Guys, one more thing. I was just checking top-up methods on Revolut website and they write that top up by credit or debit card is free.
Topping up via debit or credit card in GBP, EUR, USD, PLN, DKK, SEK, NOK, RON, and CHF is completely free.
Can you tell me where’s the catch? Why don’t people simply charge Revolut like this?
I just tried topping up Revolut with my credit card, and there were some fees with a tip telling me there would be none with a debit card. For a 1’000.00 top-up, this amounts to 18.40 of fees.
I see. Well, the debit card I have is not even supported. They support Maestro and Visa Debit, but not Plus (that’s what PostFinance is using).
I have opened an account with TransferWise and requested a debit card. Should be there next week. Seems like the sensible thing to do to use Revolut. (On a side note, I just checked my monthly statement with my current CC and they just charged me the yearly fee… frak. Should have looked into this a month ago.)
Swiss banks doesn’t offer the debit card you need for Revolut. Credit card transfer is free from their side, but CC takes 1.5% for foreign transaction (even if in chf)
I had an account at UBS for a year and I had a Maestro debit card. You’re saying it wouldn’t be good?
I have been using the TransferWise debit card to top up at Revolut without an issue. Just keep in mind that once you receive it, you can only top up 250 a day for around two weeks. TransferWise has a Swiss IBAN so depositing CHF there is pretty straight forward.
I don’t remember where I’ve read it, but it seems you need to have a specific debit card to top up.
I honestly have no idea how to top up with any debit card, actually. Is it doable from the app itself?
Yes, it’s like paying online. You provide the card number and CVV in the app, and it charges the card itself.
Then I don’t get the mess on revolut’s website. why that post about the swiss IBAN if you can just use any simple debit card? I’m puzzled
https://community.revolut.com/t/switzerland-most-cost-efficient-top-up-methods/35042
PF and UBS debit cards don’t work. They only have an IBAN on them, there are not 4 sets of 4 digits (like a credit card). You are forced to use the built in scanner and it cannot detect a valid card with the ones I tried, however the moment I gave it a credit card style debit card it worked.
However, on the Revolut thread Top up with UBS, numerous people have said they can transfer for free directly from their UBS accounts.
I recently got an E-Mail from TransferWise saying that they will charge 1 CHF for outgoing transfers. Not really a big difference, just letting you know.
It is only for bank transfers if I understood it correctly. That means that if you use the TW debit card to load Revolut, this won’t change anything.
That’s correct. I have tested it recently (again), and Revolut top-ups from a TW debit card are still free.
And anyway the Revolut transfers are free - also no fees on the incoming side (at least in EUR, CHF, and PLN I tested).
Just wanted to say that I’m in a country with an exotic currency and first I have used the Revolut card, which gave me an equivalent of 100 CHF for 110 CHF (10% off the market exchange rate) and then I used the TransferWise, and the exchange rate was exactly the same as the market rate.
Kinda sucks that they can’t just make one product that will do well in all circumstances.
Which country is that?
You should check the TOS. I think they have bad exchange rates on weekends or something like that, but not so high.
Are you in the Philippines or Thailand?
I googled some Revolut support thread and someone said that Revolut follows the spreads from this website. So in this example, the bid is 14.73 and ask is 16.73, which is a sick spread.
Anyway, since I’ve been using Transferwise for payments, I’ve been wondering: is TransferWise lacking anything that Revolut has? I can charge it with a bank transfer for free, it uses the spot rate on purchases, I can withdraw up to 200 EUR monthly, AND it has a web interface, which Revolut lacks.
Doesn’t TW have a fee of 0.35% on each conversion ? Seems not negligible at all.
Thanks for having me double check! I had a good look at the transaction where I spent 400 CHF and it says “2 CHF currency exchange fee”. So it’s 0.5% in this case. Alright, so TransferWise is only good as a back up solution. Of course I don’t want to pay 0.5%.