Revolut - Ultracheap FX (prepaid Mastercard)

Yggr of Asgard

Marlow wrote: »

You get access to free card replacements and virtual visa cards. And double or tripple the monthly free atm withdrawal.



They actually have a full banking license in Lithuania ... which is in the EU: https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/12/revolut-gets-european-banking-license-in-lithuania

They also currently only operate under an eMoney license in the UK, but have applied for a full UK banking license.

/M

While they have gotten a bank license, in no way or shape are they going to be ready to transfer the services over from the UK e-money license to the Bank license in time for no deal.

They will simply transfer the non UK customers to an entity in the EU which has an e-money license to not disturb the flow and ensure the customer can continue to use the services.

The bank license cannot be simply applied with the current setup they have, the goal of the bank license is to get away from GPS / transferwise etc. to run most of the services themselves. Even with the new VISA cards they still rely heavily on GPS to get the services they use.

So moving to an electronic money license in the EU is the next step, which can easily be done with the GPS infrastructure and by simply issuing new T&C.

Suckit

Yggr of Asgard wrote: »

They will simply transfer the non UK customers to an entity in the EU which has an e-money license to not disturb the flow and ensure the customer can continue to use the services.

So moving to an electronic money license in the EU is the next step, which can easily be done with the GPS infrastructure and by simply issuing new T&C.

Any risk involved in that?
Just curious, it wouldn't really affect my €32.12/£28.22/$36.51

Marlow

Suckit wrote: »

Any risk involved in that?
Just curious, it wouldn't really affect my €32.12/£28.22/$36.51

Not really. They have operated under an eMoney license all along.

But as they migrate customer long term under their banking licenses, your money will be guaranteed under the UK (or European) financial guarantee.

So it's business as usual for now with no impact from Brexit and even better as we go on.

/M

Yggr of Asgard

Suckit wrote: »

Any risk involved in that?
Just curious, it wouldn't really affect my €32.12/£28.22/$36.51

That will depend on which country the e-money license is, some countries have very lax regulations and others top notches.

But generally, there should not be a risk, the same products/services, it might just be the way of how segregated your money is and what process applies should revolut go bust (or their electronic currency go belly up).

Right now if revolut goes bust, in theory, your funds should be in a segregated account from their operational accounts, i.e. your money is ring-fenced. But legally it's not directly your funds, it's electronic money you purchased from revolut where they store the corresponding funds in a segregated bank account.

So in case, they go belly up it's slightly a difficult process to get your money back, unlike where its a bank with a government guarantee behind it.

So depending on which country the electronic money license is from you will need to make a determination as to how much of a risk you will take.

Suckit

So if it's a no deal Brexit, they'll be using the Lithuanian licence for EU customers? I am guessing that wouldn't have a government guarantee behind it?

Yggr of Asgard

Suckit wrote: »

So if it's a no deal Brexit, they'll be using the Lithuanian licence for EU customers? I am guessing that wouldn't have a government guarantee behind it?

While they have an electronic money license in Lithuania at this point speculation is they rather go to Luxembourg where they have applied for a license recently.

Redsoxfan

Anyone know why my contacts didn't get a message re the 'Split Bill' function? Revolut has access to my contacts, and they are saved in my phone as +353 etc. Anyone else have issues with this? They are not on Revolut. I assume they should have got a text message with my Revolut IBAN and BIC?

troyzer

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Anyone know why my contacts didn't get a message re the 'Split Bill' function? Revolut has access to my contacts, and they are saved in my phone as +353 etc. Anyone else have issues with this? They are not on Revolut. I assume they should have got a text message with my Revolut IBAN and BIC?

The split bill function works in app. Your contacts need to have Revolut.

Redsoxfan

msmx5 wrote: »

Its RYANAIR that are sly. Revolut just processed the sterling charge Ryanair sent them... as as you didn't have GBP, revolut had to take the funds from your EUR balance (at their good rate).

Just curious, if I want to use pre-purchased GBP to pay for a GBP purchase, do I have to make sure the funds are in my GBP account and my EUR account is zero?

I thought I read somewhere that Revolut will always debit your EUR account first.

Redsoxfan

troyzer wrote: »

The split bill function works in app. Your contacts need to have Revolut.

Cheers - it shows my contacts with Revolut, and also those without - I thought it worked for both.

troyzer

Redsoxfan wrote: »

msmx5 wrote: »

Its RYANAIR that are sly. Revolut just processed the sterling charge Ryanair sent them... as as you didn't have GBP, revolut had to take the funds from your EUR balance (at their good rate).

