Revolut - Ultracheap FX (prepaid Mastercard)

Richard tea

Ok thanks all. I understand it a bit better now. I thought I had to buy sterling in order to get the best rate. I'll link my card on Amazon and give it a try

Gooser14

Is there a problem with Revolut this morning? I transferred a Sterling sum from Ulster Bank about 4 hours ago but it hasn't been credited yet.

Edit: Just arrived in account. Took longer than normal this time!

Richard tea

I just need to clarify one thing. I tried to top up my account in GBP. I got a message saying to avoid Bank fees I should top up in my own currency (EUR). I plan on buying an Amazon gift card for X amount and using that to pay for items in sterling. So should I top up in GBP or EUR?

GhostyMcGhost

Richard tea wrote: »

I just need to clarify one thing. I tried to top up my account in GBP. I got a message saying to avoid Bank fees I should top up in my own currency (EUR). I plan on buying an Amazon gift card for X amount and using that to pay for items in sterling. So should I top up in GBP or EUR?

Always always always top up in the same currency as the card you're using for the top up

Then convert in revolut either manually in the app or let revolut do it automatically at transaction time if you haven't got enough in your GBP balance

Richard tea

GhostyMcGhost wrote: »

Always always always top up in the same currency as the card you're using for the top up

Then convert in revolut either manually in the app or let revolut do it automatically at transaction time if you haven't got enough in your GBP balance

Ok so for example Amazon asks if you want to complete the purchase in GBP or EUR. I leave it on GBP and let it come off my revolut card?

-=al=-

Top up in in the card currency, Euro in this case, and pay in GBP. You want to do the conversion yourself, or let revolut do it.

If using Amazon, buy an Amazon voucher to pay for stuff

You don't have to convert to GBP if using the card for a transaction once you have enough Euro to cover it, it's fine. I always convert it but most peple don't

Doge

So Amazon charged me for an item 2 days ago, I'm pretty sure it deducted from my revolut balance and if i tap on it it says its a pending transaction.
In the last hour, amazon asked me to revise my payment method, so it tried to charge me again for the same item.


This happened earlier during the week with a different order and I received a refund in between both charge attempts.

This time i havent received any refund in between both attempts, or at least it hasnt showed up yet.

Has this happened anyone else?

Amazon support said i wasnt charged, but im not so sure as I'm pretty certain I saw the balance go down.

Can anyone decipher if I was actually charged or not?

Jeff2

Doge wrote: »

So Amazon charged me for an item 2 days ago, I'm pretty sure it deducted from my revolut balance and if i tap on it it says its a pending transaction.
In the last hour, amazon asked me to revise my payment method, so it tried to charge me again for the same item.


This happened earlier during the week with a different order and I received a refund in between both charge attempts.

This time i havent received any refund in between both attempts, or at least it hasnt showed up yet.

Has this happened anyone else?

Amazon support said i wasnt charged, but im not so sure as I'm pretty certain I saw the balance go down.

Can anyone decipher if I was actually charged or not?

Can you not login to the app to check.?

Davy

Doge wrote: »

So Amazon charged me for an item 2 days ago, I'm pretty sure it deducted from my revolut balance and if i tap on it it says its a pending transaction.
In the last hour, amazon asked me to revise my payment method, so it tried to charge me again for the same item.


This happened earlier during the week with a different order and I received a refund in between both charge attempts.

This time i havent received any refund in between both attempts, or at least it hasnt showed up yet.

Has this happened anyone else?

Amazon support said i wasnt charged, but im not so sure as I'm pretty certain I saw the balance go down.

Can anyone decipher if I was actually charged or not?

Amazon only charge when the item is shipped. When you use a new card they will do a authorisation check on the card for usually €1 but this will be returned in a day or so.

Doge

Davy wrote: »

Amazon only charge when the item is shipped. When you use a new card they will do a authorisation check on the card for usually €1 but this will be returned in a day or so.

Thats usually it but looking back on the transactions the only "check on the card" was on the 16th with a -£1 transaction.

