Its a worrying time at Revolut.
Things seem to be going sour for them, I have been a long time user of Revolut, but today I shifted most of my assets being held with them as things turn bad very quickly in the banking sector. So my question is, are there any French based fintec banks that offer a similar service as revolut, I used to like the euro/gbp account using the one bank card without me losing a fortune in exchange fees?
Wise?
I am actively looking into wise , but was wondering if anyone had good experience with a French based fintec. I have an account with CA but I liked the revolut card so I had both feet in 2 countries so to speak.
I use Wise, as @John_Scully suggests, but I wouldn’t dream of holding any assets with them. For me, they are just a very convenient, incredibly speedy forex company for when I want to bring my UK pension (in small amounts) into France so at most they hold £500 for a matter of minutes while I make the deal. Or 100 euros if I am sending funds onto someone in another EU country.
I use Wise for all my forex stuff and when travelling outside the Eurozone. I find it excellent. I have a Revolut A/C and card I’ve never really used them. Despite being a technophile, I’m probably not there yet when it comes to trusting purely clicks banking.
Quick update, I just noticed an email that Revolut sent me today reminding me to declare the A/C to the Impots. That’s impressive service IMO.
I feel exactly the same way, though all alone as I am, I found it impossible to meet their conditions of taking a photo of myself while holding my readable passport, so signed up with TorFX where my funds spend as little time as possible while being transferred into euros.
If they go bust the most I can lose is £1,000, my daily transfer limit (imposed by Yorkshire Bank, not them).
Thanks everyone for your valuable input, I am now going to open an account with Wise, and just use it to exchange currencies as and when required and continue to do my day to day banking with CA.
I’m looking at using a fintech wealth manager, and am only hesitating for the basic human fear of entrusting some of my money to something wholly intangible, rather than a bricks and mortar institution. It shouldn’t make the slightest difference to investment performance (indeed may improve on it with a far lower cost base), yet its still making me pause for thought…
Surely the key thing is how and where they are regulated. The point about bricks and mortar is that you can go and look someone in the eyes and if necessary sue them! 
I have just had my first run in with Revolut!
I too had a mail telling me to declare my account as outside France. Thinking it was an error as I gave them a French address and French based tax number and ergo, i would have a French account, I started the online chat and here it went downhill…!
Yes the ignominy of photographing myself with a bit of dated paper was disconcerting, but not so much as the lies that ensued. First it was because I had a UK passport I was given a default LT account, then it was that all users of Revolut have an LT account, and finally it was because I filled out the wrong form. I since found out, on the Revolut website, that Revolut are currently migrating French residents onto an FR account in small batches. So much for their customer service with a smile!
I will give it another month and if still on an LT account will move. So again looking for a neobank that will give me four cards on the same account for free, but this time with a French base 
meant to write, have you considered N26, it’s a France mobile app bank? Though you may have been looking for a forex solution, not necessarily a fintech per se? I have no experience of any French fintechs… yet.
I thought Wise was now a bank, but no, checking, I see it is (still) an Electronic Money Institution, so like revolut, except perhaps closer to home (UK v Lithuania). You make a good point to remember!).
At the exchange rates they charge, I couldn’t see how they could possibly go bust? 
I don’t know, never got the chance to try them out, which is why I went with TorFX instead. Their rates seem right to me bearing in mind that there are no charges. 
My Rev a/c has had an FR IBAN for months now … if that’s what you mean. For me, Rev is a waypoint between GBP/Lloyds and Euro/Cr Mute a/cs. Money in > FX > Money out. 'Jus like that.
As I understand it, Revolut has a bank licence in Lithuania, and is thus covered by the Lithuanian Bank Deposit Scheme. All EU countries have to have one. If the bank goes bust, depositors will be reimbursed up to the sum of 100,000 EUR.
Isn’t N26 a German bank, registered in Berlin ?
It might have a French operating licence, but who is ultimately responsible, and in which country ?
The Lithuanian deposit scheme doesn’t apply to revolut UK - from their website,
In the UK, Revolut is not a bank but an e-money institution, authorised under the UK Electronic Money Regulations. This means, in particular, that FSCS protection does not apply to the e-money or payment services we provide.
N26 - I didn’t remember it was german, fair enough, so a EU fintech bank but not a French one. The question would still be, is it any good, and is it better than the OP’s bank they seek to flee from? (was that revolut? - ah just read the topic title! - and no mention of food so far…)
I was tempted by N26, but haven’t yet managed to push myself to trying it !
It is a good bank, I like it. It’s got a very similar vibe to Revolut, although it’s a bank account not a forex account. That said, N26 are as familiar with BaFin the German financial regulator as Revolut are with the FCA in the UK, for many of the same reasons (inadequate AML procedures, lack of thoroughness in procedures, concern over viability) so it’s not all happiness and joy. But they are a bank, and most of their issues have been effectively ‘growing pains’ due to their incredible success not just in Germany but across Europe.
I was an early adopter to their UK rollout with GBP accounts which sadly lasted less than a year before they beat a very quick retreat, and experienced their Customer service which shall we say was the model of German efficiency 
, but despite the bluntness to the point of rudeness to Anglo Saxon ears, they waved another of their rather unique features; if you ever close an account with them you’re given a lifetime ban from ever opening another 
They eventually agreed to me opening an EUR one based at my address here, I think the ban is as much to do with technical limitations of their systems but they managed it in the end. I think the lifetime ban may have have been dropped now, which again makes me think it was a technical issue rather than spite 
Oh, and they charge a 10€ fee to replace a lost, damaged or stolen card, and the nice transparent cards get very dirty and scratched but are valid for 5 years, so I am currently counting the days until mine expires and they will send a free replacement and I can finally get rid of the dirtiest most busted card I’ve ever owned…
https://thebanks.eu/banks/18978/deposit_guarantee
…so Revolut is in the Lithuanian Bank deposit scheme.
We have our UK bank only for receiving UK pensions before onward transfer and also for the minor payments I make to Amazon.UK for cheap e-books.
So why are some people seemingly so keen on searching for other foreign banks? They aren’t needed for money transfers, I haven’t got an account with TorFX and never did with Worldwide either. Purely £/€ transfers, that’s all, and our money is only in their hands for a few minutes at a time.