Try Revolut: a truly revolutionary online bank?

Initially, the Revolut neobank was very travel and international oriented. But in eight years the offer has expanded a lot and now offers four different subscriptions, not counting the professional account. The basic offer called Standard is free and gives access to all services, but does not offer any particular insurance, and the issuance of the payment card is billed at €5. The first paid offer, Plus, costs €2.99 per month and offers purchase insurance. For those addicted to international trade, the Premium version at €7.99 per month is more interesting with one international payment per month with no commissions, no limits on currency transactions, numerous insurances and access to airport lounges with a guest. And the most expensive plan, Metal at €13.99 per month, has the highest limits, three free international payments per month, more insurance and access to airport lounges with three guests, and refund of money on the whole.

The particularity of Revolut lies in the way of presenting the services. Thus, the bank does not speak of subaccounts, but of Vaults by currency or type of action (daily purchases, project, stock purchase or cryptocurrencies). In the course of 2022, the Vaults will be joined by the Smart Vaults, a first savings offer with interest-bearing accounts where interest will be adjusted every day. In fact, Revolut does not, at the time of writing, have any credit or savings offers, but this should change with the introduction of real credit cards and no longer immediate debit payment cards and a slight overdraft, which will allow you to pay for your gas at the pump with a Revolut card. Since May 18, Revolut now offers a French IBAN (the identification code of your bank account) to its customers, because the company has finally opened an antenna in the country. Previously, Revolut was based on a Lithuanian banking license and therefore offered an IBAN number (located in this country), which some French operators reject by default or which causes a delay in transactions. Existing Revolut customers will be contacted and will need to apply. to change from one IBAN to another, although the old one will remain active for 30 days to avoid a problem in the management of transfers and direct debits, the new ones will automatically have a French IBAN

Similarly, Revolut offers a Junior offer dedicated to young people from 12 to 17 years old with an application and a dedicated card. It is not a dedicated account, but a sub-account linked to the parent’s. Standard subscribers can have a Junior account; Plus and Premium, two Junior accounts; and Metal, up to 5 Junior accounts. The fintech was also one of the first to offer an exchange of cryptocurrencies (between themselves and against classic currencies) in December 2017. Since then, its market has become one of the largest and today has 70 exchangeable cryptocurrencies, in addition to more classic stock market offer. And now the neobank is extending its services outside the financial sector. Thus, it offers the reimbursement of any ticket (concert, train or other) up to €1,000 if you could not attend the event. And with its Stays offer, it offers an alternative to AirBNB or Booking directly in the application, in addition to tools dedicated to travel management. In addition, it will soon be possible to book train or plane tickets directly in the app.

The app is precisely at the heart of Revolut’s offering. The neobank does have a website, but above all it serves as a showcase to find out about its different offers and subscribe to some of them. Everything else essentially goes through the smartphone (iOS like Android). The app is obviously used for payments, with mobile payments compatible with Apple Pay, with Google Pay, but also with Fitbit Pay, for SMS transfers between Revolut subscribers and also for storing virtual cards for online payments. .

At this point, Revolut also offers permanent cards (handy for subscribing to a VOD service or online game), but also ephemeral cards with a very limited duration. Of course, there is also the validation of 3D Secure purchases, authenticating directly in the application. The application is also used to manage your cards (Visa or Mastercard, at the customer’s choice) with on-the-fly modification of payment and withdrawal limits, activation or blocking of the card. And although Revolut is not affiliated with a particular banking network, it integrates the geolocation of available ATMs.
The management of your finances also goes through the application: from the aggregation of the different accounts to the Stock Exchange and cryptocurrencies. The company also wants to extend its application beyond finance by taking WeChat as a model. The current example is Stays, which brings together everything for travel in one tab, including booking accommodation. Other services should quickly follow and bolster an ever-evolving app.