Revolut: game-changing FX fees and exchange rates

Revolut provides low-cost solutions for:

• Holiday-makers and those travelling abroad
• Traders looking to avoid or lower FX fees when trading on non-GBP stocks and other assets
• Those looking to transfer wages or income overseas

Revolut feels a lot like a bank account. You get a debit card, there's an app, and it allows you to keep and spend money, pay bills and receive payments.

However, Revolut isn't a bank – it's an e-money institution (EMI). With Revolut, you can hold money in as many as 37 different currencies, send and receive transfers to multiple countries and currencies, and spend money around the world.

Products and services

Revolut offers the following products and services:

• Spending accounts that can be hold up to 37 different currencies
• Budgeting tools
• Currency transfer and currency exchange
• Debit card that can be used abroad
• Savings account which can be funded in UK-sterling, US dollars or Euros
• Under-18 spending card account
• Crypto trading and crypto transfers
• Joint accounts and business accounts
• Investing – 2000+ stocks available

The currencies that Revolut offers access to are currently: AED, AUD, BGN, CAD, CHF, CLP, COP, CZK, DKK, EGP, EUR, GBP, HKD, HUF, IDR, ILS, INR, ISK, JPY, KRW, KZT, MAD, MXN, NOK, NZD, PHP, PLN, QAR, RON, RSD, SAR, SEK, SGD, THB, TRY, USD, ZAR.

What does Revolut do really well?

• Money transfers are FAST: I haven't found another provider that can match Revolut on transfer times
• Money transfers can go far and wide: 160+ Countries. 70+ Currencies
• You have options over how to transfer money: it's super easy to transfer to friends if they have Revolut, or, if they don't, you can transfer to their mobile wallet through their phone number
• You can hold multiple accounts in multiple currencies
• Nifty budgeting tools: You can set your budget, then allocate it to specific categories such as groceries, shopping, restaurants, etc.
• You can ‘split the bill' through your app to make paying for meals with friends easy
• Excellent currency exchange fees

What is Revolut missing?

Unlike competitors Monzo and Starling Bank, Revolut isn't a bank. That means you won't have access to an overdraft or other lines of credit, and you can't top up your account by paying in cash or cheques either.

Revolut's fees vary according to the plan you choose. There's a free Standard account, then four accounts that require a monthly subscription.

You can see what is included in each plan, and the price you'll pay, here:

The higher-tier accounts also come with other perks including:

• Rev points which can be used for air miles and discounted hotel bookings
• Discounts on international transfer fees
• Airport lounge access
• Various types of insurance cover
• Higher interest rates paid on cash savings
• Subscriptions and credits for Financial Times, Deliveroo, WeWork, MasterClass, Headspace, and Tinder Gold, among others.
• A metal or platinum-plated debit card

It's a pretty big hike in price for those top account tiers. It might be worth the £540 per year for Ultra if you do a lot of travelling, and you can make use of those subscriptions. For the couple of overseas trips I take each year, I'm more than happy with the free Standard plan.

Even with the free plan, weekday ATM withdrawals and debit card use is fee-free.

There are some things to watch out for with Revolut fees, however. Providers need to make money somehow, and this is where Revolut takes their profit:

• Weekend fees: Weekday transactions might be free with Revolut, but withdrawing cash from an ATM or using your debit card at the weekend will mean an automatic 1% fee is added to your costs. That applies across all plan tiers.
• Breaching your ‘fair usage' allowance: Fair usage allowances vary according to the plan you choose. With the Standard plan, your limit for card usage is £1,000 per month. For the Plus plan, your limit is £3,000 per month. If you exceed these limits, you will be charged a fee, even if it's a weekday. For Standard customers, that fee is 1%. For Plus customers, it's 0.5%. On higher plans, there are no fair usage limits.
• Breaching ATM withdrawal limits: Customers on all plan tiers are limited to how much they can withdraw in cash from foreign ATMs for free. On the lower tiers, it's £200 per month. The amounts get larger as you go up in plan, with the top-tier Ultra plan allowing up to £2,000 to be withdrawn each month for free. Fees for exceeding these limits are hefty 2% (min £1) so don't get caught out here!

How does Revolut compare?

If you use your card only on weekdays and stay within your fair usage limits, then Revolut is highly competitive. But, as the below table shows, drifting out of the fee-free zones means the costs can quickly add up.

My advice is: know your fair usage limits and keep track of what you're withdrawing when abroad. And don't use your card on a weekend, if you can help it!

If you can keep within those boundaries, Revolut is a very cheap way to spend money abroad.

What exchange rate does Revolut use?

Revolut Business customers get access to what's called the interbank exchange rate. That's generally considered to be the best rate as it's the ‘trade' price. You might also hear it referred to as the mid-market rate because it's midway between the rate the buy and sell rates used on the trading markets where currency is bought and sold. The interbank, or mid-market rate, is free from mark-ups. Very few platforms provide access to this wholesale rate to all customers, but there are exceptions: Wise offers the interbank rate to all customers, as does Currensea.

Revolut adds a mark-up to the interbank exchange rate for personal customers. However, all the analysis I've done on different exchange rates points to the differences being minute, so I wouldn't particularly worry about this.

Of much more importance to overall cost are the FX (foreign exchange) fees that providers charge. These fees are unrelated to the exchange rate, and are really just service charges. These will make a much bigger difference to your overall costs than differences between the varying exchange rates used by well-known providers.

As an ‘e-money institution', Revolut is obliged to protect your money through safeguarding rules. These rules are designed to ensure that if Revolut fails, your money can still come back to you as it has been kept in a safe place.

That is not the same as the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), however, which provides bank account holders in the UK with compensation up to a total of £85,000.

When Revolut receives your money, it must either be placed in a dedicated ‘safeguarding account’ with a bank, or it must be invested in low-risk assets that the regulator has approved as an alternative to cash. Revolut keeps your money in these accounts or investments until you spend it.

In the unlikely chance that Revolut, or any e-money institution, fails, the customers’ claims on their funds will be paid from the safeguarding account.

Have a question about Revolut that we haven't covered? Ask it here and we will get back to you as soon as possible!