Revolut, how much is safe?

[Odd-no-more]

We're off to Spain for 3 months, we both have Revolut cards and intend to use them for most spending and cash withdrawals. What is a reasonable amount to keep on the cards? and is it easy to top up when out of the country?

 

[Minxy]

You can top up whenever you like, best to keep an eye on it and do it when it's a good exchange rate. As we only have the free version of the card when we intend to use it that month (or just prior to it) we put on sufficient £ to convert to the max for free withdrawals which is €200, you're also limited to 5 free ATM withdrawals per month now otherwise there's a 2% (min £1) charge.

As we have 2 cards and don't use a lot of cash €400 is more than sufficient for our needs, in fact we usually end up just spending it on stuff we'd use our credit card for to get shot of it before we return home.

 

[Phill D]

You can top up instantly from your uk account on your phone
we only ever put around £500 initially and then added as needed.

 

[Just smiffy]

I used to put money on it and change over to euros as I need it, example: I’m going into the supermarket so change over around 50-€100 on the day..

My main money is on a chase card earning 3.75% so outaways any currency fluctuations. In fact I only use my chase card now in Europe as it earns interest and cash back so it’s better then Revolut…

Also I only take out €100 cash which can last me months as everything gets paid for on my phone ping…

 

[Parrot Face]

Conversion from pounds to other currencies is limited to £1000 a month before you are charged. We usually put about 2k on each of our cards before we leave so usually convert 1k each for the two separate months before. Also there are more charges if you convert at weekends , a weekend is closing and opening times of the New York stock exchange.

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[Carpmart]

Listening to all the juggling of paying in and withdrawal and other spurious restrictions with Revolut, it reinforces how good Starling Bank is…

 

[Jim]

Listening to all the juggling of paying in and withdrawal and other spurious restrictions with Revolut, it reinforces how good Starling Bank is…

I use both, I like carrying a few different loaded cards, a hangover from the old days when filling with fuel in France required 3 or 4 cards in the hope that one would work.

There is a detailed comparison here that makes for interesting reading. And it looks like you are right, Starling comes out on top for most everything.

Revolut vs Starling Bank: How do they compare? - Money To The Masses

In this article we compare the app-only banks Revolut and Starling. We compare Starling and Revolut's accounts, fees and spending abroad.

moneytothemasses.com

 

[carolyn]

We have Revolut and Starling. I only got the Starling initially before a trip to NY with darling daughter about 6 years ago after Revolut introduced the fees for cash withdrawals above €200. Those Americans do like their cash tips!

Must admit I use Starling more and more now usually. Found this year that Revolut came in handy in Bulgaria and Romania as free ATMs were harder to find and confusing but if you converted the Sterling to local currency within the Revolut app it was clearer and often free. With Starling it wasn’t at all clear how to do “without conversion”.

Good to have options. Also have Monzo as emergency backup.

All easy to topup if you do online banking. Virtually instant from phoneapps.

 

[gus-lopez]

What is a reasonable amount to keep on the cards?

What you are happy with .Mine pays some dd's & s/o's + I use it for diesel so I usually have around 500€ in that account & 3 or 400 in the pounds account. The only difference with mine is that it is spanish based so is covered by the 100,000k euros for money held in it.

and is it easy to top up when out of the country?

Yes ,from anywhere.

 

[Wombles]

According to Panorama, scammers target Revolut customers as the protections are currently less than the banks so would be cautious about having more than a small amount of money deposited with them at any one time. Good to have disruptive services like Revolut though & handy if used with caution.

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[Zebede4500]

Just be aware that foreign currency payments on Revolut incur a charge at weekends - either currency exchange or card payment.

