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These , yet again seem like daft questions but here goes.
So using a revolut card abroad , specifically India in this case.
I am a little confused about how to use it !
It says free to use, except weekends, but I also see I can have different currencies. When I look in the card I see I have X number of £s and zero Rs. Can I convert some £s to Rs during a weekday & so avoid the charges & then spend the Rs with no charge.
My understanding is that if I can not or do not do that, then I get no charges unless it is the weekend.
My other daft question is "When is the weekend?" . Is that in Indian timezones , UK or elsewhere ?
Can I convert some £s to Rs during a weekday & so avoid the charges & then spend the Rs with no charge.
No point in doing that - just use it and it'll convert R to £s at the bank rate and debit that from your £ balance. The only time I've had anything other than £ in mine is when I got refunded in €
Why do people use Revoult cards when debit and credit cards like Chase and Barclaycard Rewards do fee free/perfect exchange rate conversions?
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/travel-credit-cards/
Barcalys are shit as they do free forex transfers, Yay!
but give you a shit exchange rate to make up for it. Boo!
Have you looked at Wise?
but give you a shit exchange rate to make up for it. Boo!
That may be true for the bank doing forex transfers. But their exchange rate on their Reward card is excellent.
Because Revolut exchange rates are very very nearly perfect and they don't charge a transaction fee either?
Because Revolut exchange rates are very very nearly perfect and they don’t charge a transaction fee either
Which is true for Chase, Bcard Rewards and the other credit/debit cards mentioned in the MSE article.
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/travel-credit-cards/
I hear from people that I work with in India that card payments are not popular. Paying by mobile using a QR code is ubiquitous, it is called UPI. Street vendors etc all have a QR code. If you search for 'tourist UPI India' there is information on what app you would need and how to register at the airport on arrival.
my barclaycard cashback costs a fortune in fees. (Hsbc even worse last time I used it was 2% + 2.5% and rate was terrible.
the challenger banks like revolut / monzo allow upto £200-250 of overseas cash withdrawals (per rolling 30 day period), weekend away that's enough cash drawn out in Europe for me, majority of my friends have revolut or monzo so easy. plus can set it up in 5 mins in airport bar.. and get a virtual card instantly on google/Apple Pay
tiny fees apply to transactions on weekends, on the app I'm sure it says midday Friday New York time
FX rates are pretty much on spot and transactions (taps / pin entry / withdrawals) pop up instantly and rarely change, my regular high street banks can take days for the transaction to show,
add to this;
- bill splits with friends/ money pots with friends
- creating FX pots , I was transferring sterling into euros for the last few weeks at 1.202, its dropped back to 1.182 , when I spend or withdraw in euros it'll take this balance before FX conversion of sterling.
- £60 sign up for friends.. I signed six up and they all got the £60
- 5-10 mins setup for a virtual card.
if you put money into Indian rupee during the week before you go ,you'll save a few quid, just ensure you've spent them by the time you leave. its over 10 years I was last in India, it was cash everywhere back then, I used to take clean (perfect) UK sterling bank notes and change it for better rates at money shops (avoiding fraudsters and magicians
ps. you can also buy gold silver and crypto on revolut. I can't even buy that on my HL account :0(
I use revolut for travelling because a) it works well overseas and b) it's completely separate from my other accounts so if it gets nicked or cloned while I'm away my exposure is limited to the relatively small amount in the account.
Revolut charge I think 1% fee for exchanges over the weekend.
I.e. if you have £ but no R in your account and make a payment at the weekend they’ll debit £ from you balance at whatever their rate is +1%, but only of what you’ve spent
edit:
Weekend feesAll currency exchanges on weekends, between 5pm Eastern Standard Time (EST) Friday and 6pm EST Sunday, incur a 1% weekend fee. There's no discount for paid plan customers.
Chase for foreign travel card payments. Tap the card in the currency of the country and it is paid. Then check the chase app and have a quick glance at the current exchange rates on your phone calculator to confirm that you have been given the current banking rate. Not failed me yet.
Drawing cash out of a foreign ATM will probably have its own local fees from the ATM owners?
Hi all, & thanks everyone. Cheers to @sockpuppet for the weekend clarification.
