Revolut card

alsypss

Hi I have two teenage sons under 18 and want to give them their own spending money on holiday in the USA. How does Revolut work please? I have downloaded the app, got them a card each.
Do I load it up midweek with Sterling? They can then spend it in the US as Dollars? 
Also, I'm confused with the weekend rates? will there be extra costs if they use it at weekends in the US? We don't plan on topping it up after we depart. 
I just want to give them some independence to use a card that won't sting them/us with charges.
Thank you in advance for any advice.

Marcoos

You can just top it up in GBP. When you make a purchase in USD. Revolut will do the currency conversion, usually the exchange rate is pretty good. 

Never really had a scenario where I had to exchange in advance in the app. 

I can’t recall what happens with weekends. Never use mine at weekends, but probably that’s why I don’t in terms of charges. 

Digital_Payback

In the Revolut app. you can create an account in US dollars.

Then exchange some of your Revolut Stg. to US dollars when you see a good rate. (At weekends there is a small fee to exchange a currency, so best to do any exchange during the week). 

When you pay for something in the USA the charges are seamlessly taken from the US dollar account. No extra charges. It all worked well for me in the past. 

eDicky

alsypss said:

How does Revolut work please?

If you open your profile in the app there's a help section where everything is explained. For example - Card payments > Spending in other currencies > Weekend fees:

'All currency exchanges on weekends between 5pm EST Friday and 6pm EST Sunday, incur a 1% weekend fee. There is no discount for paid plan customers.'

Don't expect much help from customer service on the standard plan, it's best to familiarise yourselves well with how it works, to avoid mistakes.

jbrassy

Revolut is nothing more than a prepaid card. The best thing to do is just top it up with pounds and spend using the card. You can convert pounds into dollars within the app, but it's easier to just leave the funds as pounds as Revolut will automatically convert into US dollars when you spend. At the end of the holiday, you can then transfer the pounds back to your regular bank account without having to convert again.

The point around the weekend is that exchange rates are slightly worse at the weekend (because forex markets are closed). This is nothing to worry about as Revolut is still a decent card to spend abroad with.

Like I said, it's easier to top up with pounds and just spend as the benefits of converting to US dollars beforehand (then converting back to pounds at the end of the holiday) are minimal.

PRAISETHESUN

I personally wouldn't recommend Revolut, especially as the only option when travelling abroad. They have a history of poor customer service, and will regret using them if you ever have the pleasure to interact with them. 

Apart from that, I wouldn't bother converting GBP to USD ahead of time. Just top up in GBP and spend on the card as usual, always electing to pay in USD at the card terminal if asked. That way you won't have leftover USD at the end of the trip which you will then need to pay again to convert back to GBP.

400ixl

Please don't go anywhere near Revolut.

What bank accounts do they have already?

Nationwide Flex for example will give then a debit card (and Apple / Google Pay for their phones) and does not charge for currency conversion (pay in dollars) and gives the spot rate for the day.

No need to get involved with Revolut and run the risk of their customer service or history of just locking people out of their accounts.

jbrassy

I also agree with the previous two posters. Although I have used Revolut in the past, I personally avoid it these days due to its rubbish customer service. Nowadays I use Starling Bank.

If you have time before the holiday, it might be better to open an account with Starling and give your children Starling Kite accounts. These also offer fee free spending abroad. 

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/cards-for-under-18s/