Revolut - any experiences out there?

[Belhaven]

I am thinking of signing up for Revolut, mostly in order to get disposable credit cards my daughters can use when they buy games for their mobile phones.

When I am trying to register, they demand that I leave vital information from my passport. As I have never had anything to do with the company before, I am a little hesitant to hand over such information when all I want to do at this stage is to register.

Have any OTFers used Revolut or similar services? Does it actually work for all stand alone online transactions or are there any additional costs related to actual use? Their homepage isn't entirely clear on that matter.

And, of course, is it safe?

All advice appreciated.

[Snake Plissken]

Yes, used them for a couple of years as it is by far the the best method for using currency abroad. Once past the initial signup, if they were taking money off the top of the exchange rate it wasn't very much as all. The security via the app was very good and I have sent my driving licence - it is to satisfy financial regulations around ID as far as I can tell. Brilliant for being abroad, initially adding money and then just topping up with a click of a button.

I don't use it for cryptocurrencies or any of the other stuff they quite regularly push.

[Ginger Yellow]

I am thinking of signing up for Revolut, mostly in order to get disposable credit cards my daughters can use when they buy games for their mobile phones.

This may be a dumb question, but why not just get gift cards for the app store in question?

[ad hoc]

I use Revolut, and in addition to the reasons Snake mentions, it's increasingly become an alternative to paypal, and really easy to use in that way. I can just pay people incredibly easy (and be paid) as long as both of us have a Revolut account.

[Antepli Ejderha]

Is this better than Transferwise for sending money abroad?

[seand]

Revolut is super handy and quick, specially for peer-to-peer, and its free. PayPal is free for "friends and family" but costs a small percentage to buy from a company. (most companies have the charge, like credit card charges, built into their pricing). You have buyer protection with PayPal, so if the seller doesn't deliver you're 100% covered

[Belhaven]

This may be a dumb question, but why not just get gift cards for the app store in question?

Not at a dumb question at all. I had not heard of gift cards, so I checked it out. However, it seems that for some reason they are not for sale in Norway. Apart from that. it is reassuring that people have positive experiences with Revolut.

[Toby Gymshorts]

Have recently signed up with Revolut ahead of a holiday in September. So far it's been a positive experience, other than the regular reminders to make a purchase with my card / PIN.

All in good time, Revolut. All in good time.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

We used it just this last weekend in Norway. Worked okay everywhere except the ticket machines in the stations - but I think that was their problem, not Revolut's.

[steveeeeeeeee]

I have Revolut, Starling and Wise cards and tested them all in UK, Portugal and Mexico.

The best, beyond a shadow of a doubt, is Starling. The transfer rates are consistently better than Revolut or even WIse. It's so good, there has been no need for either me or mywife to get a bank account in Mexico, as the Starling covers everything we need. We were already using the joint card function in the UK to pay bills and supermarket stuff, so were very happy with in that aspect. The app is simple, payments are quick and easy to make.

Revolut never has transfer rates as good as Starling, the app is more complicated and cluttered, they don't have a joint card facility like Starling.

The worldwide bank account numbers feature of Wise is really useful when you're living in a foreign country, so I can make bank transfers in Mexico and Portugal really easy and cheaply without having a bank account. The major issue is if you need money transferred to you, it is really difficult and this is the only reason why I ha to open a bank account in Mexico, because it is tricky to get money back, such as refunds via a transference. Wise is also very useful source to stock up on travel money if the exchange rate is good, in fact they have added a new feature to exchange money automatically when the rate reaches a percentage you think is really good.