Revolut.com - Opinions
Discussion
kev1974 said:
I wasn't too concerned about day to day currency fluctuations, the main thing for me was just avoiding the "sterling transaction fees" which Nationwide and Metro Bank were both violently whacking me with on every transaction when I was outside Europe. Monzo (and Revolut, had they got their card dispatched quicker) both allow me to avoid those unnecessary fees, and that was more than enough of a saving for me.
This. 
Also the 3% forex fee on many credit cards.
Monzo if you want to put it in Apple Pay.
Revolut if you like getting all sorts of spam notifications from them, I continue to find them a nuisance on that front.
My other irritation with Revolut is they have a "geolock" enabled by default, and if they decide your location doesn't match the shop you're trying to spend in, they deny the transaction, I had to turn that off, it was triggering even in places like WH Smiths in Waterloo Station in London.
I wouldn't worry too much about the cash "limit" on either of them, you can still withdraw more than £200 on both of them, it's just not as cheap as the first £200 in each 30 days was, but even after that it's likely still cheaper than any other method of drawing cash overseas, depending what country you're in. Besides my experience when using Monzo widely was that it is accepted everywhere and so easy (especially via Apple Pay) that I found I barely use cash any more anyway. Don't forget you have to preload it with everything you spend on it or draw out as cash at a machine, so if large amounts of cash are important to you this may not be the best way anyway, and it doesn't replace a credit card for some things.
Revolut if you like getting all sorts of spam notifications from them, I continue to find them a nuisance on that front.
My other irritation with Revolut is they have a "geolock" enabled by default, and if they decide your location doesn't match the shop you're trying to spend in, they deny the transaction, I had to turn that off, it was triggering even in places like WH Smiths in Waterloo Station in London.
I wouldn't worry too much about the cash "limit" on either of them, you can still withdraw more than £200 on both of them, it's just not as cheap as the first £200 in each 30 days was, but even after that it's likely still cheaper than any other method of drawing cash overseas, depending what country you're in. Besides my experience when using Monzo widely was that it is accepted everywhere and so easy (especially via Apple Pay) that I found I barely use cash any more anyway. Don't forget you have to preload it with everything you spend on it or draw out as cash at a machine, so if large amounts of cash are important to you this may not be the best way anyway, and it doesn't replace a credit card for some things.
kev1974 said:
Monzo if you want to put it in Apple Pay.
Revolut if you like getting all sorts of spam notifications from them, I continue to find them a nuisance on that front.
My other irritation with Revolut is they have a "geolock" enabled by default, and if they decide your location doesn't match the shop you're trying to spend in, they deny the transaction, I had to turn that off, it was triggering even in places like WH Smiths in Waterloo Station in London.
I wouldn't worry too much about the cash "limit" on either of them, you can still withdraw more than £200 on both of them, it's just not as cheap as the first £200 in each 30 days was, but even after that it's likely still cheaper than any other method of drawing cash overseas, depending what country you're in. Besides my experience when using Monzo widely was that it is accepted everywhere and so easy (especially via Apple Pay) that I found I barely use cash any more anyway. Don't forget you have to preload it with everything you spend on it or draw out as cash at a machine, so if large amounts of cash are important to you this may not be the best way anyway, and it doesn't replace a credit card for some things.
Mrs BC and I have had Revolut cards for months and don’t get any spam. It must be something in the settings.Revolut if you like getting all sorts of spam notifications from them, I continue to find them a nuisance on that front.
My other irritation with Revolut is they have a "geolock" enabled by default, and if they decide your location doesn't match the shop you're trying to spend in, they deny the transaction, I had to turn that off, it was triggering even in places like WH Smiths in Waterloo Station in London.
I wouldn't worry too much about the cash "limit" on either of them, you can still withdraw more than £200 on both of them, it's just not as cheap as the first £200 in each 30 days was, but even after that it's likely still cheaper than any other method of drawing cash overseas, depending what country you're in. Besides my experience when using Monzo widely was that it is accepted everywhere and so easy (especially via Apple Pay) that I found I barely use cash any more anyway. Don't forget you have to preload it with everything you spend on it or draw out as cash at a machine, so if large amounts of cash are important to you this may not be the best way anyway, and it doesn't replace a credit card for some things.
You’re right about the geolocation thing tho.
Bushman1 said:
Also just read up on starling, any experiences
Very good and don't have the same limits as Monzo. I also have a dislike for Monzo as their founder basically was hired by Starling, worked there for a few months and then ran off to start his own clone in the form of Monzo.Revolut have arbitrarily just limited my account because I’ve made one big and a few smaller purchases today. They’re telling me I have to prove where my income comes from, and have left me holding on a chat for ages. Nice people.
ETA. Still on hold after 20 minutes. Going to close my account with them. Any recommendations?
ETA again. Now they want me to supply 3 months’ worth of my invoices and/or my tax return, plus a selfie of me holding up my ID! Where was all this security when I opened the account?
ETA. Still on hold after 20 minutes. Going to close my account with them. Any recommendations?
ETA again. Now they want me to supply 3 months’ worth of my invoices and/or my tax return, plus a selfie of me holding up my ID! Where was all this security when I opened the account?