Just curious, if I want to use pre-purchased GBP to pay for a GBP purchase, do I have to make sure the funds are in my GBP account and my EUR account is zero?

I thought I read somewhere that Revolut will always debit your EUR account first.

Revolut will always debit the balance of the currency of the transaction first if you have it in full.

Otherwise it defaults to euro.

The Ryanair thing is a separate issue.

Grassey

Redsoxfan wrote: »

I thought I read somewhere that Revolut will always debit your EUR account first.

https://www.revolut.com/help/exploring-revolut/spending/which-currency-balance-will-be-deducted-for-spending

The card selects which currency to use in the following order:

The currency of the payment (e.g. if you are in the UK carrying out a transaction in Euro, we will deduct funds from your Euro balance)

Your base currency, which is determined by your home address

The next active currency with a sufficient balance

joe123

msmx5 wrote: »

Its RYANAIR that are sly. Revolut just processed the sterling charge Ryanair sent them... as as you didn't have GBP, revolut had to take the funds from your EUR balance (at their good rate).

Your receipt screenshot shows Ryanair charged "cardholder currency" 287.06GBP which by their rate was €307.

See the attachment on post #6841 for a screenshot of the box on Ryanair checkout to untick which makes sure your card/Revolut will do the conversion and not Ryanair.

Really think revolut should have something in place to prevent that. I remember seeing a pound charge once before when paying a bill in a pub in Ireland. Didn't think much of it at the time but clearly the worker tapped Sterling charge instead of euro.

Unbelievably sneaky of Ryan air and co considering I had only euro funds on the card. As I said, having to go to watch out for something like this now has totally put me off the card. Stopped recommending it to friends too.

troyzer

joe123 wrote: »

Really think revolut should have something in place to prevent that. I remember seeing a pound charge once before when paying a bill in a pub in Ireland. Didn't think much of it at the time but clearly the worker tapped Sterling charge instead of euro.

Unbelievably sneaky of Ryan air and co considering I had only euro funds on the card. As I said, having to go to watch out for something like this now has totally put me off the card. Stopped recommending it to friends too.

What are Revolut supposed to do about it? It's well known that you should ALWAYS decline currency exchange at the point of sale. Your bank, even a bank like AIB, will always be much cheaper than their rate.

EagererBeaver

joe123 wrote: »

Really think revolut should have something in place to prevent that. I remember seeing a pound charge once before when paying a bill in a pub in Ireland. Didn't think much of it at the time but clearly the worker tapped Sterling charge instead of euro.

Unbelievably sneaky of Ryan air and co considering I had only euro funds on the card. As I said, having to go to watch out for something like this now has totally put me off the card. Stopped recommending it to friends too.

It's literally nothing to do with the card company.

Wheety

Yeah, I don't see how it's Revoluts fault.

People are making the whole thing very complicated.

I just leave my balance in Euro and ensure I'm paying in the merchants currency. They don't even have to know my balance is in Euro.

Yggr of Asgard

Dynamic Currency Conversion is a "service" that shops offer because they get a nice kickback if they get you to accept to be charged in the currency of your card rather than local currency.

Revolut could offer cards for € zone residents that are coded as € so it would not happen in the € Zone where some of their cards are shown as £ which triggers the DCC.

DCC is however a service endorsed by Visa and Mastercard as benefit to allow the customer to know what they are getting charged right there but due to rate used and the service fee it's just very bad compared to revolut or even an Irish bank.

In the short run one needs to watch out for this behavior both in stores and online and ensure that one is charged in the right currency.

msmx5

Yggr of Asgard wrote: »

In the short run one needs to watch out for this behavior both in stores and online and ensure that one is charged in the right currency.

As always caveat emptor!