There is no other £1 checks or even €1 checks on the card since despite making plenty of purchases.

Instead theres a "pending" charge for this particular transaction.

The PDF statement is no help either, it says the blanance in that is over 200 euro,
but I have less than 10 euro on the live balance in the app, and i have checked both Euro, Sterling and Dollar.

Its much more confusing than the online statements from Irish banks.

Doge

I forgot that the same thing happened another user in the Amazon BF chat thread:

Lisha wrote: »

Weirdly enough I just looked st my bank account again, I now have a -148 then a +148 and now a second -148.... so I’m staying hopeful

Thanks for reply Mick

Doge wrote: »

The same thing happened to me also Misha when I bought a Seagate hard drive on Friday.

Got charged, was refunded and got charged again.

You should be fine now.

I'm hoping the same thing happened now but the refund hasn't showed up in my Revolut card yet.

Otherwise I'll be down £122!

NinjaTruncs

Does anyone know if I load my revolut account from a credit card does it show as a cash advance transaction or simply a charge like a purchase?

msmx5

Doge wrote: »

I forgot that the same thing happened another user in the Amazon BF chat thread:

I'm hoping the same thing happened now but the refund hasn't showed up in my Revolut card yet.

Otherwise I'll be down £122!

Read back through this thread, Amazon often charge cards like this, a pre-authorisation for the full amount which stays pending for up to 10 days before being released then another transaction for the full amount when the item is shipped.
(This isn't unique to Revolut, same happens on normal debit and credit cards but due to the granularity of reporting and possibly having lower balances/ credit limits on Revolut it is more likely to be noticed or cause a problem with insufficient available funds for a subsequent transaction)

Some people buy Amazon gift cards for the full amount and use them to pay to avoid having funds on you're Revolut in limbo for yo to 10 days.

Don't worry, you won't loose your money, be patient. 😁

msmx5

NinjaTruncs wrote: »

Does anyone know if I load my revolut account from a credit card does it show as a cash advance transaction or simply a charge like a purchase?

Regular purchase I believe.

Doge

msmx5 wrote: »

Don't worry, you won't loose your money, be patient. ��

Thanks for the reassurance!

The reason I was worried is that about a year or 2 ago I was refunded by a UK seller who were fulfilled by Amazon who don't ship to northern ireland despite the order going through and it never showed up in my Revolut account.
Contacting revolut support and they were beyond useless saying they could not see a refund and offered no other help.
Amazon support even gave me some kind of number for the transaction that could be used by a bank to identify it but I think I lost the email.

It was about £30 I lost out on at the time, and from searching online I saw plenty of other posters saying that refunds went into thin air with revolut.

Quackster

Doge wrote: »

Thanks for the reassurance!

The reason I was worried is that about a year or 2 ago I was refunded by a UK seller who were fulfilled by Amazon who don't ship to northern ireland despite the order going through and it never showed up in my Revolut account.
Contacting revolut support and they were beyond useless saying they could not see a refund and offered no other help.
Amazon support even gave me some kind of number for the transaction that could be used by a bank to identify it but I think I lost the email.

It was about £30 I lost out on at the time, and from searching online I saw plenty of other posters saying that refunds went into thin air with revolut.

Yep, if using Revolut with Amazon, to avoid any of this hassle I highly recommend buying a gift card to the value of the transaction (be sure that if you're shipping to ROI to get the final value of the transaction that's adjusted to Irish VAT). As long as you're happy that if you have to return the item(s), any refund will be back onto the gift card rather than your Revolut card.

JR6

I'm heading to Scotland later today. Just wondering is it worth while bringing and using my revolut card over there? I have no sterling with me. I usually just use ATM in whatever country I go to. Should I top up my revolut card with sterling and withdraw from ATM in Scotland ?

Dardania

JR6 wrote: »

I'm heading to Scotland later today. Just wondering is it worth while bringing and using my revolut card over there? I have no sterling with me. I usually just use ATM in whatever country I go to. Should I top up my revolut card with sterling and withdraw from ATM in Scotland ?

