Revolut Megathread.

crinkley

well I always say research is important and I’ve had large amounts deposited to Revolut and before this I did google (yes very easy) then and reading such reviews I quickly learnt that as long as you can provide proof of sources of income and you’re not doing anything dodgy no problem. I had 35k frozen for all of 20 mins after I uploaded the solicitor documents they were released. Simple and yes I would recommend Google and some comprehensive thought and analysis

dulpit

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122216633#Comment_122216633

I'm in same boat. Use Revolut and ptsb. Nearly all my day to day is Revolut, but salary goes into ptsb. I don't often need to liaise with customer support for either, but open24 phone support is good and usually quite quick. Revolut is a disaster. It's slow, scripted answers that don't address the full query, stuff like that. Get what you pay for I guess.

optiplexgx270

It's simple we can all agree that revolut are just better with no competition by legacy banks even with their abysmal support - end of discussion.

If you want a shoulder to cry on n26 has phone support 7 days a week for the paid plans. Bunq have a sos line also.

Sheep Shagger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122216063#Comment_122216063

This could happen with a legacy bank too though?

Sheep Shagger

Heard the Chairman of Revolut speak at a recent conference in Dublin. some of the stuff he said won't be news to some.

1. Ireland is one of their most successful markets in Europe in terms of market penetratation. Based on customer count only, they are as big as AIB or BOI.

2. He acknowledged the customer service can been delayed/poor but given their customer numbers AI/bots is the only way they can economically service those on free account plans.

3. Target in Ireland is to get more people using Revolut as their main bank with their salary mandated.

4. Even though they have a high customer number here, the average Revolut balance is only €600

5. They want to ramp up savings account options here.

6. They spend more than their legacy Irish banks on AI around fraud prevention.

Collie D

Have been asked to verify funds. Was given a specific amount to validate. Salary the bulk of it, savings make up another chunk (just completed a house purchase and Revolut is now my main bank so had to transfer via Revolut) but still a few thousand short of Revolut’s “target” - a lot of small transfers for various things from other people making up the balance - do I need to validate all of these?

Will start the validation process tomorrow and find out soon enough either way - just looking for an idea of what to expect.

Jim2007

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122217098#Comment_122217098

Yep this is a standard MLA type request and the usual outcome if you fail to do so is that your accounts will frozen and you ultimate you will be reported as a suspected money launderer. And that is a place you do not want to be in.

There is no reason why you should not be able to account for every in flow in your account. Telling a bank that you have no idea where the flows came from and their purpose is a big red flag for a bank, because a bank and it's employees can be found to be colluding in money laundering if they knowingly failed to react.

Collie D

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122217885#Comment_122217885

Yeah, I get all that - just hoping I don’t have to individually explain to a bot the couple of hundred tenner transfers for football thing I organise or the repayments for concert/match tickets, etc.

Thanks for the response

crinkley

I was similar to you as well and was falling short but I provided p60 and my final expenses claim that showed year to date and my mortgage document to explain large drawdowns. I was told if they required anything further they would be in touch and my account was never restricted during this time

form what I saw online no one’s account get a restricted whilst your documents are being reviewed and the worst case scenario is that they inform you that they are closing your account and give you a period to withdraw funds. Only time I saw a account getting restricted is when they didn’t provide any documents

Jim2007

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122218543#Comment_122218543

Well it this is going to be your primary banking account, once you have sorted this out, then perhaps move all of that stuff to a paypal account or something similar.

Collie D

All sorted. Uploaded the payslip and savings accounts which left me a few grand short of the amount they queried but message about two hours later to say all good

crinkley

yeah it’s painless and easy. I remember years ago my parents being asked for proof of funds from aib. All had to be photocopied and brought into branch and took ages

bren2001

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122220034#Comment_122220034

it’s online with open24 as well, you don’t have to go to the branch. Difference is, you have the option of going to the branch if you want….

Comparing something in 2024 to something “years ago” in a traditional bank is **** pointless.

optiplexgx270

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122220034#Comment_122220034

Being forced into a branch to do legacy banking really sucks. NEEDING to go into a branch to move > 10k in one go with AIB is a pain that must be endured every now and then and spending 10 days doing it online is a joke and just not feasible.

crinkley

that was a direct comparison. My experience of having to go into legacy banks is far more recent. Listen as you said we aren’t going to agree and there will always be people who don’t want to adopt and legacy banks will rely on that for business

wassie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122217002#Comment_122217002

Some of those comments are interesting.

1.Ireland is one of their most successful markets in Europe in terms of market penetratation. Based on customer count only, they are as big as AIB or BOI.

Thats a pointless metric alone. If you look at revenue generated per customer, then Revolut will be nowhere near the local banks. Where it does have value is the ability for Revolut to quickly scale up (and in turn grow), being an all digital platform.

__________________

2. He acknowledged the customer service can been delayed/poor but given their customer numbers AI/bots is the only way they can economically service those on free account plans.

Its a fair point. If people want free then dont expect full service. But even at their paid tiers, Revolut's customer service is still virtually non existent. Talking to a support agent can only happen on their most expensive plan AND only if they deem it worthy of such. Chatting via app on a mobile can be painful, especially if you need to explain things in details.

Their biggest competitor here in Ireland, N26, does offer phone support on paid plans levels.

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3. Target in Ireland is to get more people using Revolut as their main bank with their salary mandated.

Competition is good. Having an Irish IBAN will be a big boost to achieve this.

