Revolut card

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Fri May 27, 2022 11:32 am

Has anyone any pointers on using this prepaid debit card abroad. I signed up the other day for Revolut and apparently you transfer money to the card and when you use it abroad there are no card fees and you get the prevailing daily exchange rate. In the past, I got ripped on the Foreign Exchange rates changing up Sterling to euros, even shopping around, and if I used my bank card abroad the bank added extra fees. This way you avoid both. I balked at having it as a phone pay app and paid a fiver for a plastic card. I will still take euros but I can use the Revolut card when necessary. I know there are different similar cards like Monza and others, I just wanted to know if there are any issues I should be aware of.

DWD

aeromech3 · Post by **aeromech3** » Fri May 27, 2022 2:31 pm

I've had a Fair FX card for years maybe it started off as a good idea, but they changed from being a master-card to just them. I had a sterling card for Worldwide and a Euro card, now it is all on one card and complex inter charging if one of 15 currencies runs out, buying abroad was charge free, but withdrawing cash, except in Sterling in UK, was a hi % charge.
Now I have Santander credit card for spends which gives a good exchange rate and no charge and a Nationwide Flex Plus account which gives a good exchange and no charge for cash.
In Thailand I found most bank ATMs charge about £5 for an ATM cash withdrawal use with a total cost limit about £500, some do not give the chance to take in local and be charged in local which is best.
Some stores, example supermarkets, charge my credit card in local, good, but there are exceptions and so I always stress to the cashier Thai Baht .

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Fri May 27, 2022 3:01 pm

Apparently, this debit card converts the Sterling held into the currency of wherever you are?

DWD

aeromech3 · Post by **aeromech3** » Sat May 28, 2022 3:29 am

It does appear attractive but the free standard card only allows £200/month withdrawals which is not enough for me and there are out of banking hours charges for conversions, also the THB is not a regular currency with them. They state interbank rates, but in the blurb they talk about checking a basket of rates which I find confusing, interbank would be great.
I used my Euro card once in a Toulouse airport ATM and got ripped off, since I cashed in the card and lost again with a £5 fee added.
So for me the banking cards have been my choice, that is until they change their policy.

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Sat May 28, 2022 6:26 am

I think that if you preload the card with funds you can just use it instead of currency which for me would either be euros or maybe US dollars. I would not expect to draw cash. We shall see I will report back.

DWD

Argyll · Post by **Argyll** » Sat May 28, 2022 10:38 am

I've had them all, revolut, monzo, Fairfax but in my opinion, Starling beats them all. I regularly use it for travelling or at least I did before the pandemic. I got rid of Monzo etc because they started limiting how much you could spend abroad. Monzo's limit is £200pm which is nothing for a month's holiday! Starling has no limits. Just be aware when withdrawing from ATM's abroad always refuse their offer to convert.

I love the instant text notifications when using Starling which means I use it most times in the UK as well. It beats trying to remind yourself what you spent a few weeks ago when you look back over your spending with other cards.

I recently signed up for a chase card as they give you something like 1% cashback on most spending. However, I've been using the Starling app for so long that I'm used to it.

Argyll · Post by **Argyll** » Sat May 28, 2022 10:43 am

aeromech3 wrote: ↑Fri May 27, 2022 2:31 pm In Thailand I found most bank ATMs charge about £5 for an ATM cash withdrawal use with a total cost limit about £500, some do not give the chance to take in local and be charged in local which is best.
Some stores, example supermarkets, charge my credit card in local, good, but there are exceptions and so I always stress to the cashier Thai Baht .

Yes I think it around 200THB. They also ask you if you'd like them to use the conversion rate. You always choose no as it converts it and then reconverts it again. I think 'Big Fat Besty' on YouTube explained it all or it may have been the late great 'Kev in Thailand' I can't remember.

