When preparing for a trip abroad, you often worry about managing expenses in another country, as you could run into unexpected costs. This is why instead of having these sums burdened on our current account, using our common ATM card, we rely on prepaid cards, reducing the risks of unforeseen expenses and increasing the security of our accounts. But what if we told you that from today there is a new prepaid card that offers full freedom throughout the European territory without commissions related to exchange rates? It is called Revolut.
What is Revolut?
Revolut is a small revolution in the field of prepaid cards, as it manages to combine the prepaid card tool with commission-free use, the best exchange rate applied, a sensitive opening to cryptocurrencies and an innovative trading function.
The Revolut project was born from the needs of a traveler, the Russian Nikolay Storonsky, who, by founding his startup in the United Kingdom, with a crowdfunding that raised over a million dollars in a few hours, wanted to tackle the problem of travel and exchange fees related to foreign currencies. Revolut is basically a prepaid card with a MasterCard circuit, but the difference with other similar products is the ability to perform transactions in 150 foreign currencies with the best interbank rate in real time. The cost is zero on any transaction performed as a credit card, while for amounts over 500 pounds a commission equal to 2% of the amount is applied. The current account functions, the generation of virtual credit cards and the sale of cryptocurrencies complete the offer of this project.
How to open an account
Revolut is available for Android and iOS, so by downloading the official app from the respective stores, you will then need to have an e-mail address and a valid identity document to verify the individual. In a few minutes your Revolut account will be operational, but in order to take full advantage of the account and the card - physical or virtual - you will need to make a minimum top-up of 10 euros.
How to reload Revolut
Currently it is possible to top up the Revolut credit with a transfer from another bank account, given that Revolut has its own IBAN, from another Revolut account, or with a payment by another credit or prepaid card, with a cost equal to zero on the commission of all the methods listed (except the transfer commission if this is provided by the issuing bank). The IBAN is Lithuanian, but it must be specified that a SEPA transfer must be made and not a foreign transfer. If the customer wants to load the new Revolut account using credit or debit cards, the card used for the payment must be enabled for online payments, have a 16-digit PAN number and use the 3D Secure security system.
Functions and App
A fully active Revolut Standard account allows you to perform free wire transfers, free ATM withdrawals and virtual and physical prepaid card payments, without having to incur any monthly or annual fees.
Sharing and exchanging money between users are part of the Revolut offer. This "handyman card" is able to forward payments to other Revolut users, but also to those who are not registered through a shareable link. The official app, the real heart of the Revolut system - unlike the simple prepaid one - allows you to keep track of all your actions through the Statistics section. In the Accounts section, you can add funds, convert currencies, keep an eye on rates and have a detailed account statement. The section dedicated to Payments allows you to send or request money from a Revolut contact, make transfers, create payment links (a function born with PayPal, editor's note) or locate a new Revolut user nearby with the Near Me function for quick economic sharing.
Finally, with the Dashboard we have a complete overview of Revolut services. And they are really a lot. At the top of the list of its functions we find the Revolut cards, physical or virtual, followed by the Current Accounts in 28 different currencies. With the Vault service it is possible to create "piggy banks" or savings sections to which sums can be allocated sporadically or with a careful provisioning program with very specific objectives.
The peculiar feature of Revolut remains its versatility, which allows it to be used in any circumstance:
- for daily expenses
- to travel peacefully without nasty surprises with the exchange rate fees, applying the most favorable one on over 150 different currencies
- to withdraw cash abroad without paying commissions from any ATM up to 200 euros per day
- to withdraw an amount up to 600 euros per day with a Premium or Metal card with the additional costs that we will see later
Other interesting features are added to the Revolut offer, such as the use of
disposable virtual cards. In addition, it is one of the first prepaid cards to
manage cryptocurrencies, five to be exact and a new
trading function. The disposable virtual cards are born for the same key need of the prepaid cards. Don't feel safe? Do you want to keep your credit card but need to make an online purchase on a site you don't trust? Well, being able to generate up to
3 real cards and
5 virtual cards linked to an account, you can use disposable cards that are eliminated after a single payment.