@J-R there are a number of reasons. One is to have a travel only account, we already have a travel credit card but we also need a debit card to make free-ish cash withdrawls because cash is king in India, but I will look in to that UPI thing that is mentioned above.
but give you a shit exchange rate to make up for it. Boo
Source please. I think that is completely wrong. They give a decent exchange rate. Are you sure you haven't been a tumschie and clicked on the GBP button on the POS / Cash point till when it asks you to chose whether to do the transaction in GBP or Local Currency?
may have changed now, but when revolut has been mentioned on here before, a stw'er that works in the business mentioned that theyd stay well clear due to security concerns.
a google search might find old threads on it.
I use revolut for travelling because a) it works well overseas and b) it’s completely separate from my other accounts so if it gets nicked or cloned while I’m away my exposure is limited to the relatively small amount in the account.
This is my primary reason for using it. Loads of other banks have got this feature now, but you can block the card instantly too, as well as create virtual cards for one-off purchases.
may have changed now, but when revolut has been mentioned on here before, a stw’er that works in the business mentioned that theyd stay well clear due to security concerns.
They have been guilty of treating their staff like crap too, but not heard anything for a while.
They are on the way to a UK banking licence now so hopefully under a bit more scrutiny.
@MadBillMcMad thanks Mad Bill, always nice to have some considered comments from the OP.
once it gets its banking license rumours of an IPO (NewYork) will go crazy, its already one of the biggest banks in the UK by value, only HSBC dwarfs it..
As I've mentioned before on here, I work in electronic payments and I wouldn't touch Revolut with someone else's shitty stick.
And as for exchange rates that different card providers use, unless you're a Forex trader handling hundreds of thousands of pounds or more, the real world difference between different providers is a matter of pence. If this is important enough for you that you'll shop around for the best rate, then fine, but not for me.
a stw’er that works in the business mentioned that theyd stay well clear due to security concerns.
As I’ve mentioned before on here, I work in electronic payments and I wouldn’t touch Revolut with someone else’s shitty stick.
thats the fella! 😀
a stw’er that works in the business mentioned that theyd stay well clear due to security concerns.
But if you're using it for travel then you're unlikely to have a large number of £000's in it - and if you do then you're doing it wrong.
I never have more than a few £00 in it
the real world difference between different providers is a matter of pence
We're away at the end of the month and paying with my Chase account will save £180 compared to paying with my Halifax credit card.
Not exactly pence to me!
We’re away at the end of the month and paying with my Chase account will save £180 compared to paying with my Halifax credit card.
Not exactly pence to me!
Is that because of exchange rate differences, or fees for foreign transactions.
But if you’re using it for travel then you’re unlikely to have a large number of £000’s in it – and if you do then you’re doing it wrong.
I never have more than a few £00 in it
The issue is not necessarily that you'll lose your money, but their account opening/customer checking processes are so lax that it's very easy for fraudsters to open accounts under a fake name, and use those accounts as a vehicle for scams. I don't want to do business with them because they make it very easy for fraudsters to do business, and don't really seem to GAS about it.
paying with my Chase account will save £180 compared to paying with my Halifax credit card.
a clarity card? if so that surprises me as its what moneysavingexpert always recommend for foreign spending.
Clarity is a good card for travelling and likely to be within pence of OPs Chase card. It's Halifax's other cards (which presumably OP has one of) that are not good for foreign use.
There's lots of cards that are good for travelling as they use the MasterCard / Visa rate and plenty that are bad as they add a percentage onto this and then add a transaction fee (percentage or fixed) on top of this
a clarity card?
No, a standard Halifax credit card. It uses the Mastercard rate but adds a 3% exchange rate loading.
An update. We are 7 weeks in to travelling around India and revolut has been great for us. Zero complaints.
I set it up before leaving the UK including a means of topping up. We have used the physical cards purely for atm withdrawals. We have used the disposable cards online everywhere with one exception which would not take a disposable card.
However, that scenario is also easily circumvented as I have a number of virtual cards, ie one for Google Pay etc. I simply terminated that one and created a new one, so a sort of manual disposable card.
On disposable cards, I might ask this on a specific thread but does anyone know if you can get disposable credit cards, like the disposable revolut debit cards?