Revolut is one of the best digital banks for UK customers. In this Revolut review, we see what this online bank has to offer, to help you decide if it’s a good choice for you.
This review includes an analysis of its different accounts, the utility of its mobile app, and its security.
In this Revolut review…
- Revolut Overview
- Revolut Review: Pros and Cons
- Features
- Pricing and Accounts
- Fees and Foreign Money
- Investments and Savings
- Security
- Revolut Mobile App
- Customer Support
- Revolut Review Summary
Revolut Overview
Revolut is a digital bank that provides a range of services for personal users and businesses. UK customers can benefit from a free standard account, or choose from one of three premium accounts that offer a range of additional features.
In terms of basic banking, a Revolut account includes everything you could need. For example, you can make payments, receive a salary, and even make international payments. It also has a range of features such as vaults to help manage your money for bills and savings.
Aside from basic banking, Revolut Trading also allows you to invest in things like cryptocurrencies, commodities and stocks and shares. You can also create savings vaults that offer a slightly improved AER compared to standard accounts.
For those who travel abroad often, a Revolut account could be a great choice due to the ample foreign currency exchange. The mobile app is also easy to use and makes managing your money a simple task.
Despite this, Revolut is not without its flaws. For example, some may not like the limits on monthly ATM withdrawals. Also, you can only make direct debit payments currently in GBP and EUR.
Revolut Review: Pros and Cons
Pros
- The paid accounts offer payment protection and insurance.
- A great selection of accounts for various people’s needs.
- The mobile app is user-friendly and easy to use.
- Customer support is available 24/7.
- Decent facilitation for spending abroad.
- Can trade in cryptocurrencies, stocks, and commodities.
Cons
- Direct debits are currently only available in GBP and EUR.
- Your account can be temporarily frozen for security reasons.
- Not the best allowances for free ATM withdrawals.
Features
- Crypto, stocks, and commodities trading.
- All accounts include a physical debit card.
- Protection for things like ticket purchases.
- Some accounts offer overseas medical insurance.
- Vaults and savings vaults to help manage your money.
- Junior accounts to build savings for children.
Revolut Review
Revolut is a digital banking solution and banking can be done via their website or mobile app. They offer a range of accounts for personal use, and also offer basic trading utility for those interested in investments.
We have broken this Revolut review into different categories such as accounts and security so you can easily understand what it has to offer.
Features
- 4 different levels of banking account.
- A free mobile app is available via Google Play or the Apple Store.
- Free ATM withdrawals up to a set limit per month.
- Junior accounts are available for children.
- Various protection for ticket purchases, refunds, and more.
- Investments for crypto, stocks, and commodities.
- International spending and foreign currency exchange.
- Early salary feature.
Revolut offers a comprehensive service that gives UK customers the banking features they need the most. All accounts include basic banking features such as making payments, setting direct debits, and accepting your salary payment.
You can also make ATM withdrawals (although these are limited per month), and it has some great features for international payments and travel.
Pricing and Accounts
Revolut has both personal and business price plans, but in this Revolut review, we are only looking at the personal plans. These are broken into four tiers, each with additional features:
- Standard: Free
- Plus: £2.99 per month
- Premium: £6.99 per month
- Metal: £12.99 per month
The standard account is free and includes both a UK account and a Euro IBAN account. Also, you get free ATM withdrawals up to £200 per month. With this account, you only get basic customer support, and there isn’t the level of protection offered with the other accounts.
For £2.99 per month, the Plus account is great value and has some interesting additions. The ATM withdrawal limit is the same, but you get 24/7 priority customer support. Also, you get protection on tickets, refunds, and online shopping.
The Plus account also offers a slightly higher AER on savings of 0.4%. Both the Standard and Plus accounts also have a £1000 per month limit on free currency exchange.
Moving up, the Premium and Metal accounts both offer unlimited free currency exchanges per month which is a great addition. For those who travel often, you can also benefit from overseas medical insurance, and delayed baggage insurance.
The Premium account gives 1 free international payment per month, and the Metal account 3. Also, the ATM withdrawal is increased to £400 for the Premium account and £800 per month for the Metal account.
Investments and Savings
Revolut also offers a range of investment options, but it does not have anything like a Cash ISA. If you are interested in trading and stocks, Revolut Trading has a range of trading services including cryptocurrencies, stocks, and commodities. This means you can purchase digital assets like Bitcoin, Gold, and stocks in popular companies.
You can invest with as little as £1, and you get an allocated amount of free trades per month. The standard plan gives 1 free trade, the Plus plan 3 free trades, 5 free trades for the Premium plan, and Metal account owners get unlimited free trades.
Revolut also offers a similar function to Monzo’s “pots” – Vaults. You can create two types of vaults – standard and savings. Standard vaults are great for savings goals for things like recurring bills or holidays. You can set savings goals, and also create group vaults with other Revolut customers.
This could be ideal if you are saving for a joint event like a group holiday, for example.
Savings vaults are essentially the same but offer a few different benefits. For example, you can get up to 0.65% AER, and deposits in savings vaults are protected by the FSCS up to £85,000. A savings vault is generally used for large amounts of cash for things like house deposits, for example.
Security
One of the huge benefits of Revolut is that it is regulated by the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority). This gives customers a level of protection and assurance. To be regulated by the FCA essentially means that the business must adhere to industry standards and practices.
Your deposits are also protected by the FSCA up to £85,000. We also like the various security features of the Revolut app. For example, if your debit card is lost or stolen, you can easily freeze it using the Revolut app. Also, you can enable two-factor authentication to make sure that only you can access your account.
Revolut Mobile App
The mobile app is available for free from the Google Play store and the Apple Store. It has a simple, minimalistic layout that makes your account easy to manage. You can also do everything from the account including investing in crypto, making payments, and creating vaults.
The app also has some interesting features such as the Early Salary feature, and “pockets”. Pockets are essentially separate partitions within your account that can be allocated for bill payments. You can set automatic payments from and to these pockets which make it incredibly easy to keep on top of your bills.
For those who need prompt salary payments for bills, the Early Salary feature is also useful. You can fully integrate salary payments from your employer, and Revolut also allows you to access a portion of the salary early if required.
Customer Support
Having access to responsive customer support is essential when using an online-only bank. You don’t have the luxury of simply heading into your high street branch, for example.
As stated above, Revolut offers basic customer support for standard account holders, and 24/7 priority support for Plus and above account holders. Overall, despite the standard account not having priority support, the responsiveness of their dedicated support team is still excellent.
When researching for this Revolut review, we found that there is no telephone support available, but there is a dedicated live chat that can be accessed via the website or mobile banking app.
Revolut Review Summary
From this Revolut review, we can see that this online bank is a decent choice. It has a range of solid features that make managing money simple for the average UK customer. For those who travel often, the monthly foreign currency exchange limits and international payments are great.
Alternatively, for those who struggle with managing money for bills and savings, the vaults and pockets features will make these tasks a breeze. The pricing of the Revolut accounts is also reasonable and on par with other similar providers like Monzo.
It should be noted that Revolut has been involved with some controversies such as customers missing money. However, they have an overall positive reputation, and the fact that they are FCA regulated, and your deposits are FSCS protected is a huge plus.
Check out this list of the best digital banks UK for more choices, or you can use our free comparison tool below to help compare Revolut to other banks.
If you’re looking for a business bank account, check out this guide for advice.
If this Revolut review helped you, please recommend DigitalSupermarket.
