Revolut pre-paid Mastercard

sim42

Back to rates again. I'm in Aus at the moment and I appear to be getting the interbank rate (as reported by xe and uk spreadbetting services) minus 1 cent, or about a cost of 0.5%.

This is still a good rate, but it seems a little off the advertised rate, even accounting for a little interpretation of 'interbank rate'.

eDicky

sim42 wrote: »

Back to rates again. I'm in Aus at the moment and I appear to be getting the interbank rate (as reported by xe and uk spreadbetting services) minus 1 cent, or about a cost of 0.5%.

This is still a good rate, but it seems a little off the advertised rate, even accounting for a little interpretation of 'interbank rate'.

Were you checking rates at the moment of transaction, on a weekday? On weekends when FX markets are dormant Revolut rates have about 0.5% spread.

sim42

Yes, weekday, yesterday, rates checked within seconds.

Same today. You can also check without actually transacting by using the 'exchange' function in the app. The rates differ by pretty much exactly one cent, 0.5%.

Like I say, it's still good, but seemingly not quite as advertised for AUD at least.

ABARKIE

ABARKIE wrote: »

My experience is mixed

I have used it across Europe - Majorca, Prague, Dublin, Brussels

Needed a passport copy due to exceeding limits

Used it to book flights for USA and New Zealand

Used it in New Zealand until today when it has been locked

Contacted support and now waited an hour to no avail

Support seems to be under resourced, based upon when it was locked before

In summary, good when all goes well, but make sure you have a back up plan due to lack of resources / speed of response in support department

Got a response, circa 2 hours later telling me card was fine as I had already supplied id information as required.

This morning in Christchurch i go to pay for my breakfast and card is declined

I should have £84 on it, then i log in and have a screen showing me I have a negative balance of :

-£517.43 and -€517.43 and $-517.43 - good exchange rate here

So i go to use the support to get a message, saying closed until Monday

Then i get a message saying play services are not on my phone

So i reboot my phone and now i am showing £84 in credit in £GBP in my account but -$517.43 and -€517.43 both USD and Euro

Very strange

Good job I have other cards with me

Bermond

Hi all,

I have a Revolut card which I have gradually added 1000 euros to but never used abroad yet. I want to use it to partially pay for a hotel room prebooked in Spain which has to be paid on arrival. I see on the mse information page a warning that some people have had problems using it abroad. So my question is whether this is usually just at atm's or is it also using it as a credit card? Would I be safer doing a money transfer before I arrive? I don't want to be in a position where the card puts a hold on the money but the payment doesn't go through. I haven't read all the thread but have used the search facility and am not sure which would be best. Normally I would just pay the whole amount on arrival with a clarity card but I have gone the prepaid card route because I was afraid the pound might drop like a stone due to the uncertainty of the brexit poll.

hidden_sacrifice

I'm completely new to using cards abroad. Have always relied on cash as I have never needed much (short holidays, full board) and I'm a bit worried of getting caught out by various fees. But I'm going to Australia for my honeymoon and I have no idea how much I'll need abd I'm also wary to carrying a lot of cash. I have looked on MSE guides for travel cards and credit cards but still not 100% sure. If I got one of these cards and loaded it up just for the honeymoon, what would I actually have to pay (mixture of paying by card and ATM withdrawals) and if I needed to reload or withdraw the balance when I got home, how much would this cost me?

eDicky

Bermond wrote: »

I have a Revolut card which I have gradually added 1000 euros to but never used abroad yet. I want to use it to partially pay for a hotel room prebooked in Spain which has to be paid on arrival. I see on the mse information page a warning that some people have had problems using it abroad. So my question is whether this is usually just at atm's or is it also using it as a credit card? Would I be safer doing a money transfer before I arrive? I don't want to be in a position where the card puts a hold on the money but the payment doesn't go through. I haven't read all the thread but have used the search facility and am not sure which would be best. Normally I would just pay the whole amount on arrival with a clarity card but I have gone the prepaid card route because I was afraid the pound might drop like a stone due to the uncertainty of the brexit poll.

After using my card worldwide for nearly a year, it failed for the first time last week at a Tesco checkout here in UK. In literally less than two minutes the in-app chat staff was able to check and confirm that there was a connection error between the Tesco terminal and the server at that moment, and I should have no further problem, which I haven't. So, what can I say... Try your card to pay next time you shop in the supermarket or somewhere, and if it works you may have more confidence. No card is totally reliable, but at least you have a Clarity and perhaps others for backup.

eDicky

hidden_sacrifice wrote: »

If I got one of these cards and loaded it up just for the honeymoon, what would I actually have to pay (mixture of paying by card and ATM withdrawals) and if I needed to reload or withdraw the balance when I got home, how much would this cost me?

There will be no cost whatever for you except a 2% charge on ATM withdrawals in excess of £500 equivalent per month. For full details see the FAQs on the Revolut website.

NiftyDigits

hidden_sacrifice wrote: »

I'm completely new to using cards abroad. Have always relied on cash as I have never needed much (short holidays, full board) and I'm a bit worried of getting caught out by various fees. But I'm going to Australia for my honeymoon and I have no idea how much I'll need abd I'm also wary to carrying a lot of cash. I have looked on MSE guides for travel cards and credit cards but still not 100% sure. If I got one of these cards and loaded it up just for the honeymoon, what would I actually have to pay (mixture of paying by card and ATM withdrawals) and if I needed to reload or withdraw the balance when I got home, how much would this cost me?

Get a Halifax Clarity or a Creation Everyday CC for Australia. Preferably both. One each.

NiftyDigits

eDicky wrote: »

There will be no cost whatever for you except a 2% charge on ATM withdrawals in excess of £500 equivalent per month. For full details see the FAQs on the Revolut website.

I think there may have been a deviation from the wholesale exchange rate shown for when it comes to Australia. Is this still the case?