Revolut - Ultracheap FX (prepaid Mastercard)

Yggr of Asgard

EagererBeaver wrote: »

The risk here though is that card machines appear to be touch and go, at least at this stage.

I'm to America in November and was going to do pretty much everything through Revolut. Girlfriend has it as well so hopefully it's a bit more widely accepted by then.

I so far had no problems using the card at any shops/store so maybe I'm just lucky. In the US in case of acceptance problems just click "credit" instead of "debit" when the machine asks, that might help.

However the real danger is that just like with ATM's they introduce fair usage for transactions in other currencies. Yes fair usage is nothing else than charges which they promised not to introduce for 12 month but it's a good ploy to introduce fees via the backdoor.

The ATM fee and the THB change is making the card less interesting for me now.

From the beginning I said that the new EU rules about the capped interchange fee will make it likely that they need to introduce fees and I think I was right because the cap on ATM usage shows that those elements of service which cost them the most will now be charged to the customer. So it's just a matter of time until charges come on other things and the rates for currency might go up.

polaris68

Pretty damn sneaky to introduce these charges under a "fair usage policy".

Withdrawals of £500 / €650 / $700 a month is pretty low limit if you are away on holidays for a week or two.

Beginning to mistrust these guys. I'll be checking the exchange rate they're offering for my online transactions more carefully in the future.

Tipperary Fairy

EagererBeaver wrote: »

What do you mean it's costing you $20 with revolut every time? How?

No it's costing me $20 every time I transfer to my Australian bank account, as in nab are charging it for handling the incoming money

Yggr of Asgard

Tipperary Fairy wrote: »

No it's costing me $20 every time I transfer to my Australian bank account, as in nab are charging it for handling the incoming money

Which in fairness to Revolut (as much as I hate them ATM) is not their fault, they clearly point out that they use SWIFT for which receiving banks charge.

With that cost won't some other provider be cheaper, there are loads of companies like transferwise, currencyfair etc. out there, is revolut really offering such a better rate?

The Ayatolla

Fair usage doesn't bother me too much. POS is where I use the card most on holidays. And even still, you can withdraw €650 for free, an extra 500 from an ATM would only cost you a tenner.

Yggr of Asgard

polaris68 wrote: »

Pretty damn sneaky to introduce these charges under a "fair usage policy".

Withdrawals of £500 / €650 / $700 a month is pretty low limit if you are away on holidays for a week or two.

Beginning to mistrust these guys. I'll be checking the exchange rate they're offering for my online transactions more carefully in the future.

We already know that THB (Thai) is now worse than Mastercard which is worse then Visa and that is announced as part of the fair usage, so what currencies are next?

On top of this the spread they use on weekends to bake into the rate is often worse than the Mastercard/Visa rates, so if your card has no foreign exchange fee (like number26) you might already be better off to use that on the weekend.

As to using the card to pre-buy £ (for those of us who regularly travel or shop in the UK), it might be better to exchange the money via revolut and use a free card like monese to withdraw to avoid the 2% fee.

Tipperary Fairy

Yggr of Asgard wrote: »

Which in fairness to Revolut (as much as I hate them ATM) is not their fault, they clearly point out that they use SWIFT for which receiving banks charge.

With that cost won't some other provider be cheaper, there are loads of companies like transferwise, currencyfair etc. out there, is revolut really offering such a better rate?

Yeah, I didn't say it was their fault, of course it's not. If you read my posts through this thread, and others, you'll see I've spent the last 6/7 weeks trying to find a way to get a hold of my hard earned cash from aib to be able to use it here, without a massive loss. I've looked into a lot of options, and at the end of it all, after all the issues, my best option (the way I'd lose least money) was to withdraw my money from revolut using the card at the atm. So yeah I'm pissed that they're doing this. But fcuk it, I've withdrawn all my money from them now, transferring it to my bank account, hoping to only get charged $20, so if I can find some shop I can spend the equivalent of €1.16 in by card, i'll do it, and be completely done with revolut.

BrookieD

I dont mind the Fair Useage fee as will spend in house and limit my ATM usage - Will be in Australia in June/July and it is still way cheaper than the PostFX currency card and is not locked to only the AUD. Sticking with Revolut for now with Number26 as a back up and AIB Visa Debit as a 3rd option.

Irish Halo

the.red.baron wrote: »

Yeah, i was doing that already, but it's on a transaction basis rather than a setting somewhere, thanks

After I did it once for a transaction using the Revolut it defaults to "use sellers currency", didn't do anything else.

EagererBeaver wrote: »

The risk here though is that card machines appear to be touch and go, at least at this stage.

I'm to America in November and was going to do pretty much everything through Revolut. Girlfriend has it as well so hopefully it's a bit more widely accepted by then.

I used it loads last September in the US had no problems, expect when I said it was a debit card instead of credit card but just started the transaction again and it worked.

The "fair usage" is a bit pants, I'm off to NY today and was going to use mostly cash will have to remember to just use the card in shops and keep the cash for the pub.