Edited by SGirl on Saturday 12th January 18:41
ColdoRS said:
Not as good(cheap) as TransferWise for me due to the monthly limits and subsequent charges, which is a shame as I love the revolut app and service.
One thing I cannot seem to set up with a Transferwise account is a monthly ongoing payment. I can do so via Monzo (haven't tried with Revolut as frankly Monzo seemed to work better for me when I sampled all of them). I would rather use Transferwise across the board for the boarderless accounts but I need a monthly DD to enter in Sterling and go out to a Euro account so Monzo currently look to be the option - yet Monzo themselves use T/W for the Sterling/Euro transfer in any event.
Two hours it took to reinstate my account. They wanted (initially) 3 months’ worth of invoices, a copy of my tax statement, a photo of the front and back of my driving licence, and a selfie.
And all because I queried their application of business charges the other day, I suppose.
Seriously unimpressed with them. I’m off to look for a replacement.
And all because I queried their application of business charges the other day, I suppose.
Seriously unimpressed with them. I’m off to look for a replacement.
SGirl said:
Two hours it took to reinstate my account. They wanted (initially) 3 months’ worth of invoices, a copy of my tax statement, a photo of the front and back of my driving licence, and a selfie.
And all because I queried their application of business charges the other day, I suppose.
Seriously unimpressed with them. I’m off to look for a replacement.
I don’t understand why they’d ask for proof of income when you’re not borrowing any money from them? I just load money onto mine, use it until the money’s spent then top up again. It’s never been a problem.And all because I queried their application of business charges the other day, I suppose.
Seriously unimpressed with them. I’m off to look for a replacement.
bad company said:
I don’t understand why they’d ask for proof of income when you’re not borrowing any money from them? I just load money onto mine, use it until the money’s spent then top up again. It’s never been a problem.
My point entirely. Money laundering rules, apparently - though why anyone would be dim enough to launder money via a bank account and prepaid debit card is beyond me. I’ve still got steam coming out of my ears. They seem to think being informal and sending me a message saying “hooray, your account is live again!” will make up for two hours of jumping through pointless hoops. I’m going to spend the balance and close the card. They reckon they’re better than banks - it’s never taken me 2 hours of intrusive questions to verify my ID at a bank.
Bushman1 said:
So what’s the verdict which one is best Monzo or Revolut?? The argument was that you get protection with Monzo and more cash withdraws but it seems to be £200 30 day withdrawal limit which seems to be the same as Revolut.
The thing the Monzo users above are failing to grasp is the feature that is most important and the biggest differentiator.The ability to HOLD different currencies.
Revolut allows you to hold multiple currencies on deposit, not just take the rate at point of use.
For someone who takes a passing interest in fx rates (indeed, Revolut allows you to set alerts when certain rates are hit) this means you can exploit the highs and lows.
Most of us know when we will be travelling (skiing this March, Europe this summer) so can choose when to convert or indeed convert a number of times between then and now to achieve a smoothed rate.
Chap on the previous page also highlighted this!
I travelled to the USA at Xmas with a Revolut card and regretted it from day one. I added £100, exchanged for USD, all fine, then the first place used it the card machine wasn't working properly and they charged the transaction 3 times.
A normal CC wouldn't show any of these until they had been validated/returned/cancelled, but Revolut debited all 3 payments (3 x $55) and when I spoke to them, said the merchant would return the 2 overpayments within 15 days, if they didn't then I would need to talk to them directly.
Until that time, the liability is with me and if I wanted to spend more, I would need to add more to my account.
I have read the same happening in restaurants, bars and hotel bookings. As a result it means the main attraction of the Revolut for me (good rates and no FX charge) were pointless because the card cannot be used safely.
One other downside of Revolut when travelling, particularly in the US, is that as a prepaid card it is often either not accepted or charged up front by hotels or car hire companies. Avis flat out refused to accept it, hotel in Vegas charged the full amount of the stay up front, including an amount for "extras" and the refund took a week to come through. Id say if travelling an additional true credit card, something like a halifax clarity card, is essential.
Ok. The first and only lesson to appreciate in regards to retail, physical fx is that you are a numbnuts to be milked. It’s a ghastly little corner of the retail market that is typically staffed by the kind of scrote far too filthy to do a face to face job like selling windows or tarmac.
All this ‘zero fee’ or ‘no commission’ stuff is part of the scam. The charge is in the spread and frankly the more a firm shouts about not charging a commission then the more they are probably charging in the spread. Most are also just skins and so adding their slug onto the spread on top of the clearer’s.
There are no best ex rules in physical fx. So that means that if I know the directionnof your trade then I am going to f
k you into next week on my quote. Sure, I’ll quote you the tightest spread in the market but what you won’t notice is that being th the bid and offer are 200 pips in my favour. I’ve lost count of the number of mates who have proudly told me they deal on sub 50 pip spreads but I then show them the spot at their timenof trade and it’s 100+ out of their favour.