 

[ivorantony]

With my Revolut I always disable Tap and Swipe plus internet use, if using the internet I enable use then disable within seconds, also the card is linked to my phone location so unlikely to be scammed away from my location,
But Nothing is foolproof so keeping relatively small amounts on the card is also a sensible precaution,

 

[Davecrawf]

We're off to Spain for 3 months, we both have Revolut cards and intend to use them for most spending and cash withdrawals. What is a reasonable amount to keep on the cards? and is it easy to top up when out of the country?

I have always used Revolut. However the missus and I have just signed up to Zing (backed up by HSBC) We have both been promised £30 because a friend referred us. We are awaiting our £30, but the card seems to be reasonable in the meantime.

 

[daimlermg]

Listening to all the juggling of paying in and withdrawal and other spurious restrictions with Revolut, it reinforces how good Starling Bank is…

Yes I have Starling too but did you catch the latest? They stop paying interest next year on personal accounts

 

[Brains]

Yes I have Starling too but did you catch the latest? They stop paying interest next year on personal accounts

I've not seen that anywhere yet ?
Source ?

At the moment Starling is the highest paying 'High Street' bank paying interest on personal accounts with over £5k.
I'd be very surprised if they were aiming to go from the very top to the very bottom of the list.

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[daimlermg]

I've not seen that anywhere yet ?
Source ?

At the moment Starling is the highest paying 'High Street' bank paying interest on personal accounts with over £5k.
I'd be very surprised if they were aiming to go from the very top to the very bottom of the list.

Got a notification from Starling to open the app and see customer service message.
Opened the app and saw it and it was the changes to T&C where it said from Feb 2025 they would no longer pay interest on personal A/C
Just gone back in and can’t find the new T&C - Don’t think it’s a scam because I did not get any links nor did I click on one, I went to the app and the communication there

Just dug deeper and the notification is showing in my notifications history on the account but I can’t get to the T&C so it’s not a scam. I will keep digging

UPDATE
Yes it true it’s on page 9 of the new T&C starting 10 Feb 2025
Time to empty the A/C apart from cash to use abroad

 

[Barti Ddu]

Both me and Mrs BD also got the message within the Starling app over the weekend saying that interest will no longer be paid on balances from next February.

 

[WESTY66]

So let me get this right……
You apply for a Revolut card (for foreign transactions) then you say put £200 on it, then you can just spend €80 in Germany, then say CHF 45 then another €36 in Holland on way home, then it calculates what’s left so you can top up for next trip? Do foreign fuel
Stations take it, especially auto pumps in France etc?
And you can just top it up if you haven’t enough before you go into the Swiss store you want to spend money in? Is that about right

 

[Phill D]

So let me get this right……
You apply for a Revolut card (for foreign transactions) then you say put £200 on it, then you can just spend €80 in Germany, then say CHF 45 then another €36 in Holland on way home, then it calculates what’s left so you can top up for next trip? Do foreign fuel
Stations take it, especially auto pumps in France etc?
And you can just top it up if you haven’t enough before you go into the Swiss store you want to spend money in? Is that about right

Sounds about right. France petrol stations are a bit of a hit or miss, the fact they take 150 euros up front, then the actual amount.
Gives the card a bit of a wobble.

I have used ours at the pumps but it does not always work.

Other than that you can choose and change money at will and it’s instant.
You can control how the card is used from the app so little risk for a lot of flexibility.

 

[Brummie64]

Wise is another good option, I’ve used a Wise card for years, it allows you to keep multiple currency balances, exchange rates are almost the official rate with just a small conversion fee.

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[Mad dog]

Careful taking cash out abroad, especially in France. Even with Starling card, most banks are charging a 'levy'. Credit Agricole always charges now, I think Crédit Mutuel Is free. In Spain, I'm fairly sure Abanca (rhymes with wan...!) is free, so Abanca isn't a wan...r!!

They'll always warn you before you take the cash out, so walk to the next bank if they do. The post office machines in France/Spain are free too I think

Always pay in the local currency, else you'll also pay a levy.