__________________

4. Even though they have a high customer number here, the average Revolut balance is only €600

Goes back to point 1. Probably emphasises that the majority of people here arent willing to trust neo-banks fully as their primary banking service.

__________________

5. They want to ramp up savings account options here.

Competition is good. Our legacy banks need competition in general to force them to provide cheaper and more innovative consumer banking.

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6. They spend more than their legacy Irish banks on AI around fraud prevention.

Prevention is important, but what happens if you are unlucky enough with Revolut to be affected by fraud. I'm sure the legacy banks spend far more on employing both front and back of house staff to help resolve issues with customers affected by fraud.

It goes back to why I posted that IT article a couple of days back. It's not about the customer support in general (as I think most banks are quite poor for general consumers). It is how you are supported when thing go bad, like being affected fraud.

This last point I think is why consumers are not prepared to trust the neo-banks fully.

I liken this to the experience I had a couple of years back with an online only car insurer and had to make a claim on my policy. Having to write down everything repeatedly everytime I engaged with them was exhausting and wasted a lot of time. Never again - I will always pay slightly more so I can actually talk to a human when the sh!t hits the fan.

bren2001

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122221774#Comment_122221774

I had an issue with the credit union this morning. Tried their chatbot, useless. Called their helpline. Waited 1 minutes. Problem solved in 1 minute. I value my time and convenience and don't have this issue in the back of my head anymore.

I have options with legacy banks. I have no other option but a chatbot with Revolut.

My experience of having to go into legacy banks is far more recent

You're a single datapoint. There are many many many more datapoints online about the issues with Revolut. I am a single datapoint with legacy banks as well but with legacy banks, you have options.

Revolut is brilliant. I use it daily but its support isn't great with horror stories online. I prefer the option of a email/chatbot, a phone, or the branch. I get all three with legacy banks.

crinkley

I have more than myself as a datapoint and I’m at that age where myself and friends have unfortunately had to use legacy banks. That’s great that you were able to sort a problem, I’ve used chat with credit union before but was able to put in the right information to get an answer

as I said there will always be people who will use legacy banks. Due to their poor apps, lack of customer support in branch and yet their need to have you in branch for certain things they’re not for me. Would rather get sorted in my own time

The J Stands for Jay

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122216552#Comment_122216552

I think they're both shite, with each being a different type of shite

The J Stands for Jay

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122221666#Comment_122221666

I went to apply for an AIB credit card. Application was online, but documents had to be done in a branch. Went in with the docs, photocopies taken. Heard nothing and got back into them. They're no record of receiving the docs. Went in again. Insisted they'd sent them, but took copies again. Heard nothing, vintage them again. Same story. I just gave up.

Online applications are far superior.

The J Stands for Jay

I've had experience of fraud with legacy and neo banks.

With PTSB I saw some transactions that I didn't make and had to contact them to get it sorted. Took a while but got them money back eventually.

With N26, nothing ever left my account. I got a message through the app that there had been attempted fraud on my account and they were replacing my card as a precaution. No funds left my account, and no action on my part was needed.

wassie

I had a fraudulent transaction on my Revolut in April from a Japanese retailer, that was alerted to them from me. Revolut took 5 days to get the money back in my favour. Card was cancelled and issued a new digital one, but I didnt transact in that time.

Wasnt a huge amount, but it was probably the first a few trial transactions to test the account as often happens. I jumped on this within about 15 minutes of the transaction - was just lucky I happened to be on the phone.

Human [1]
AI [0]

bren2001

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122224052#Comment_122224052

I did an entire application for a credit card online with the bank. Never had to go to a branch. Of course, I had the option if I wanted too.

I’ve also had fraudulent transactions with PTSB. No money ever left my account. Got a phone call telling me my card was cancelled and a new one was on the way. I had the great option of being able to walk into a bank and take out cash with ID.

batistuta9

Anyone else notice the disposable virtual cards being rejected recently? 48 & a couple of other sites won't take them anymore.

wassie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122224476#Comment_122224476

Depends on the merchant's requirements. Any service that requires a regular payment will be looking for a card that can handle recurring transactions. Disposable cards by their very nature are single use.

Have you tried setting up a regular virtual card specifically for that merchant. That way you can cancel it at anytime with out affecting other subs. I have about a dozen virtual cards for all the various subs I have running.

Then there are some merchants that I cant get to accept any virtual card - Ticketmaster was the most recent issue I had.

batistuta9

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122224497#Comment_122224497

Didn't know they'd be able to tell they're single use, think some were just regular online shopping, no subs or anything. I just use the virtual but haven't bothered adding more of them, think you've to pay for extra on the free plan

markpb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122224068#Comment_122224068

You’re comparing apples and oranges there. In the first case, the fraud wasn’t detected and you managed it through the dispute/chargeback process. In the second case, the processor or network spotted the fraud and blocked the transaction. Neither of those things really depend on your bank, either scenario could happen at a legacy bank or a neo bank.

Jim2007

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122224476#Comment_122224476

Hard to say, but disposable cards are developing a bad reputation in the industry as they are too easy to be used in committing fraud and money laundering. So unless they can develop a more secure technology PDQ, it's most likely to be a growing trend. Consequently, it is probably a good idea to have the real deal or some other fall back plan in case the virtual one does not work in an emergency situation.

beachhead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122220034#Comment_122220034

All done by hand-no computers or AI/Google then?

beachhead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122224476#Comment_122224476

Tried one on 48 last year and was rejected but not unusual with 48.I think it depends on time of day-late at night is a bad time for most cards.