Revolut - Ultracheap FX (prepaid Mastercard)

tomfoolery60 · 22-08-2015 11:10am #1

I have started using a service called Revolut which offers a prepaid mastercard and allows you to convert money to USD/GBP at market rates with zero commission https://revolut.com/

Have used to purchase some stuff online in GBP and requested the physical card (to allow ATM withdrawals when outside the Eurozone) and it works very well so far.

As I understand it, it is free for the first 12 months and then they might charge a fee. There is a code from MoneySavingExpert "MSE" that will give you a £5 bonus if you sign up and deposit a tenner or something like that.

GY A1 · 22-08-2015 1:36pm

Any fees

tomfoolery60 wrote: »

I have started using a service called Revolut which offers a prepaid mastercard and allows you to convert money to USD/GBP at market rates with zero commission https://revolut.com/

Have used to purchase some stuff online in GBP and requested the physical card (to allow ATM withdrawals when outside the Eurozone) and it works very well so far.

As I understand it, it is free for the first 12 months and then they might charge a fee. There is a code from MoneySavingExpert "MSE" that will give you a £5 bonus if you sign up and deposit a tenner or something like that.

tomfoolery60 · 22-08-2015 2:41pm

GY A1 wrote: »

Any fees

Not for the first 12mths they say

Niemoj · 22-08-2015 3:16pm

Looks very good but I'm curious as to how a "no fee" company like themselves makes money.

snubbleste · 22-08-2015 3:21pm

Niemoj wrote: »

Looks very good but I'm curious as to how a "no fee" company like themselves makes money.

We earn a nominal fee paid to us by merchants every time you use Revolut Card.
We reserve the right to review our pricing structure after the first 12 months of your use of the Revolut service. We do not anticipate any significant changes. Revolut was launched to offer a fair and transparent service. It has been designed to offer the best value and the best user experience. There are no hidden fees to our users.

jay-me · 22-08-2015 3:35pm

Well that was the quickest 5 pounds ever earned! Wonder if I can make off currency fluctuations too?

crabbypaddy · 22-08-2015 4:05pm

Can you top up in euro or will you end up paying fees on the Irish end converting to GBP.

Racket · 22-08-2015 4:08pm

crabbypaddy wrote: »

Can you top up in euro or will you end up paying fees on the Irish end converting to GBP.

I topped up in €, got the £5 that way, converted that £5 back to € and it was added to my € balance. All in the space of about a minute. Saved me a bit of money on something I was planning to buy online anyway.

revz · 22-08-2015 4:17pm

Easiest £5 ever.

I'm heading to the States in 2 weeks time, and as far as I can see, this is the best way to go about getting my cash in $.

I owe you a pint OP!

Chorus_suck · 22-08-2015 6:47pm

This post has been deleted.

Racket · 22-08-2015 7:50pm

Chorus_suck wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

You have to enter it in while you set it up, though I've seen people mention they messaged the Revolut customer service about it and had the £5 applied later. Could try that and see.

yesno1234 · 22-08-2015 9:31pm

Anyone know can this be used for gaming/gambling? Have emailed but thought I'd ask anyways to see if anyones tried.

Mark Tapley · 23-08-2015 3:51am

Tried to register and got a message "device already registered". Never heard of them before today. I have had the same number for a good few years. I put +353 and left the 0 off my mobile number. Am I doing something wrong?

Lumi · 23-08-2015 7:58am

Mark Tapley wrote: »

Tried to register and got a message "device already registered". Never heard of them before today. I have had the same number for a good few years. I put +353 and left the 0 off my mobile number. Am I doing something wrong?

Getting the same message here when trying to register using the iOS App

Mark Tapley · 23-08-2015 8:00am

Lumi wrote: »

Getting the same message here when trying to register using the iOS App

I'm on android. I sent them a message on Facebook. I will post if I hear anything back.

bittihuduga · 23-08-2015 9:42am

can we top this card with our credit card online?
or is there any other prepaid cards that can be topped up using a credit card? (without being charged by credit card bank as cash advance?)

irishgeo · 23-08-2015 10:16am

Can this be used with PayPal?

KaseLieberKase · 23-08-2015 11:47am

bittihuduga wrote: »

can we top this card with our credit card online?
or is there any other prepaid cards that can be topped up using a credit card? (without being charged by credit card bank as cash advance?)

I think its debit card only

crazyderk · 23-08-2015 11:51am

bittihuduga wrote: »

can we top this card with our credit card online?
or is there any other prepaid cards that can be topped up using a credit card? (without being charged by credit card bank as cash advance?)

