Zen.com - Alternative to Revolut

Yggr of Asgard · 02-12-2020 11:09am #1

There is a new company out there trying to offer multi-currency accounts and cards like Revolut.

They have NO free tier, their lowest (Gold) starts at 0.99€ a month and their highest (Platinum) is 4.99€ a month.

They offer a 30-day free trial but there are codes out there that give a 120-day free trial.

www.zen.com

They are the usual Lithuania registered e-money institution however they are doing this in strategic partnership with Mastercard. Customer support is coming from Poland.

Their pricing appears to be more competitive than Revolut on the paying plans when comparing the included items:

Zen: https://www.zen.com/personal/pricing
Revolut: https://www.revolut.com/en-IE/revolut-premium

Unlike Revolut they are concentrating on payments via the card (account) no crypto, no travel insurance. Simply a multi-currency account with plastic/virtual card and no markups.

In my opinion/experience:

Plus

Plastic Mastercard (1 for gold and 2 for platinum plan)
Virtual MasterCard (3 for gold and 5 for platinum plan)
Shopping Protection (1 request/month for gold and unlimited for Platinum) via Mastercard
1-year extended Warranty (1500€ for gold and 5000€ for Platinum) via Axa Insurance
Apple Pay & Google Pay
Simple black and white app concentrating on the basics (no ads, just the basics)
SEPA instant
Up to 5000€ free currency exchange on gold (0.3% above) and unlimited on Platinum
Rates seam to be the same as Revolut
Local LT IBAN for all currencies
Local UK account for £
Top up via unique IBAN (LT) or Swift (UK) and credit/debit card (0.5% free over 3000€ and 5000€ respectively)

Negatives

Push notifications a little spotty at the moment in my experience
No disposable cards at the moment
No top up via Apple Pay or Google Pay
Some weird translations in the app at some items
(Example it claims the LT IBAN is only for within Lithuania transfers while it should read SEAP)

I mean with a 30/120-day free trial there is no harm in trying it out rather than paying Revolut if you have transactions higher than the free Revolut Tier allows.

Yggr of Asgard · 08-12-2020 11:43am

Got my plastic card today (6 days delivery time).

It looks like it is shown on the webpage https://www.zen.com/features/cards.

It's a white card with Zen/Mastercard logo/Name on the front.

Silver magnetic strip near top together with contact number (UK) and manufactory details next to it.

Number, Expiry data and CCV etched into the card below the magnetic stip.

No signature fields.

Card is coded an IRISH Master Debit card with 5574 7517 BIN (same as the virtual card).

Yggr of Asgard · 08-12-2020 11:52am

Apple Pay

Card needs to be added to Apple Pay manually (can't be done out of the Zen App which is again basic).

Once added manually a verification code needs to be entered (which can be received via SMS or e-mail) and once that is entered the card is fine in the wallet.

Amouar · 13-01-2021 6:08pm

Are they using the mid market exchange rate like Revolut or are they using the MasterCard one like N26?

Yggr of Asgard · 13-01-2021 8:57pm

For the 30 currencies they support directly you get real live rates, for the rest MasterCard rates:

https://ask.zen.com/hc/en-us/articles/360017366000-What-exchange-rates-can-I-expect-

It will show you the rates before you exchange so you can compare.

When spending funds it automatically takes it from the € account if you don’t hold funds in the currency you spend and it seems to be live market rates too.

On occasion it was a few cents cheaper than Revolut and on occasions it was a few cents more.

Fann Linn · 15-01-2021 9:16pm

Thanks Yggr. Signed up there and new card due next week.

Yggr of Asgard · 15-01-2021 10:04pm

Found a negative

I canceled an Amazon order and with Revolut the pending transaction usually gets released in seconds.

Zen seems to keep the hold for at least a business day after Amazon releases it.

Fann Linn · 15-01-2021 10:08pm

Just wondering also would the transfers to other a/c holders be as quick as Revolut?

Yggr of Asgard · 15-01-2021 10:14pm

Fann Linn wrote: »

Just wondering also would the transfers to other a/c holders be as quick as Revolut?

There is no zen to zen Wallet transfer via email or phone if you mean that.

You can transfer to any IBAN and it’s Separate instant. So if you transfer to someones Zen IBAN it’s there immediately.

Pablo1802 · 18-01-2021 5:33pm

Any promo code available?

thx

Yggr of Asgard · 22-01-2021 1:50pm

So, I had an Amazon charge for 12.50£ for an order that I canceled yet somehow Amazon still charged me and for some reason was unable to release the amount back.

I logged a Zen Care request and within 12 hours the amount was credited to my account with a nice mail telling me the full info.

Scarry was however that the mail contained not only the merchant but also what I purchased.

J_A_F_A · 23-01-2021 8:53am

Details of their Extended Warranty Insurance here
https://www.zen.com/files/warranty/InsuranceProductInformationDocument-Gold.pdf
and
https://www.zen.com/files/warranty/ExtendedWarranty-Gold.pdf

Yggr of Asgard · 10-03-2021 8:33pm

Top up via Apple Pay has launched with the latest version of the iOS App

Zen.com - Alternative to Revolut

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