We have been with Revolut for a couple of years - it is superb, particularly if you move money between currencies. I absolutely can’t fault it.
An example - I recently had my debit card cloned - I knew something was wrong as with all transactions you get a notification on your phone and 2 unexpected transactions happened. Within 30 seconds I had frozen the card, another 30 seconds I ordered a new card - within 25 minutes the 2 unexpected transactions had been refunded. All staggeringly quick and simple.
We exchanged the money to buy our house with Revolut and saved approx 1000 euros.
Like @Mat_Davies we have been using Revolut for some time without ever having an issue.
You will always find “scare” stories on social media but in truth, a number of the so called issues with Revolut boil down to their absolute insistence on verification and the bona fides of the account holder. If Revolut ask for verification of the source of funds and you do not provide but wang a whole bunch of money into the account nonetheless, money laundering issues arise and in accordance with the law, they lock the account until properly explained. There are others who, for some reason, claim impropriety on the part of Revolut with mischievous intent.
It costs nothing to set up an account. I have advised people to set up with a minimum initial transaction to get a toe in the water, so to speak, and none of the people I have recommended to Revolut have expressed the slightest doubt about their decision (some of whom are on SF I hasten to add).
On the other hand and for balance… I have heard of cases where funds from some obscure bongo bongo land in a non traditional currency (or one known to be somewhat risky) the source of which cannot be verified have been seized - and rightly so. Someone who whacks 3k€ into an account as an initial transaction without first being verified need their marbles feeling and certainly to my way of thinking, raises suspicions - as it would with a traditional bricks and mortar High Street bank.
I can’t understand Crédit Agricole either on the same type of issue. I have now made an appointment to see my conseillère, accompanied by my ‘personne de confiance’ who has plenty of experience dealing with banks.
My card isn’t accepted at Intermarché . This seems a strange additional problem.
I do miss my bank in the UK. Plenty of friendly staff.
I detest the Crédit Agricole system in Saintes of waiting in a long queue to see a solitary receptionist .
OK Graham I accept your arguments and thanks for taking the time to write the long post.
What about the criticism that if you have a problem the only way to contact a human being is by online chat?
I’ve had occasion to do that twice in the past - both just fir general enquiries. IIRC, one occasion was late in to the afternoon on a Sunday and the online agent was quick to respond to my query and the whole matter was cleared up in a few minutes - and that was during these Covid times.
The only possible comment I could make here about long waiting times or difficulties is that of personality. Some of the more vociferous do tend to lay it on thick with inappropriate language to the agent and who can blame them for asking them to wait
I think you mean it is still a SEPA transfer? meaning they should charge as before as it would have been SEPA then too. I think I’d politely remind the bank of this as it does not sound correct. If it’s CA they do seem to help themselves quite freely to fees
Apparently there’s been trouble with the odd Spanish bank on this too.
Hi Karen, SEPA stand for the Single Euro Payments Area. So it’s euro to euro and generally free of charges. Sterling transfers into the SEPA area are non SEPA and generally did/do incur charges. The question here is why the charges had changed.
It may not be connectet John but I’m sure I read somewhere that it can depend on the mechanism used between the banks to make the transfer. You’re right of course SEPA to SEPA shouldn’t be chargeable but if the UK bank (mistakenly) sends the funds to their “partner” in Sterling under a false assumption, then the French bank will be entitled to claim the fee. This can also occur if there is a third party involved (which may have been the case in the story I read).
My online banking app makes it simple Graham. It asks is it a SEPA or non SEPA transfer. Only euro to euro can be SEPA. So, I should add, all my transfers to and from the UK are non SEPA. I believe the UK was (is?) a SEPA country but that would mean a euro to euro transfer from the UK and I don’t have a euro account there.
All the more reason for removing human intervention. That’s why I prefer transferring larger amounts in multiple tranches of my daily limit rather than getting some bank official to sit on the total amount for days. I was buying a car in UK recently and it took ten days for the funds to reach Transferwise and 30 seconds from Transferwise to the dealer.