I topped up with my credit card using the app. it shows up in the app immediatley. it would be a good way to withdraw cash without fee's

Toxica · 23-08-2015 12:12pm

Racket wrote: »

I topped up in €, got the £5 that way, converted that £5 back to € and it was added to my € balance. All in the space of about a minute. Saved me a bit of money on something I was planning to buy online anyway.

Did you top up by €10 to get the £5 or the euro equivalent of £10?

Racket · 23-08-2015 12:22pm

Toxica wrote: »

Did you top up by €10 to get the £5 or the euro equivalent of £10?

I topped up with the equivalent, thought I would then have to transfer it over to £ in the app to get the £5, so don't know if just €10 would suffice.

bmm · 23-08-2015 12:30pm

crazyderk wrote: »

I topped up with my credit card using the app. it shows up in the app immediatley. it would be a good way to withdraw cash without fee's

Withdraw cash ? How ?

yabadabado · 23-08-2015 12:31pm

bmm wrote: »

Withdraw cash ? How ?

get their ATM card.

tomfoolery60 · 23-08-2015 1:46pm

crazyderk wrote: »

I topped up with my credit card using the app. it shows up in the app immediatley. it would be a good way to withdraw cash without fee's

I'd be careful topping up with a CC, I imagine it is like an online bookmaker and you might get whacked with a cash advance fee. Did you check with customer service?

Tony · 23-08-2015 3:36pm

at the very least a quick way to make €6.89 . Thanks OP

Lumi · 23-08-2015 4:49pm

Mark Tapley wrote: »

Tried to register and got a message "device already registered". Never heard of them before today. I have had the same number for a good few years. I put +353 and left the 0 off my mobile number. Am I doing something wrong?

I opened the App again a few minutes ago and my account was registered - I had gotten the same error message as you earlier but the registration must have gone through ok after all. I topped up and got my £5 bonus so happy days!
Thanks OP

crazyderk · 23-08-2015 5:43pm

tomfoolery60 wrote: »

I'd be careful topping up with a CC, I imagine it is like an online bookmaker and you might get whacked with a cash advance fee. Did you check with customer service?

No but I'll report back when it shows up in my online banking

Hootanany · 23-08-2015 7:25pm

I topped up €10 and got £5 logged our checked again fivers gone and app keeps crashing.
I tried to verify my drivers licence and app was having none of it
I hope it's not a scam.

nephster · 23-08-2015 11:14pm

Anyone have any joy topping up with a card on a rooted Android phone? When I try the app just freezes. Contacted support, and they said "Our app is not optimised for rooted phones" which doesn't really help as such.

Xzen · 24-08-2015 3:17am

nephster wrote: »

Anyone have any joy topping up with a card on a rooted Android phone? When I try the app just freezes. Contacted support, and they said "Our app is not optimised for rooted phones" which doesn't really help as such.

No problems here. It does take about 30 seconds to load 3D secure (or the Visa equivalent) for verification. It might take longer to load depending on your connection.

Otherwise works smoothly here (using an LG G3 on the 3 network).

nephster · 24-08-2015 10:17am

Xzen wrote: »

No problems here. It does take about 30 seconds to load 3D secure (or the Visa equivalent) for verification. It might take longer to load depending on your connection.

Otherwise works smoothly here (using an LG G3 on the 3 network).

Thanks for that. Absolutely no joy for me after trying different cards, wi-fi/mobile data, and clearing the app's cache. Ho hum.

bittihuduga · 24-08-2015 11:12am

crazyderk wrote: »

I topped up with my credit card using the app. it shows up in the app immediatley. it would be a good way to withdraw cash without fee's

thanks for the confirmation..it helps

Mark Tapley · 24-08-2015 11:45am

Lumi wrote: »

I opened the App again a few minutes ago and my account was registered - I had gotten the same error message as you earlier but the registration must have gone through ok after all. I topped up and got my £5 bonus so happy days!
Thanks OP

I got a reply from them asking for my number. Nothing since.My phone is rooted maybe that's the problem.

yesno1234 · 24-08-2015 1:06pm

yesno1234 wrote: »

Anyone know can this be used for gaming/gambling? Have emailed but thought I'd ask anyways to see if anyones tried.

Didn't receive a definite answer from them. Anyone have the card and can confirm?

Rock Paper Scissors · 24-08-2015 2:37pm

quickest €6.78 I ever made, cheers OP

Racket · 24-08-2015 10:09pm

tomfoolery60 wrote: »

I'd be careful topping up with a CC, I imagine it is like an online bookmaker and you might get whacked with a cash advance fee. Did you check with customer service?