EagererBeaver

Probably a daft question, but out of curiosity, is the ATM withdrawal limit a combined amount across all three currencies? For example, say I had a healthy balance of all three. Could I take out 500 sterling, €650 and $700 in the same month without being charged?

Amouar

EagererBeaver wrote: »

Probably a daft question, but out of curiosity, is the ATM withdrawal limit a combined amount across all three currencies? For example, say I had a healthy balance of all three. Could I take out 500 sterling, €650 and $700 in the same month without being charged?

Nope. The 650€ is total across all currencies.

Yggr of Asgard

EagererBeaver wrote: »

Probably a daft question, but out of curiosity, is the ATM withdrawal limit a combined amount across all three currencies? For example, say I had a healthy balance of all three. Could I take out 500 sterling, €650 and $700 in the same month without being charged?

Nope you can not and when I queried how this is not a fee with them I got the answer that

https://twitter.com/RevolutApp/status/700265897987076096

https://twitter.com/RevolutApp/status/700266335566221312

So clearly those of us using the card for get cheaper cash are not the users they want.

I just hate how sneaky it is to introduce a fee via a fair usage policy when they promised no fees,.

Nollog

Yggr of Asgard wrote: »

So clearly those of us using the card for get cheaper cash are not the users they want.

I just hate how sneaky it is to introduce a fee via a fair usage policy when they promised no fees,.

Can't really blame them, they make their money on PoS only as far as I'm aware.

EagererBeaver

Yep, it's only "free" if you use it the way they want you to use it. For my New York trip, $1,400 cash across the two of us and paying on the card for most things should hopefully not cause too many issues.

A question out of curiosity - I'm goign to Marrakech for four days next month and last time I looked, the currency there (Moroccan dirham I think) wasn't supported. What happens when I try to withdraw cash or make a payment? Will it get declined or simply get charged a different rate from the "usual".

StereoSound

This is a shame, this was the big seller for me, haven't even received my card in the post yet and I'm already disappointed. So fee free for 12 months doesn't apply anymore then...

Yggr of Asgard

/\/ollog wrote: »

Can't really blame them, they make their money on PoS only as far as I'm aware.

Well even that is questionable, as they only get maximum of 0.2% or possible 0.3% of each transaction which they have to use to cover all of their operating cost.

Additionally they are exposed to the currency risk (as they charge you the rate on day of authorization not final debit) which can be a win or loss depending on how the market goes, which is why they now have special rates for THB and Russian Rubels.

This product was conceived when the interchange fee for high up before the EU got involved and limited it to 0.2/0.3% so I always said they need to have an additional revenue stream.

I don't blame them for introducing a fee, but I blame them for doing it via the backdoor of a fair usage policy which is in effect immediately without notice (well they now started notifying via the app).

Yggr of Asgard

StereoSound wrote: »

This is a shame, this was the big seller for me, haven't even received my card in the post yet and I'm already disappointed. So fee free for 12 months doesn't apply anymore then...

No strictly speaking you still have the 12 month no fee policy, as the fair usage policy restriction on the free ATM allowance is not technical a fee.

Clever backdoor usage.

maestroamado

i will be guides by the experts on here as to which card to buy.
my situation is i want a card for ££ for amazon and easyjet.
i will never be using to withdraw cash.
i do not have a modern type "google phone" and prefer stay this way.

can i buy this card without this app? using the laptop, any advise appreciated..
i possibly can get someone to do initial set up but would need to be able to do top-up add-ons myself.
can anyone suggest which best for me Revoult or an post?
There is just too much information on the thread and the more i read the more i know i do not know what i am at..

regards and thanks

Yggr of Asgard

maestroamado wrote: »

i will be guides by the experts on here as to which card to buy.
my situation is i want a card for ££ for amazon and easyjet.
i will never be using to withdraw cash.
i do not have a modern type "google phone" and prefer stay this way.

can i buy this card without this app? using the laptop, any advise appreciated..
i possibly can get someone to do initial set up but would need to be able to do top-up add-ons myself.
can anyone suggest which best for me Revoult or an post?
There is just too much information on the thread and the more i read the more i know i do not know what i am at..

regards and thanks

The app is needed so that you can top up and contact customer support.

If you have a windows laptop you could use bluestacks (allows you to run android apps) and use the android revolut app.

irishgeo

Interesting tibit i found on MSE

However, note that Revolut reserves the right to begin charging a 1% exchange fee (or a small, fixed fee) after a year.

Nollog

Yggr of Asgard wrote: »

The app is needed so that you can top up and contact customer support.

If you have a windows laptop you could use bluestacks (allows you to run android apps) and use the android revolut app.

Andy works too.

cemdev

A word of warning.

An ATM withdrawal i tried to make failed using the revolut card (because revolut blocked my account, then partially unblocked it). The ATM said the card was temporarily blocked.

