Last Updated on October, 2024
Imagine being able to send money from one country to another, and the recipient receives their currency’s converted value.
All within a course of a few minutes.
This is the foundation Revolut is built in.
What are the Revolut personal and business plans? What are the costs involved? What are the compatible countries?
This Revolut review covers all these and more and tells you whether Revolut is recommended or not.
But wait, why trust me? Why trust this Revolut review?
Contents
- Why Trust Me?
- What is Revolut?
- How Does Revolut Work?
- Is Revolut a Bank?
- Revolut Policy on Money Transfer: Full Overview
- Revolut Card Overview: Revolut Virtual and Physical Cards
- Revolut Insurance
- Revolut for Stock Trading
- Revolut Supported Countries
- Revolut Supported Currencies
- Revolut Plans
- Revolut Currency Exchange Rates – Is it Worth it?
- Revolut Cost (+ Monthly Fees)
- Revolut Limits
- Revolut Account Creation and Verification
- Revolut Customer Service
- Customer Reviews on Revolut
- The Best Revolut Alternative: Wise
- Pros and Cons of Revolut
- Conclusion: Is Revolut Recommended?
- FAQs
Why Trust Me?
I’ve been a Revolut user for a few years with a paid personal plan to begin with. Additionally, I combed their website again, read hundreds of the latest online reviews, and even watched several videos to verify EVERYTHING you read here.
Trust me because of that.
Let’s start this review by learning what is Revolut and how it works.
What is Revolut?
Revolut is essentially an app-based banking alternative. Because its primary product is the mobile, it is one of the most secure and efficient currency exchange apps in the world. After all, not all finance apps can handle over 140 currencies.
How Does Revolut Work?
Revolut allows you to manage your money with a multi-currency account with foreign currency exchange services. It lets you conveniently send, spend, and exchange money instantly with intuitive ease.
Is Revolut a Bank?
Revolut is NOT a bank. However, as I said, the app allows you to do several financial transactions within the app, mimicking banking services.
For that, you first should transfer money to your Revolut account. Furthermore, Revolut is affiliated with several banks and cards like Visa and MasterCard. Let’s look at Revolut’s money transfer policy next.
Revolut Policy on Money Transfer: Full Overview
Revolut is identified mainly for the convenience of international money transfers. One of the main reasons is that sending money overseas is so much faster. Being in the US, I have found Revolut excellent for local transfers, too.
Whether it is local or international, Revolut keeps its transfer fees transparent. The fees depend on your account plan and the transferred amount. I have covered all the costs in a later section, so let’s keep reading.
Revolut’s currency exchange is decided based on 3 factors:
It is important to remember that you’ll have to pay a low, fair usage fee if you have already exhausted your no-fee currency exchange for the month.
The Revolut card plays a pivotal role in the process; let’s talk about that next.
Revolut Card Overview: Revolut Virtual and Physical Cards
Revolute has 3 account types; all of them are linked to a payment card:
Once again, the card’s features and limitations vary depending on the plan you select. However, all Revolut accounts can hold and exchange over 25 currencies. You can also make prepaid card payments and withdrawals in around 150 countries. I’ll cover the countries in the upcoming section.
Revolut also has a Lite account type, which I’ll explain later. Once you sign up for an account and choose your plan, you will get your personal Revolut card; this is the virtual card.
All personal Revolut accounts come with one or more virtual cards. While Revolut also offers physical cards, the virtual card and the physical ones don’t have the same numbers, increasing their security.
Virtual cards are recommended for online shopping that allow you to freeze the card following a payment if you wish as a precaution.
If you seek a physical card, all you need to do is go to the ‘Cards’ section by tapping the card icon at the top. Then go to ‘Physical Card’ and your card type. Once you create your PIN code and submit the order with the delivery address, you will get the physical card delivered between 5 and 10 business days.
Next, let’s look at Revolut insurance.
Revolut Insurance
As a well-established financial organization, Revolut generously offers insurance features to some US personal plans.
These include:
Insurance features typically vary depending on your personal plan. That’s why you should take a minute to know what the insurance covers and what it does not cover before you start your trip.