Just checked my online banking, no cash advance fee for using my credit card to top it up.

bittihuduga · 24-08-2015 10:12pm

Racket wrote: »

Just checked my online banking, no cash advance fee for using my credit card to top it up.

which credit card did you use?

Niemoj · 24-08-2015 11:50pm

Just to confirm do we've to top up by £10 or €10 to get the £5 bonus?

revz · 25-08-2015 12:56am

Niemoj wrote: »

Just to confirm do we've to top up by £10 or €10 to get the £5 bonus?

I topped up by €10 and got it.

ClaptonBay · 25-08-2015 9:53am

Is it better to use your CC or Visa debit to top up in terms of any security risks?

Irish Halo · 25-08-2015 10:40am

I got this a while ago and have used the virtual card to buy things in dollars (one transaction ~$200) and Euros and worked very well. Topping up with a C/C should cost a cash advance AFAIK but YMMV.

It all happens pretty instantly too, I have topped up with Euros and paid for things all within the same two/three minutes.

I have not got my actual card yet though and I applied to have it sent ~27 July (it is not sent automatically, go to Menu> My Card > Request card) but think there has been a rush and they're making there way through a backlog.

One nice trick is associating it with a Paypal account and getting billed in the seller's currency so avoiding Paypal's FX rates as well as the bank/card's rate (I have done this). You of course need to make sure the card is topped up. This will also presumably avoid any restrictions on using the card for gambling/gaming.

I'm off to the US in late-September so hope I have my card by then to use.

EDIT: Contacted them via the in app support, apparently there was an issue with my address and the card was returned to them so should now be back on its way to me.

Racket · 25-08-2015 4:22pm

bittihuduga wrote: »

which credit card did you use?

AIB Mastercard. Checked again and definitely no cash advance fee for me.

crazyderk · 25-08-2015 4:51pm

bittihuduga wrote: »

which credit card did you use?

No charge for me either with a BOI mastercard

Fred Swanson · 26-08-2015 2:28am

This post has been deleted.

bromley52 · 26-08-2015 3:10am

Is there a €30 yearly tax for using this card, virtual or physical?

Fred Swanson · 26-08-2015 3:24am

This post has been deleted.

crazyderk · 26-08-2015 8:33am

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Well the company are not based in Ireland so I don't think they will charge the annual tax

from the website "The Revolut app and multi-currency card are completely free.

Revolut offers the very best exchange rate available and applies no charges or fees. We guarantee this for the first 12 months of being a Revolut customer.

We partner with Optimal Payments, a global provider of online and mobile payment processing services,"

Optimal from what I can see on their website are based in the isle of man, the UK, Canada and the USA so I don't think their cards would fall under Irish jurisdiction thus you wouldn't pay tax on it.

Of course theres always the possibility I'm a dog on the itnernet & I have no idea what I'm doing

duffman13 · 26-08-2015 9:46am

Have set up an account to use while travelling. I will be around Asia in a lot of countries where dollars are the accepted currency. Is there a fee involved from withdrawing from foreign ATMs. I know the bank in whatever country will apply a fee but thats not an issue.

Also if taking out currency other than €$£ is there a way to check the rate I will be offered?

Fred Swanson · 26-08-2015 9:55am

This post has been deleted.

Irish Halo · 26-08-2015 10:56am

duffman13 wrote: »

Is there a fee involved from withdrawing from foreign ATMs.

From their website:
"Once you've topped up your Revolut account you can use the card anywhere with no fees on transactions or cash withdrawals."

duffman13 wrote: »

Also if taking out currency other than €$£ is there a way to check the rate I will be offered?

From the site it says:
"... the card automatically converts into the local currency at the perfect interbank rate so you don't have to worry about it. This means that even if you hold GBP but spend in Thai Bhat the card will convert from GBP to THB at the instant of transaction."

I have found the rates at xe.com's currency converter to normally match the rate Revolut use (at least in the app) so if you have internet access that will give you a good idea. Of course after the transaction you can look at the app and and work it out.

gerrykiddy · 26-08-2015 11:28am

You must be weary of exchange rate companies. I used XE for ages (still registered) and over a period I swore by them. Because I trusted them to be the best I never checked alsewhere and was shocked to find that at one stage B of I were better. Since then I have checked regularly and right now its Transfer Wise. The lesson is to compare regularly.

Revolut - Ultracheap FX (prepaid Mastercard)

Comments