Free Revolut Card

[alenka]

I have mentioned Revolut in a number of threads about money exchange, ATM's, etc.

Basically, it is a card which you load via a secure App on your smart phone and, using the same App, you can convert the funds into any of the major currencies at a time of your choosing and at the bank rate. If you keep to a low'ish number of transactions there are no charges. Equally you can send money to an overseas account at a very small charge, typically in my experience €1,200 costs about €10 which is much cheaper than any other system I have used especially as you are using the best exchange rate on the day.

I have found the card to be far more reliable than my normal Debit Card for taking money out of an ATM - It has never be rejected. Best of all as you pull the money from the machine a text message comes up on your phone to alert you to the fact of a withdrawal, so you are instantly aware of any misuse. Again a number of withdrawals per month are free then there is a minimal admin charge thereafter. You can also put the account to sleep between transactions which means it is even more secure. Another feature which my crew like is a 'Split the Bill' function that is easier to use (apparently) than it might sound.

Revolut used to make a charge for issuing the initial card but from now until the 9th March cards are Free to new customers so setting up an account costs nothing. Details are no doubt online but if you need a referral drop me a PM.

I have no connection with Revolut. I bring it to your attention purely because it works well for the cruising sailor.

[MalcolmP]

Thanks for sharing. I have been using the Halifax Clarity card when abroad for past few years, and seems pretty good, but always like to see other options.

Whilst review feedback can be misleading, Revolut do seem to have rather a mixed response on Trustpilot - some like you seem to get excellent service, but there are quite a lot of single red stars too ....

uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.revolut.com

As with all things, but particularly with money transfers, need to take care these days....

I tend to follow advice from:
www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/travel-credit-cards#bestbuys

[alenka]

I think the single stars come from the fact that the help line is nearly all Q&A online and talking to a real person is far from easy.  Guess that's how they keep the thing cheap to the end user.

As it is for free at the moment to set up a card at the moment you can always give it a try and forget about it should it be not to your liking.

[mikebz]

My wife has a Revolut card, it's very good.  For personal use it costs nothing to get the card/account, and you get the Interbank exchange rate whenever you use it for foreign currency with no fees applied provided you stay with limits (there is a limit on the amount of cash you can withdraw from ATMs per month - 2% fee if you exceed this).  When you use it abroad be sure to do every transaction in the local currency not in GBP - with the former you get Revolut's exchange rate (the Interbank rate), with the latter you are subject to the ATM or merchant's exchange rate which rather defeats the object of the card.

[Tafika II]

Looks like this will soon be available in the US for those who travel