 

[lorger]

We have a Revolut set up for toll payments, transferred £50 in and exchanged to €. We are using Monzo as our main card and have Halifax clarity as backup, so far Monzo has been excellent and the app is superb in my opinion. Might look into the max account when home as that includes breakdown and travel insurance, just need to read the t&c first.

 

[lorger]

Just had a look at Monzo max, it cost £17 pm and includes travel,phone and breakdown insurance. No good to ourselves as it’s 3.5t limit but might be handy for those with nationwide that aren’t happy with the changes and van is under 3.5t

 

[WESTY66]

We have a Revolut set up for toll payments, transferred £50 in and exchanged to €. We are using Monzo as our main card and have Halifax clarity as backup, so far Monzo has been excellent and the app is superb in my opinion. Might look into the max account when home as that includes breakdown and travel insurance, just need to read the t&c first.

Gerry, do you have to put pounds in and exchange them to desired currency within the app or just put the sterling on the card and just use it wherever you are and it changes it to desired currency when and wherever you use the card?

 

[gus-lopez]

Gerry, do you have to put pounds in and exchange them to desired currency within the app or just put the sterling on the card and just use it wherever you are and it changes it to desired currency when and wherever you use the card?

You can change it yourself when the rate is good or leave as is in pounds & it will take it from there at the interbank rate.

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[jumar]

Revolut supported us well with different currency a few years ago when travelling in 7 different European countries...just loaded each country that didn't use euros...and end of trip converted back to euros...our home currency.
I get a Pension paid into my account from a UK source..I allow this to accumulate and when, like now the rate of exchange is good. I exchange into euros...I can also transfer free of charge to my main Spanish account.
Works for us...@jumartoo has the same set up..

 

[mikebeaches]

Personally, I haven't really grasped the benefit of pre-paid cash cards?

Simply use credit cards that don't have exchange fees, so purchases in foreign currency are at 'net' rates.

The Aqua credit card also benefits from cash-back on all purchases.

We now also have fee-free Halifax Clarity credit cards for overseas transactions too.

Just take €100 - €200 euro cash, but rarely use much of it.

 

[lorger]

Gerry, do you have to put pounds in and exchange them to desired currency within the app or just put the sterling on the card and just use it wherever you are and it changes it to desired currency when and wherever you use the card?

You can change it yourself when the rate is good or leave as is in pounds & it will take it from there at the interbank rate.

You just leave it as pounds on Monzo and it pays in whatever currency the machine asks for, so here if it says €40 we just tap it and it pays in € and within a second you get a notification telling you how much in £s. I personally think the app is great and we just put in about £200 at a time from our main bank account, this also happens instantly.

Here a screenshot of some of our spending, you’ll see it in €&£

 

[Brains]

Got a notification from Starling to open the app and see customer service message.
Opened the app and saw it and it was the changes to T&C where it said from Feb 2025 they would no longer pay interest on personal A/C
Just gone back in and can’t find the new T&C - Don’t think it’s a scam because I did not get any links nor did I click on one, I went to the app and the communication there

Just dug deeper and the notification is showing in my notifications history on the account but I can’t get to the T&C so it’s not a scam. I will keep digging

UPDATE
Yes it true it’s on page 9 of the new T&C starting 10 Feb 2025
Time to empty the A/C apart from cash to use abroad

FYI

I now have the notification.

It looks like they are moving to Savings Accounts, so we may all need to either convert our existing GBP accounts to Savings accounts (if you only use Starling for the €uro facility)
OR
We set up an additional Starling GBP account and keep the bulk of your pounds in that account, and just transfer money into the €uro and GBP accounts when you need money 'on tap'

 

[BusDriver]

I've not seen that anywhere yet ?
Source ?

At the moment Starling is the highest paying 'High Street' bank paying interest on personal accounts with over £5k.
I'd be very surprised if they were aiming to go from the very top to the very bottom of the list.

They are removing it from standard personal current account and introducing a separate savings account with good interest and no tie in periods

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