So, just to cap that aspect off, the commission, fee aspect is marketing crap for the type of punter who puts their gold in envelopes and the ‘spread’ is often used to good advantage as the clients always reveal which direction they are trading. Always pull up a spot price from the internet before any trade so that you can actually see how much it is costing you.
Now on to Revolut. They are not a bank. You have fk all protection and I have a wholly unfounded suspicion that like a lot of firms set up by Eastern Europeans to milk dumb Westerners they may have cut some corners along the way.
But, for tiny sums the product is good. It’s simple, robust and flexible and for small sums it simply isn’t worth investigating if you can get a better fx deal.
All this ‘zero fee’ or ‘no commission’ stuff is part of the scam. The charge is in the spread and frankly the more a firm shouts about not charging a commission then the more they are probably charging in the spread. Most are also just skins and so adding their slug onto the spread on top of the clearer’s.
There are no best ex rules in physical fx. So that means that if I know the directionnof your trade then I am going to f
k you into next week on my quote. Sure, I’ll quote you the tightest spread in the market but what you won’t notice is that being th the bid and offer are 200 pips in my favour. I’ve lost count of the number of mates who have proudly told me they deal on sub 50 pip spreads but I then show them the spot at their timenof trade and it’s 100+ out of their favour. So, just to cap that aspect off, the commission, fee aspect is marketing crap for the type of punter who puts their gold in envelopes and the ‘spread’ is often used to good advantage as the clients always reveal which direction they are trading. Always pull up a spot price from the internet before any trade so that you can actually see how much it is costing you.
Now on to Revolut. They are not a bank. You have f
k all protection and I have a wholly unfounded suspicion that like a lot of firms set up by Eastern Europeans to milk dumb Westerners they may have cut some corners along the way. But, for tiny sums the product is good. It’s simple, robust and flexible and for small sums it simply isn’t worth investigating if you can get a better fx deal.
bad company said:
kev1974 said:
Monzo if you want to put it in Apple Pay.
Revolut if you like getting all sorts of spam notifications from them, I continue to find them a nuisance on that front.
My other irritation with Revolut is they have a "geolock" enabled by default, and if they decide your location doesn't match the shop you're trying to spend in, they deny the transaction, I had to turn that off, it was triggering even in places like WH Smiths in Waterloo Station in London.
I wouldn't worry too much about the cash "limit" on either of them, you can still withdraw more than £200 on both of them, it's just not as cheap as the first £200 in each 30 days was, but even after that it's likely still cheaper than any other method of drawing cash overseas, depending what country you're in. Besides my experience when using Monzo widely was that it is accepted everywhere and so easy (especially via Apple Pay) that I found I barely use cash any more anyway. Don't forget you have to preload it with everything you spend on it or draw out as cash at a machine, so if large amounts of cash are important to you this may not be the best way anyway, and it doesn't replace a credit card for some things.
Mrs BC and I have had Revolut cards for months and don’t get any spam. It must be something in the settings.Revolut if you like getting all sorts of spam notifications from them, I continue to find them a nuisance on that front.
My other irritation with Revolut is they have a "geolock" enabled by default, and if they decide your location doesn't match the shop you're trying to spend in, they deny the transaction, I had to turn that off, it was triggering even in places like WH Smiths in Waterloo Station in London.
I wouldn't worry too much about the cash "limit" on either of them, you can still withdraw more than £200 on both of them, it's just not as cheap as the first £200 in each 30 days was, but even after that it's likely still cheaper than any other method of drawing cash overseas, depending what country you're in. Besides my experience when using Monzo widely was that it is accepted everywhere and so easy (especially via Apple Pay) that I found I barely use cash any more anyway. Don't forget you have to preload it with everything you spend on it or draw out as cash at a machine, so if large amounts of cash are important to you this may not be the best way anyway, and it doesn't replace a credit card for some things.
You’re right about the geolocation thing tho.
With the Revolut card I get the transaction notifications (when the card works anyway) but I'm also forever getting notifications along the lines of "you have money in your Revolut account" or "last week you spent £xxx with Revolut" or "last month you topped up £xxx". Something every few days anyway. Can't seem to turn all those spammy ones off without turning off the transaction ones as well.
SGirl said:
Revolut have arbitrarily just limited my account because I’ve made one big and a few smaller purchases today. They’re telling me I have to prove where my income comes from, and have left me holding on a chat for ages. Nice people.
ETA. Still on hold after 20 minutes. Going to close my account with them. Any recommendations?
ETA again. Now they want me to supply 3 months’ worth of my invoices and/or my tax return, plus a selfie of me holding up my ID! Where was all this security when I opened the account?
I don't remember which was which but when I opened my Revolut and Monzo accounts last year, one of them wanted a photo of me holding my passport up, and the other one wanted a video of me reciting something like my name and address (what they wanted was shown on screen) as well as the photo of my passport.ETA. Still on hold after 20 minutes. Going to close my account with them. Any recommendations?
ETA again. Now they want me to supply 3 months’ worth of my invoices and/or my tax return, plus a selfie of me holding up my ID! Where was all this security when I opened the account?
So these are normal requirements for "recent" accounts and I guess they just catch up with getting it for older accounts when something happens to bring the account to their attention.
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