Revolut | The Best Banking Solution For Global Citizens

As of November 2018, we rank Revolut as the best banking solution for nomads and global citizens. It has a very high convenience factor, great security features and a few special attributes that are hard to find elsewhere.

Sign up for free

[toc]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zjSXwFXnow&t

General Features of Revolut

Revolut already offers its free users an impressive set of banking features.

Solid multicurrency support:
Revolut offers it’s users many different currency options. Every user automatically receives a free GBP current account as well as a free Euro IBAN account.

They can spend in over 150 currencies at the interbank exchange rate.

Depending on where you register your account, your base currency will either be EUR or GBP.

You will receive the following accounts:

  • A personal EUR account with a UK IBAN
  • A personal GBP account with a local UK account number and sort code. You can also use SWIFT transfers, however only with a collection account (no personal account).
  • A USD account in the UK

In total you can hold money in 27 fiat currencies.

Excellent mobile app:
One of the big advantages Revolut has over many other fintechs and even more so over most traditional bank, is the easy of use that the mobile app offers. Every feature and option is available right from your phone.

Analysis and budgeting:
The app offers very near analytic and budgeting features. Your spendings can be broken down by merchant, category and country. With custom budgets for each category, you can keep your spending under control.

You also receive instant payment notifications. No longer do you have to wait for card payments to show up days later on your statement. Instead, you get instant notifications the moment your card is charged, and exactly how much you’re being charged in your base currency. Very useful when paying in unfamiliar currencies.

Next-level security features

Getting your card stolen, cloned or the information copied is a credible threat when traveling. Revolut spouts many security features that will make fraud and misuse of your card much more difficult.

All of these features are available from within the iPhone/Android app.

Set monthly card limits

You can turn on spending limits for each of your physical and virtual Mastercards through the app. This way you can make sure, that no big charges can even occur on your cards if you don’t want to.

How to change your PIN code

You can view your PIN code for your physical Mastercards right in the app.

In order to change the PIN, you need to visit an ATM that supports PIN services and accepts Visa or Mastercard.

There are certain countries where ATMs do not support PIN change. Those include among others Germany, Austria, France, Spain, Luxembourg, and Belgium.

Freeze/unfreeze cards

It happens to the best of us. We temporarily misplace our wallet/credit card. We are pretty sure we didn’t lose it, but we can’t find it right now. Just freeze your card. When it turns up again, unfreeze it. Simple.

Deactivate magnetic stripe payments

The magnetic stripe on credit cards can be cloned, the chip not. Just deactivate stripe payments in general, and you never have to worry about someone cloning your card.

Deactivate online payments

You hand over your MasterCard to a lot of people. They could jot down the information, then try to purchase things online. It might be a wise decision to deactivate online payment for your physical Mastercard in general and use virtual MasterCards for that purpose.

Deactivate contactless payments

Deactivates the contactless payment system on your card. If you never use this feature, you might want to turn it off.

Deactivate ATM withdrawals

You can also turn of ATM withdrawals manually.

Location-based security

Another new, additional security feature. Your card may only be used in close proximity to your location (determined by the location of your mobile phone that runs the app). Nobody that might have seen you type in your pin can steal your card and then buy stuff at the other end of town.

The different Revolut plans explained

Revolut offers three different pricing theirs.

Aside from the free standard plan, there are also two paid plans. This is how the plans differ.

FREEPREMIUMMETAL
Monthly fee0 €7.99 €13.99 €
Free ATM limit200€400€600€
Virtual debit cardsNo
CashbackNoNoYes, 1% outside Europe, 0.1% inside Europe

Revolut Standard (free)

A single MasterCard, standard Revolut design200€ or USD/GBP equivalent per month of free cash withdrawals, 2% after that

Revolut Premium (7.99€/month)

Two Mastercards, premium designs
Virtual & disposable Mastercards
400€ or USD/GBP equivalent per month of free cash withdrawals, 2% after that
Premium Perks

Revolut Metal (13.99€/month)

All of the features of the premium plan.
Additional metal card with premium design
600€ or USD/GBP equivalent per month of free cash withdrawals, 2% after that
0.1% cashback inside Europe, and 1% cashback outside of Europe
Premium Perks + Concierge Service

The Revolut premium perks in more detail

In the premium and metal tier, Revolut offers special perks. These are

Complimentary worldwide travel insurance

The travel insurance consists of overseas medical insurance, insurance for delayed flights as well as for delayed baggage. The medical insurance covers emergency medical assistance and emergency dental treatment.

Insurance for winter sports and travel companions can be added for further costs.

There is a catch, however: The total trip duration cannot exceed 40 days. Most perpetual travelers will therefore not be able to take advantage of the insurance at all.

Optional device insurance

You can insure your smartphone right from within the app, at an additional cost. Your phone must be undamaged and not more than six months old.

Concierge Service

Premium members also get free access to a concierge service. As of the writing of this article, I haven’t yet used this feature, so I can’t tell much about it.

Virtual Mastercards

While several other fintechs also have good mobile apps, security features, and instant payment notifications, there are some special things that only Revolut offers.

These include virtual and virtual disposable Mastercards.

You can use them for online payments, and at any time delete them and receive new payment details. This way you can make sure, that services can’t keep rebilling you.

If you want to enter your credit card details on a website that doesn’t look very trustworthy to you you can use a virtual disposable card. A virtual Mastercard, that can only be used exactly one time to pay for a product or service. Afterward it “self-destructs”, and Revolut creates a new disposable card, for next time.

How to open a Revolut account

As of July 2019, Revolut supports legal residents in the European Economic Area (EEA), Switzerland and Australia.

So if you are a resident of one of the following countries, you are eligible to open a Revolut account.

Revolut Supported Countries
Austria 🇦🇹Belgium 🇧🇪Bulgaria 🇧🇬
Croatia 🇭🇷Republic of Cyprus 🇨🇾Czech Republic 🇨🇿
Denmark 🇩🇰Estonia 🇪🇪Finland 🇫🇮
France 🇫🇷Germany 🇩🇪Greece 🇬🇷
Hungary 🇭🇺Iceland 🇮🇸Ireland 🇮🇪
Italy 🇮🇹Latvia 🇱🇻Liechtenstein 🇱🇮
Lithuania 🇱🇹Luxembourg 🇱🇺Malta 🇲🇹
Netherlands 🇳🇱Norway 🇳🇴Poland 🇵🇱
Portugal 🇵🇹Romania 🇷🇴Slovakia 🇸🇰
Slovenia 🇸🇮Spain 🇪🇸Sweden 🇸🇪
United Kingdom 🇬🇧
  1. Get A Free Revolut Card With This Link

Frequently Asked Questions

What currencies does Revolut support?

Supported currencies
EUR 🇪🇺GBP 🇬🇧USD 🇺🇸
AUD 🇦🇺CZK 🇨🇿DKK 🇩🇰
AED 🇦🇪BGN 🇧🇬CHF 🇨🇭
HKD 🇭🇰HRK 🇭🇷HUF 🇭🇺
JPY 🇯🇵MAD 🇲🇦MXN 🇲🇽
NOK 🇳🇴NZD 🇳🇿PLN 🇵🇱
QAR 🇶🇦RON 🇷🇴RUB 🇷🇺
SAR 🇸🇦SEK 🇸🇪SGD 🇸🇬
THB 🇹🇭TRY 🇹🇷ZAR 🇿🇦

5 Comments

  1. Tori December 19, 2019
  2. Bill January 8, 2020
    • Chris Natterer January 22, 2020
  3. Bill January 8, 2020
  4. Bill January 22, 2020

Leave a Reply