Needless to say, the higher the account tier, the better will be the insurance. Revolut can also be used for stock trading – that’s our next topic.
Revolut for Stock Trading
The first thing you need to know about Revolut for stock trading is that there’s often no Revolut commission. If there is, rarely, the fees depend on the assets you choose when you pay to trade stocks.
Revolut US offers options to trade over 2,000 stocks and ETFs. You can build and manage your portfolio in the Revolut app. Amazingly, you can trade as little as one dollar. That’s why Revolut is a great app for new investors who want to trade through an app.
My recommendation is to understand the user interface properly before you start trading. Next, let me tell you the countries that Revolut supports when you need to send money abroad.
Revolut Supported Countries
At the moment, Revolut supports the legal residents of the countries such as:
As I mentioned before, some countries still only have Revolut Lite compatibility. Lite accounts can still send and receive funds or only receive funds depending on the country. If that’s your main concern, this will not be an issue.
Countries where the Revolut Lite account works:
There are the countries to which you cannot send money to by using Revolut:
Afghanistan, Angola, Antarctica, Belarus, Bouvet Island, British Indian Ocean Territory, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Trinidad & Tobago, Uganda, Vanuatu, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic) are some of them.
Next, let’s talk about the Revolut-supported countries for sending and receiving.
Revolut Supported Currencies
It is important to note that sending or receiving is only possible if the country supports Revolut.
Currencies That Revolut Support Sending Money
USD, AED, CAD, AUD, BGN, ISK, JPY, KRW, KZT, MAD, MXN, NOK, NZD, CHF, CLP, COP, CZK, DKK, EGP, EUR, GBP, HKD, HUF, ILS, INR, PHP, PLN, QAR, RON, RSD, SAR, SEK, SGD, THB, TRY, ZAR.
Currencies That Revolut Supports Receiving
USD, AED, CAD, AUD, BGN, CHF, CZK, DKK, EUR, HKD, HUF, ILS, JPY, MXN, GBP, NOK, NZD, PLN, QAR, RON, SAR, SEK, SGD, THB, TRY, ZAR.
With that covered, let’s look at the Revolut plans next.
Revolut Plans
Revolut is one of the most well-known organization finance management apps. It offers personal plans for adults and kids and business customers, too.
Revolut Personal Plans
Revolut targets the tech-savvy who want convenient transactions wherever they go, whether local or international. All Revolut personal accounts (standard, premium, metal, and ultra) receive the following features.
Revolut Standard plan:
If you choose a premium plan, Revolut offers the below features, in addition to the above.
Revolut Premium plan:
Out of these, the metal card is the best. These are the features you get with the Revolut metal card.
Revolut metal plan:
As an introductory offer, the Ultra plan offers you more features such as:
However, this may not be available for US citizens yet.
That’s all about the Revolut personal accounts. Next, let’s look at Revolut to under-18 users.
Revolut Under-18 Accounts
As I said earlier, every Revolut account receives access to up to 5 under-18 accounts; for your children, if any. Revolut offers you an interlinked payment card and the app for every under-18 account. These accounts are typically recommended for kids aged from 6 to 17.
The best feature is how the adult holding the linked Revolut account can monitor transactions through the app.
Next, let’s look at Revolut business accounts.
Revolut Business Accounts
Revolut has four business-type accounts, namely:
The basic business offers the following key features:
The difference between the basic account and the other three is typically based on a few constants and variables. Let’s see them now.
Grow, Scale, and Enterprise plans have everything in the Basic plan along with:
Only the Enterprise plan has account management. However, some variables change across the Grow, Scale, and Enterprise plans like below:
| Feature | Grow | Scale | Enterprise |
| No-fee international transfers | 5 | 25 | Custom |
| No-fee local transfers | 100 | 1,000 | Custom |
| Savings | 2% AER/Gross (variable) up to £0.5m | 2.5% AER/Gross (variable) up to £1m | 3% AER/Gross (variable) up to £2m |
| Currency exchange at the interbank rate | £10,000 | £50,000 | Custom |
| Metal cards | 1 | 2 | Custom |
| Payment acceptance fees | From 0.8% + £0.02 | From 0.8% + £0.02 | Custom |
That’s not all about the Revolut business accounts. I have covered everything about it in this Revolut Business Account Review.