As for cryptocurrencies, it is possible to invest in as many as
53 tokens (to see the complete list click here) including:
- Bitcoin (BTC)
- Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
- Ethereum (ETH)
- Litecoin (LTC)
- Ripple (XRP)
- Dogecoin (DOGE)
- Cardano (ADA)
- Stellar (XLM)
- Loopring (LRC)
- 0x (ZRX)
Once again Revolut offers the purchase of cryptocurrencies without commissions and at the exchange rate of the Bitstamp exchange, plus a 1.5% increase, to take into account the volatility. The purchased cryptocurrencies can then be sold or exchanged in the same way as the other currencies considered by Revolut. You can buy them with any legal currency at your disposal and convert them back whenever you want. To do this you need to access the Exchange section, which you can find by going through Accounts and Bank transfer. Buying and selling cryptocurrencies works the same way as buying and selling other currencies.
We specify that Revolut is compatible with both Google Pay and Apple Pay services.
However, we also encountered some significant limitations in using Revolut, regardless of the free Standard plan or the other two paid ones. Specifically, we were unable to make some purchases on cryptocurrency exchanges and the card is not accepted to pay highway tolls.
Stock trading in real time
Starting from 19 September 2019, Revolut integrates the trading service into the official app. Revolut card integrates this service in 26 different markets, including Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Additional markets will be integrated over time.
The stock trading offered by Revolut operates on over 450 U.S. available stocks and as many as 300 stocks of American companies. Orders are instant and allow Revolut users to invest in shares, or fractions of shares, at current market value with real-time quotes and performance data.
Standard users will be able to make three trades per month without commissions, while Premium users will be able to make eight. 1 Euro will be charged for each additional trade. Metal users, on the other hand, will have unlimited trades available. All users will be charged an annual custody fee of 0.01% calculated on the value of the user's wallet.
Furthermore, it should be noted that the stock trading offered by Revolut allows the splitting of shares, with the possibility of purchasing only small portions of shares. A particularly useful tool when it comes to purchases of particularly expensive securities relative to small investments.
So summarizing:
- Revolut's Trading feature is available for Standard, Premium and Metal users.
- Standard users will be able to make three trades per month without commissions.
- Premium users will be able to make eight trades per month without commissions.
- Metal users will instead be able to make unlimited trades.
- All users can download the monthly report directly from within the app.
Revolut Junior
Revolut aims to promote good habits in money management from an early age using safe parameters and thanks to the guidance of an adult who is already a Revolut user, who can create an account for the child. Parents can receive notifications of children's spending, check card and transaction functionality, and possibly set limits on online payments.
Standard customers can create 1 Junior account with 1 Junior card (monthly limit of 40 Euros, delivery cost applies) while Premium and Metal customers can create 2 and 5 accounts respectively (annual limit of 4000 Euros, free card shipping). The card can also be used without the children's app, if the child does not have a mobile device.
Two new tools remain exclusive to Premium and Metal customers: Homework and Pocket Money.
Standard customers can create 1 Junior account with 1 Junior card (monthly limit of 40 Euros, delivery cost applies) while Premium and Metal customers can create 2 and 5 accounts respectively (annual limit of 4000 Euros, free card shipping). The card can also be used without the children's app, if the child does not have a mobile device.
Two new tools remain exclusive to Premium and Metal customers: Homework and Pocket Money.
Types of cards
Revolut currently has four different account types:
This is the free version of Revolut. It offers a free current account with IBAN, physical and virtual prepaid card, free ATM withdrawals up to 200 euros per month, free wire transfers and zero commissions on all transactions abroad.
(more information)
The new Revolut Plus plan costs only 2.99 euros per month and, in addition to all the benefits of the standard plan, provides priority assistance on the Revolut app, functions related to trading, cryptocurrencies, tools for analyzing expenses and those to manage budgets, open banking and the much appreciated Revolut Junior function remains included, which allows parents and guardians to teach children how to manage money thanks to access to 2 Junior accounts.
(more information)
To Revolut Standard's services, it adds free withdrawals of up to 400 euros per month, free global health insurance, free flight delay insurance, free disposable cards, TURBO wire transfers, dedicated assistance, 20% discounted smartphone insurance and access to 1,000 airport lounges.
(more information)
This is Revolut's all-inclusive solution. In addition to the conditions of the Standard account, there is a 1% Metal Cashback on payments made with the card, dedicated assistance outside and inside the home, unlimited FX operations, free withdrawals at ATMs up to 600 euros per month, free global health insurance , free flight delay insurance, free disposable cards, TURBO wire transfers, priority dedicated assistance, 20% discount on smartphone insurance, access to 1,000 airport lounges and free express delivery of the card to 180 countries within 4 working days. The cards are available in five exclusive colors - Black, Gold, Rose Gold, Silver and Space Gray.