It did not dispense cash, but the cash was deducted from my account - $172 USD. After a ton of hassle with their in-app support, finally got on the phone with them, and they said they could see it failed, and that it would be refunded within 10 days. I asked him if he was sure, 3 times, for complete confirmation. 13 days later, the money's still not back in the account.

Their support is horrible, worse than PayPal's, and I just don't trust them at all anymore. So far it looks like I've saved maybe $30 or $40 worth of fees, but lost $172 because they're crap.

BTW - if this happens with your bank card - your bank will launch an investigation, and it may take a couple of months - but the money will come back into your account. Minimum hassle - just a phone call.

hawkwind23

cemdev wrote: »

A word of warning.

An ATM withdrawal i tried to make failed using the revolut card (because revolut blocked my account, then partially unblocked it). The ATM said the card was temporarily blocked.

It did not dispense cash, but the cash was deducted from my account - $172 USD. After a ton of hassle with their in-app support, finally got on the phone with them, and they said they could see it failed, and that it would be refunded within 10 days. I asked him if he was sure, 3 times, for complete confirmation. 13 days later, the money's still not back in the account.

Their support is horrible, worse than PayPal's, and I just don't trust them at all anymore. So far it looks like I've saved maybe $30 or $40 worth of fees, but lost $172 because they're crap.

BTW - if this happens with your bank card - your bank will launch an investigation, and it may take a couple of months - but the money will come back into your account. Minimum hassle - just a phone call.

This happened to me over in Thailand.
ATM spat card out but transaction was pending and therefore funds held.
I found support very helpful and they explained why it happened and how long it would take to resolve itself, assured me my money was safe and would be refunded as soon as the transaction cleared.
They said around 10 days but it was sorted in about 48 hours.
I am confident you will get your money refunded no problem, check the app and as long as the transaction is still pending then your money will be returned.

OU812

I think I'll just use mine for online transactions from now on

Delta2113

These are the risk's you take I suppose to try and save money and it's only when stuff goes wrong you find out how good or bad Revolut are.

Anyone else coming to the conclusion that maybe Number26 should be used more in certain circumstances -e.g. getting cash out of an atm in asia etc.

Might be easier if you had to sort out a problem.

Nollog

cemdev wrote: »

A word of warning.

An ATM withdrawal i tried to make failed using the revolut card (because revolut blocked my account, then partially unblocked it). The ATM said the card was temporarily blocked.

It did not dispense cash, but the cash was deducted from my account - $172 USD. After a ton of hassle with their in-app support, finally got on the phone with them, and they said they could see it failed, and that it would be refunded within 10 days. I asked him if he was sure, 3 times, for complete confirmation. 13 days later, the money's still not back in the account.

Their support is horrible, worse than PayPal's, and I just don't trust them at all anymore. So far it looks like I've saved maybe $30 or $40 worth of fees, but lost $172 because they're crap.

BTW - if this happens with your bank card - your bank will launch an investigation, and it may take a couple of months - but the money will come back into your account. Minimum hassle - just a phone call.

10 working days maybe?

I had a couple of paypal confirmation transactions pending for a good while, it was only 3 euro or so total so I wasn't bothered, I knew it'd come back to me some point.

It definitely took more than 2 weeks, weekends included.

Tar.Aldarion

Anybody else have problems with atms? my friend tried to use his but it didn't work.

It doesn't accept the pin but also the way they say to fix this is to check your balance, you can't do that without a working pin.

Curb Your Enthusiasm

While it's obviously disappointing they are charging fees for ATM withdrawals, I've honestly only used the card a handful of times at an ATM, and never for a large amount. Nearly everywhere accepts card these days, so I mostly use the card in shops or online, which have no fees whatsoever.

StereoSound

ATMs not dispensing cash abroad is a serious annoyance. My ulster bank debit card was very temperamental in Asia last year. It worked maybe 70% of the time and the rest of the time it didnt and ulster bank kept blocking the Effing card aswell which resulted in numerous phone calls to the bank and running around trying to find an ATM that worked for me. Effing Nightmare. This is one of the reasons why I got the revolut so I'd have a back up card I can put money on if my normal debit card gives trouble.

Yggr of Asgard

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

Anybody else have problems with atms? my friend tried to use his but it didn't work.

It doesn't accept the pin but also the way they say to fix this is to check your balance, you can't do that without a working pin.

My suggestion is to check the PIN (or even change it) in the app and than go to an ATM at a main bank (not one of those free standing one in shops) and try again.

I had also problems with Ulster Bank ATM's so maybe use a PTSB ATM.

As they say in their FAQ (bold is mine):

PIN change procedure
Once you’ve changed your PIN (which can be done in the app), you need to authorise the PIN change in a MasterCard ® approved Chip & Pin ATM. Now, this isn’t as complicated as it sounds! All you need to do is put your card in the ATM, enter the new PIN – and you’re good to go! We suggest doing this prior to travelling. This will ensure you have no issues finding a MasterCard ® approved Chip & Pin ATM. NOTE: This may not work the first time - don’t worry - this is to be expected. If this occurs, repeat the process and you should be fine.