Revolut Joint Accounts
To be eligible to open a Revolut joint account, you must satisfy the following requirements:
*Revolut will use the address registered with your Personal account to confirm this.
This card is designed to be two parts of the same design, meaning you can complete each other’s card. This design aesthetic emphasizes the joint account’s purpose with an emotional touch.
The most crucial fact that Revolut emphasizes about their joint/shared accounts is that there is no such thing as my money; the two users own all the money in the joint account even if one adds more.
Remember, Revolut also has the exclusive right to close or suspend your joint account immediately under exceptional circumstances. The organization also can close it down if one account holder passes away. You can read more about how to add money, make payments, and close shared accounts by visiting this link.
Now that we have discussed all account types, let’s look at Revolut’s currency exchange rates.
Revolut Currency Exchange Rates – Is it Worth it?
As seen in several other competitors, exchange currencies out of hours and on weekends have fees at Revolut. However, all Revolut users can convert currencies to a set limit based on the mid-market exchange rate. After you have exceeded your plan’s monthly limit, fair usage fees may apply.
Here’s a snapshot of what Revolut offers in terms of currency exchange rates, usage fees, and out-of-hours fees:
| Standard plan | Premium plan | Metal plan | Enterprise |
| Mid-market exchange limit | 1,000 USD | 10,000 USD | Unlimited |
| Fair usage fee | 0.5% | 0.5% | N/A |
| Out-of-hours fee | 1% | 1% | 1% |
| Metal cards | 1 | 2 | Custom |
With that covered, let’s look at all the Revolut costs in the next section.
Revolut Cost (+ Monthly Fees)
To refresh your memory, Revolut offers five plans: Standard, Plus, Premium, Metal, and Ultra.
They come as a monthly fee, and here’s how it changes.
| Standard | Premium | Metal | Ultra (not available for US citizens yet) |
| Free | $9.99/month | $16.99/month | $57.17/month |
Revolut for business comes in four plans, as I mentioned earlier, and here’s how the pricing varies:
| Basic | Grow | Scale | Enterprise |
| Save up to 24% on the annual plan | Save up to 21% on the annual plan | ||
| Free | From $30/month | From $119/month | Custom |
Next, let’s look at the Revolut card costs across the three available plans for US citizens: Standard, Premium, and Metal.
| Standard | Premium | Metal | |
| For the first Revolut card | Free | Free Cancellation costs might apply if you downgrade or cancel your account | Free Cancellation costs might apply if you downgrade or cancel your account |
| Delivery charges | Complimentary standard delivery | Complimentary standard delivery | Complimentary standard delivery |
| Replacement cards | $5 | The first replacement card is free. Up to $30 for additional replacements | The first replacement card is free. Up to $30 for additional replacements |
| Virtual cards | The first card is free. $4.99 for additional cards | Free | Free |
What about the money transfer fees with Revolut? This typically depends on the plan you’re in. As I said earlier, the better the plan is, the lower the transfer fees.
Let’s assume you’re transferring money from the US to the UK. Here’s how much the recipient gets.
| You are sending | Revolut fee | Total cost | Recipient receives |
| $1,000 | $3 | $1,003 | The amount depends on the present exchange rate |
| $5,000 | $35 | $1,035 | The amount depends on the present exchange rate |
| $10,000 | $75 | $1,075 | The amount depends on the present exchange rate |
With all the costs covered, let’s look at Revolut limits.
Revolut Limits
The sole purpose of the limits imposed by Revolut is to keep their customers and accounts safe. (But wait!!! Is Revolut Really Safe?)
Revolut Transfer Limit
You will clearly see all limits in the app before any transfer. However, there aren’t any transferring limits from the US. If there is, these are typically set by Revolut’s payment partners based on the currencies involved.
Revolut Standard Account Limits
If you remember, the Revolut standard account is free.