Yes. Depends if you want to spend cash, or else do electronic payments. If electronic payments, you can more easily convert the money back to Euro.

JR6

Dardania wrote: »

Yes. Depends if you want to spend cash, or else do electronic payments. If electronic payments, you can more easily convert the money back to Euro.

I want to simply take cash out of ATM. Nice one I'll bring it so. Thanks.

long_b

JR6 wrote: »

I want to simply take cash out of ATM. Nice one I'll bring it so. Thanks.

There's a 200 euro per month limit on cash withdrawal - after that there's a steep enough charge.

msmx5

Richard tea wrote: »

....So should I top up in GBP or EUR?

Assuming you are in Ireland with a Euro bank account then you should top up in Euro!! (Oh I wish this thread had a sticky!)

Rule of thumb "Only let Revolut do the currency conversion" ---- so don't let your Irish bank do the EUR->GBP conversion and when paying for stuff away from home only ever pay in the local currency - never be tempted to agree to them converting for you.

2% charge for over $£€ 200 ATM withdrawals per month isn't massive when you consider a competitive exchange rate in the first place but to avoid it just pay for stuff on your card rather than with cash taken from an ATM.

From https://www.revolut.com/dk/fee-schedule

ATM Withdrawals up to £200 / €200 / 200USD / 200CHF / 800PLN / 1,500DKK / 2,000SEK / 2,000NOK / 800RON / 4,500CZK or currency equivalent per month are free. Anything over the above limits is charged at 2% of value of ATM Withdrawal.

BohsCeltic

msmx5 wrote: »

Assuming you are in Ireland with a Euro bank account then you should top up in Euro!! (Oh I wish this thread had a sticky!)

Rule of thumb "Only let Revolut do the currency conversion" ---- so don't let your Irish bank do the EUR->GBP conversion and when paying for stuff away from home only ever pay in the local currency - never be tempted to agree to them converting for you.

2% charge for over $£€ 200 ATM withdrawals per month isn't massive when you consider a competitive exchange rate in the first place but to avoid it just pay for stuff on your card rather than with cash taken from an ATM.

From https://www.revolut.com/dk/fee-schedule

ATM Withdrawals up to £200 / €200 / 200USD / 200CHF / 800PLN / 1,500DKK / 2,000SEK / 2,000NOK / 800RON / 4,500CZK or currency equivalent per month are free. Anything over the above limits is charged at 2% of value of ATM Withdrawal.

The charge when you go over the limit still works out much cheaper than using an Irish debit card.

NinjaTruncs

Do I need to check convert my balance to GBP if I'm buying something from Amazon, of will revolution convert when Amazon take payment? Thanks.

Davy

NinjaTruncs wrote: »

Do I need to check convert my balance to GBP if I'm buying something from Amazon, of will revolution convert when Amazon take payment? Thanks.

Leave the money in euro. Revolut will do the work.

JustJoe7240

Out of interest, has anyone actually got a metal card?

igCorcaigh

20% off premium today

TheChizler

JR6 wrote: »

I'm heading to Scotland later today. Just wondering is it worth while bringing and using my revolut card over there? I have no sterling with me. I usually just use ATM in whatever country I go to. Should I top up my revolut card with sterling and withdraw from ATM in Scotland ?

Top up in Euro not Pounds!

Chimichangas

NinjaTruncs wrote: »

Do I need to check convert my balance to GBP if I'm buying something from Amazon, of will revolution convert when Amazon take payment? Thanks.

It wont matter unless you make the transaction at the weekend when the FX markets are closed. Then a slightly less better FX rate is used by Revolut. I cant remember if this also takes effect during the week when FX markets are closed.

Quackster

Chimichangas wrote: »

I cant remember if this also takes effect during the week when FX markets are closed.

No, FX markets trade continuously from when Sydney goes live at 10pm GMT Sunday to when New York closes at 10pm GMT Friday.

NinjaTruncs

Are revolut card liable for the annual stamp duty that is charged on cards in Ireland?