I normally just take a couple of grand of Bank of England £50 notes and exchange them at the money conversion booths which as you know are on every street. But BOE £50 notes a pain in the arse to get a hold of up here

aeromech3 · Post by **aeromech3** » Sat May 28, 2022 12:45 pm

Argyll, yes I also seek out the new £50's, just got some a few weeks back. I found some Thai Bank ATM's don't even give the option of no conversion, so I normally use Krung Thai as I got caught even with my own bank Kasikorn ATM. Luckily now the 7-11 stores take credit cards as well as the Lotus, Big C outlets and Mr DIY, only occasionally I have to type in my pin, mostly just a scan of my Santander mastercard does it and it shows up quickly on the banking App, though I avoid using that on hotel WiFi, preferring my 'relatives' mobile data and hotspot as more secure.

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Sat May 28, 2022 12:47 pm

Thanks for the information, does this mean you can only draw £200 a month in cash but you can spend preloaded funds like a debt card when abroad?

DWD

Argyll · Post by **Argyll** » Sat May 28, 2022 7:54 pm

dewaltdisney wrote: ↑Sat May 28, 2022 12:47 pm Thanks for the information, does this mean you can only draw £200 a month in cash but you can spend preloaded funds like a debt card when abroad?

DWD

With Monzo you can take out £200 for free every 30 days, and they charge 3% after that. With Monzo Plus it’s up to £400 for free every 30 days, and up to £600 with Monzo Premium.

I'm not sure about card spending in stores as I never do that. Too many scams abroad for that.

Revoluts a pre paid card whereas Starling is a normal debit card.

With Starling there is no limit. For me, it's a no brainer.

Scotty001 · Post by **Scotty001** » Fri Jun 24, 2022 5:44 pm

I set up a starling bank account soley for traveling. You don't need to put a monthly amount in it. It is a standard bank account which is fully fca regulated. It spends most of the year with just a £1 ballenced, there's no annual or monthly account fees, it Has a £300 gbp / local currency equivalent daily atm limit, with chip and pin purchases available on top of that.

I just transfer my holiday spends to the account when I'm traveling. There's no transaction fees only the daily mastercard exchange rate conversion.

When you take money out of the hole in the wall (atm) just select local currency.

The second you take money out or make any kind of transaction you get a sms telling you how much has been withdrawn.
I found this very useful when we had a meal in the USA, the server took the card to take payment for the $80 bill (standard practice) she came back all happy and smiley as if we were the best customers ever (often standard practice in the USA as most servers make their money on tips and being happy flappy and treating customers like Kings and Queens can get better tips) until I said there's been an error, the bill was $80 and you charged $110 to my card.

The second she charged the card I got the sms saying how much had been taken, I can only imagine she thought its a tourist, by the Time they read their statement they will either not remember how much the bill was or will be back home and its too late.

You can control all aspects of the card (blocking it, chip and pin activation /blocking, blocking swipe strip payments..... All through the app. You can even click on a transaction and it will show you the cost in currency it was taken out at, the exchange rate at the time, the gbp of the transaction and a pin drop on a Google map for the location the transaction was made.

I can't fault the account / card at all it is perfect for traveling.

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Sat Jul 30, 2022 10:51 am

Well, I used my Revolut card in Spain with no issues. I did use it as a debit card only, not needing to draw cash as I had sufficient euros. In the hotel, I could charge stuff to my room and settled it all at the end with the card. I was pleased to see that the transactions were at 1.18 to the pound and exchange rates were 1.12 at best. As I had a lot of credit left I used it in Tesco for our weekly shop and I will probably leave it with a fair credit as I kind of like it. All in all I was very pleased.

DWD

Argyll · Post by **Argyll** » Sun Jul 31, 2022 9:46 am

Scotty001 wrote: ↑Fri Jun 24, 2022 5:44 pm the server took the card to take payment for the $80 bill (standard practice) she came back all happy and smiley as if we were the best customers ever (often standard practice in the USA as most servers make their money on tips and being happy flappy and treating customers like Kings and Queens can get better tips) until I said there's been an error, the bill was $80 and you charged $110 to my card.

That's why I like it. Instant notifications. How many times have you received a statement saying something like GB Holdings (I made that up) and you've no idea who it is? Then when you Google you find out its B&M or some company like that.

Aeromech I never use my card in SE Asia for spending. In Thailand especially cash is king. I only use my card when booking hotels etc as we move around every 3-4 days.