Its first limit is the currency conversion of up to $1,000 monthly to different currencies based on the mid-market exchange rate with no additional costs.
The second limit is for ATM withdrawals. There’s no fee to make in-network ATM withdrawals in the US. However, you can only withdraw money up to $400/month for no fee, before paying a 2% charge.
Revolut Card Limits
Revolut card limits only come up temporarily and you’ll see it in the app if you ever hit one. These temporary limits typically come up from a new card you’ve not used before. With the Revolut limits covered, let’s look at how to create and verify a Revolut account.
Revolut Account Creation and Verification
How to Create a Revolut Account?
How to Verify Your Revolut Account?
Usually, a passport or a government-issued ID works the best but some examples of identifications are:
Special notes: ensure the ID has at least 3 months of validity and has not expired. Additionally, make sure the document isn’t blurry and shows your full name, date of birth, and current address clearly.
How Long Does Revolut Verification Take?
At maximum, Revolut verification may take a week, but sometimes it can be very quick too.
Revolut Customer Service
With that covered, let’s take a glance at what Revolut customers say.
Customer Reviews on Revolut
With over 140,000 reviews, Revolut is rated as great with 4.2 stars on Trustpilot. Let’s look at some reviews.
Simply perfect
Everything happens just in seconds. I know it for sure as everyone of my family already uses Revolut app. Transactions, payments-everything works perfect.The team agents are always ready to lead you to the right solution of any problem that arises eventually with the interface and configuring the app. Always ready to advise you in a chat (happy with the chat with Muhammad and Raj).Wish the whole team a Happy New 2024 Year and hope we work together for a better future!
Georgiev points out several positives such as its speed, family friendliness, interface, and much more, and I agree.
My fav of all apps. Simple & instant conversions between currencies and lots of heart emojis from grandchildren when money drops unexpectedly into their junior Rev accounts. I’d just like the option of monitoring my kids’ levels to know when to top them up.
Bela from Great Britain points out the convenient currency conversion and account monitoring.
I also want to feature a slightly lower-rated review below.
I need Turkish Application
Revolot is a great system that I like very much. It is great that it is fast and practical and that you can make investments easily. However, for Turks like me who have just started living in Europe and do not speak English, I would very much like your Revolut applications to have a Turkish version. At the same time, I would love to have a customer representative who speaks Turkish in case of need. When I have problems, I have to look for someone around me who speaks English. I would love to have people who speak Turkish in your system.
Murat makes a point about customer centricity. However, the lower ratings typically revolve around such reasons. Additionally, there are some lower reviews based on accounts being locked for compliance issues and country compatibilities which can be easily avoided.
That being covered, let me also point out the best Revolut alternative; Wise.
The Best Revolut Alternative: Wise
Wise is the same company launched in the UK as TranferWire. While Revolut has some strong suits, Wise surpasses Revolut in some areas.
For instance, Wise has a better reputation compared to Revolut, especially in terms of employee turnover. This affects Revolut users from customer service to dispute resolution to so much more.
While Revolut supports 140 currencies, Wise supports only 96. However, when Wise lets you hold money in 50 currencies, Revolut can do approximately half of it; ~25 currencies.
While transferring fees is almost a draw, Wise is known to guarantee the amount received in a transfer, when Revolut struggles to do that in the same capacity.
It is also no exaggeration to say Wise is more profitable, based on numerous other online reviews. Furthermore, Wise provides you with overseas bank account details while Revolut doesn’t. However, Revolut wins the race of app user interface.
I’ll let you decide which one is better out of Revolut and Wise based on these facts.
Pros and Cons of Revolut
Pros
Cons
Other online bank reviews:
Conclusion: Is Revolut Recommended?
Revolut is one of the most popular online money-transferring methods in the world, including the US.
Given its free accounts, the affordability of paid accounts and their benefits, ease of reaching saving goals and making payments, overall safety, brand reputation, and additional features, I love Revolut and would recommend it.
My prime advice is, as with all financial apps & organizations, to be careful of compliance requirements for security reasons.
I hope this review was helpful to you, and feel free to share this and educate your community.
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