Revolut?
 

Has anyone heard of this?

Revolut launches a premium subscription and starts raising a new round

Seems like it could be a solid MS opportunity if you're in Europe....

Not if you get shut down faster than you can say "compliance".

There's 1% credit card top-up fee and 15 000 EUR top-up limit per year -> not an option.

If you really need to top up by credit card, the possibility to do so and the very modest 1% fee is unusual for a prepaid card. The annual limit can be raised easily by supplying source of funds info.

I have been using Revolut since they began, a bit less than two years ago, and have saved real money on cross-currency transactions and transfers. The interbank rate that they give (weekdays) on up to 90 currencies is unbeatable. I don't think I will go for the new Premium version at £7/month as the free version is useful enough, it's never cost me a cent (although there's now a fee for the plastic card). Currently it's for residents of European countries only.


EDIT: Having now looked up and discovered the meaning of 'Manufactured Spending' I hope you will excuse me for this irrelevant post. Still, Revolut can be very useful for travellers...

I know, I have been waiting for them to make it available in the USA. I still keep my Euros Account in my home country (Debit + Credit Card), but I will gladly cancel it if they make Revolut available in the USA. I do travel quite often outside of the USA and need other currencies, being Euros and Pounds the main ones with some HK Dollars and Australia and NZ too.

One can load from a Visa or Mastercard in EUR or GBP with 1% fee and immediately withdraw to a SEPA bank account. Most EUR or GBP Visa or Mastercard credit cards don't provide more than 1% rewards, though if you have suggestions PM me.

A US-based card will work to load in EUR or GBP (USD isn't worth the 4% fee). However, for true MS you'd also need to figure out how to get the funds back to the US since Revolut won't withdrawal there. And factor in the "no FTF" margin from your card issuer, since you are doing the charge in EUR or GBP: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/cred...all-cards.html

Barclays Arrival+ won't add in the app.
Chase, Citi, and Capital One work fine.

So for right now you'll need:
1. US credit card with no FTF and probably >=1.5% cash back.
2. Non-US residency / address.
3. European bank account (in theory you could try paying a currency conversion place directly).

It's not unbeatable, TransferWise is almost always better. I've given up on Revolut because of their basic infrastructure and customer service failings.

TransferWise and Revolut both use the same interbank exchange rates, but TransferWise charges a fee of at least 0.5%, whereas Revolut charges no fee (for up to £5k equ per month). TransferWise does not provide a virtual and/or plastic MasterCard as Revolut does. Their new CS centre in Cracow performs very well in my experience.

You can withdraw or transfer USD to bank accounts with major US banks. However you cannot currently sign up for Revolut using a US address.

The card is of no use to me but I appreciate it may be for others.

Strangely, I get better rates with TransferWise every time I compare the two. Maybe it's because I transfer larger amounts. The customer service of Revolut is a complete joke. Or I get stuck with the dumbest people every time I need to get in touch with the (every time). A transfer from bank to bank ends up taking about 10 days, with TW using a debit card (not possible on Revolut) it's nearly instantaneous.

Oh huh it works now, or at least accepts the instruction.

loading funds to Revolut by debit card is actually the normal way, and immediate. However, sending to a bank account can take a few days, so it's best to use TransferWise if it's more urgent. You may have compared rates on a weekend, when Revolut adds a small spread while the markets are closed.

FYI Revolut opened up pre-signup for US based users today. Get in the queue now.

TransferWise is much quicker and slicker than Revolt. I've deleted my Revolt app.

I'm of the opinion that it's always nice to have some backup sources of funds available if your first one or two cards act up while traveling, so I'll be looking forward to being able to use Revolut again. I'd be able to withdraw cash fairly easily since I travel abroad every now and then.

Also, if my app and old account are any indication, they expect to charge $8.99 a month for premium when they reopen in the US.