RFOLEY1990

just paid for a seat coming home on Ryanair (on the website not the app) and it gave me the option to pick what currency I pay in,

£3 was calculated at €3.65

Wheety

RFOLEY1990 wrote: »

just paid for a seat coming home on Ryanair (on the website not the app) and it gave me the option to pick what currency I pay in,

£3 was calculated at €3.65

€3.42 with Revolut at the moment

RFOLEY1990

Wheety wrote: »

€3.42 with Revolut at the moment

yeah, some difference that's why I always use it for this and Amazon too

Wheety

RFOLEY1990 wrote: »

yeah, some difference that's why I always use it for this and Amazon too

I know some people will say it's only 23c but that's on a transaction of £3.

freebee23

Hi all only new to revolut. Going to the States next month and want to book greyhound buses for transport. How do I use my revolut card to pay for tickets. The price shown is in USA dollars.
Do I have to exchange euro into dollars first or will the payment go straight through and convert automatically.
Thanks in advance, freebee23

Creamy Goodness

freebee23 wrote: »

Hi all only new to revolut. Going to the States next month and want to book greyhound buses for transport. How do I use my revolut card to pay for tickets. The price shown is in USA dollars.
Do I have to exchange euro into dollars first or will the payment go straight through and convert automatically.
Thanks in advance, freebee23

you don't have to exchange anything unless you want to play and dabble in currency trading.

top up in euro, enough to cover the transaction + a couple extra euro for currency fluctuations, buy your greyhound ticket in local currency (US $) and let Revolut do the rest.

freebee23

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

you don't have to exchange anything unless you want to play and dabble in currency trading.

top up in euro, enough to cover the transaction + a couple extra euro for currency fluctuations, buy your greyhound ticket in local currency (US $) and let Revolut do the rest.

Thanks for the quick response. Just have to load card up with EUR now.

Wheety

freebee23 wrote: »

Thanks for the quick response. Just have to load card up with EUR now.

Quickest way is within the app with your bank card. It's instant with no charge.

I'm not sure if they charge for credit card and bank transfer will take at least a day.

RFOLEY1990

I always still change the money into dollars or sterling as it's easier to keep track of what you have when you're away

always top up in euro though,

also little tip if using it in the States, some shops will is it a debit or credit card and only works when they put it as credit card,

also make sure your settings in the app are up to date as a lot of shops still use the swipe function over there so that must be turned on

NabyLadistheman

msmx5 wrote: »

Ryanair, Paypal, Amazon etc all make lots of money on hiked up exchange rates, they intentionally make it inconvenient to find the "option" to reject their "currency conversion service". Persevere and root around, the option should be there - google is your friend. Finding the option the first time is the hardest part especially as they often change where it's hidden so often helpful instructions or screenshots found on google are out of date.

FYI this link currently works for paypal but is still impossible to find...
https://www.paypal.com/uk/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_profile-merchant-pull-funding&buyer_hubREPLY

See screenshot of options for what appears after you click on "conversion options"

On Paypals help pages they give instruction on how to change the billing currency on a one off basis :-

..... following additional steps when you send a payment:
[LIST=1]
[*]Click Other Conversion Options on the Review Your Payment page.
[*]Choose Bill me in the currency listed on the seller’s invoice. Select this option to ensure that your credit card is charged in the currency you want.
[/LIST]

For RYANAIR look for the "Click here for more information on our guaranteed exchange rate."
Select that then untick the box at the bottom.
See screenshot.

Note in this real case example Ryanair is 6.94% more expensive than Revolut.
Ryanair Exchange rate of 1.2166791 £ 29.98 = € 36.48 Fri, 01 Feb 2019, 13:58 GMT
Revolut rate of 1.1378 £ 29.98 = € 34.11 Fri, 01 Feb 2019, 14:02 GMT

This is an excellent post and should be bookmarked.

I was booking a flight form the UK one way and it would only let me book in sterling with Ryan Air conversion. I entered my Revolut card number and the 'for more information on our guaranteed exchange rate' option would not show up. Eventually I changed the card form Revolut to my AIB debit Card and the window showed up. It made me aware the cost of the flight with all charges would be €160. I then unticked the box and was able to pay without Ryan Air exchange rate. I then proceeded to pay with my Revolut card via PayPal.

The flight was £132, on the Irish Ryan Air site the price for the flight was €150.95. After paying Sterling through my Revolut card it cost me €151. It worked out €9 cheaper than paying with Ryan Air exchange rate. But boy do they make it difficult to unselect it. It's extortion and I would say plenty are getting stung with it

Wheety

RFOLEY1990 wrote: »

I always still change the money into dollars or sterling as it's easier to keep track of what you have when you're away

I only see a benefit of this if you have a budget for the holiday.

I was in the UK a while ago and didn't change any money beforehand. Every notification of a spend had the Sterling price and Euro price. I could see my balance and could easily check how much it is in Sterling in the app if I wanted to.

troyzer

Lads we need a sticky FAQ.

Answering the same questions over and over again is getting ridiculous.