repaid, are magnified by the lack of human contact.

Revolut on Google Play

Similar problems persist for Android users, but they also suffer from a less intuitive app (or at least more vocal about it) on top of it.

The reviews list many suggestions to make the app more user-friendly, make features easier to locate, and so on.

Customer Service

Being an app-only service, it is logical for the primary customer support channels to be routed through the app.

Like many apps, Revolut relies on its ‘community’ to provide mutual support, which helps keep its own support light. This, based on customer feedback, may not be the best strategy.

To reach help:

1. Tap on your profile picture or initials (top left corner).

2. Open the Help section.

3. Choose the relevant category followed by a topic you need help with.

4. If the article doesn't solve your problem, tap the ‘Chat with Us’ button.

5. You'll speak to the chatbot, Rita.

6. If she can't help you, you'll be redirected to one of the live agents within half an hour.

Ultra customers have access to 24/7 outbound phone support service, which you can access through your Revolut app, currently in English only.

The lack of a phone line, or having to pay £45 a month for it, proves to be a pain for many customers, and it takes a significant amount of time to connect to a representative on the in-app chat, just over 30 minutes.

Revolut also offers an email ID for user feedback: [email protected].

Complaints can be submitted via an online form or on an email ID: [email protected]. Their website also links out to the financial ombudsman in the UK in case a customer needs to complain to an external authority.

Security

Revolut is not a bank in the UK. This means that it does not need to comply with some of the stringent capital and liquidity requirements that banks need to comply with. Along those lines, customer deposits are not protected by FSCS.

It is, however, regulated by the FCA as an e-money institution offering financial services.

Not being a bank, Revolut does not participate directly in the UK interbank clearing through which banks exchange funds with each other. It can only do so indirectly by holding an account with a bank that it does.

Similarly, it professes to hold all its customer deposits with ‘safeguarding’ accounts with other regulated banks. This means that it’s required by law to segregate customer accounts from its business accounts – this means that in the event of insolvency, customer funds will not be seized.

The cards it issues are either Mastercard or Visa and use their respective networks for transacting. From card freezing to setting spending limits, customers can control security settings through the app.

Online transactions are made safer through its disposable virtual cards details of which will change after it has been used.

It constantly reviews its fraud and scam prevention systems. Some techniques and technologies it applies to your transactions:

• A 2F authentication in the form of a PIN or a one-time code or fingerprint or facial recognition is applied to many transactions.

• Sending money through a browser requires a login confirmation via the mobile app.

• Notification for confirmation of payment before payment is made to merchants that require transaction verification.

• Location-based security is used to determine if the app has been compromised.

The app being the focal point of control for security checks has many benefits – but also a big drawback. If you ever lose or break your phone, you would be (hopefully) temporarily locked out of your account. This can be particularly painful while travelling.

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	Revolut	8.5	Visitrevolut.com

Best Alternative to Revolut

Starling vs Revolut

In an era of rapid growth of fintech products, Starling has made a name for itself in the few years it has been operational.

First and foremost, what sets Starling apart from fintech competitors is its status as a licensed bank in the UK. It is regulated as a bank and needs to abide by the capital adequacy and liquidity requirements of the regulator.

It participates in interbank transactions in its own name and is able to transact even in cash and cheques, though it prefers not to, that Revolut cannot.

And finally, customer deposits are covered by FSCS.

A Comparison of Offerings and Features

Both Starling and Revolut are credible alternatives to traditional banks. In fact, many view their emergence as a necessary change in the staid world of banking. They have put the power of most things money at the fingertips of customers. No longer does one need to depend on the efficiency or inefficiency, of banks to do transactions like sending transfers and placing money in interest-bearing accounts. It is all available through one’s mobile.

It must be said that Revolut has managed to acquire customers at a much faster pace than Starling, of course, helped by the fact that it is operational in many countries while Starling does business primarily in the UK. Revolut has 30 million customers to Starling’s 2.7 million plus.

The biggest difference is that Starling doesn’t charge for any of its personal accounts – whereas Revolut offers multiple tiers. This means that unless you’re willing to pay £45 per month, you won’t be able to access all of Revolut’s offerings – whereas Starling users can access any feature bank has on offer and will roll out in the future (as it stands now).

Revolut allows customers to hold balances in multiple currencies. Whereas with Starling, the choices are limited to GBP and EUR. Starling does try to offset the currency conversion disadvantage by offering a wholesale rate to retail customers.

Starling offers a joint account that Revolut does not.

It is a tough choice between the two – Starling is an able competitor to Revolut.

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	Starling Bank	8.5	Visitstarlingbank.com

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