In recent years, many travel Cards have emerged with which we can save a lot of money on commissions. One of them is the Revolut Card. It is the best known and the one that most people decide to use to pay during their stay in London.
Below we explain how to use it, how it works and most importantly, how to order it so that it arrives on time for your trip. We use it both in London and on some of our trips to Spain and have no complaints.
NOW 10 EUROS FREE + 3 MONTHS PREMIUM FREE
Good news! Revolut has given us an offer that all Qver London users can now take advantage of.Request your Revolut Card using the following link and when you start using your Revolut account they will give you 10 Euros for free and you can also use all the benefits of Revolut Premium for 3 months.
What will you find in this article?
What is a Revolut Card?
The Revolut Card is a ” wallet ” or ” prepaid” card that works like any other debit card. The advantage of the Revolut Card is that you will not pay the commissions that your bank charges you for paying with your card abroad and the “Euro to Pound” exchange rate is much better.
The Revolut Card is an alternative and secure payment method that has changed the way we make our payments abroad. By not having to pay commissions and offering us the best exchange rate at all times when we pay in currencies other than our own, you will be able to exchange fewer pounds and be able to pay more with a card on your trip to London.
Anyone who is a resident of any of the countries of the European Economic Community (among which Spain is obviously) or Switzerland, can request it. That is, you can request it if you reside in: Spain, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Revolut already has more than 8 million users worldwide and has made more than 350 million transactions.
How the Revolut Card works
The operation of the Revolut Card is very simple. It’s just like using one of your usual Visa or Mastercard debit cards. The main difference is that instead of having a physical bank branch where you would go to do business, with Revolut everything is based on a mobile application.
A little further down we explain step by step how to create your Revolut account and how to start using it.
You can make your payments using Revolut in two ways:
- By asking for a physical Revolut card, which is sent to your home by mail.
- Or, if you don’t have time for the Revolut Card to be sent home, you can use it on your mobile (If it has NFC activated). The drawback of this option is that many ATMs in London still do not accept this way of withdrawing cash from the ATM, so carrying the physical card is always better.
A very useful novelty is that you can now add your Revolut card to your Apple Pay or Google Pay account and thus use it to pay with your mobile phone or your “smart watch”.
Can the Revolut Card be used in London?
Yes. You can use your Revolut Card in London without any problem as it is within the list of countries where it operates and accepts payments with Revolut.
Using the Revolut Card on the London Underground and Buses : We have used it a few times to pay on the London Underground (As if it were an Oyster Card ) and the best thing is that when you use it, the cheapest rate is applied to that route automatically. Thus, you do not need to be doing calculations to know if it would be better Oyster card or Travel card… etc. It works like a “contactless” card and you can use it for mobile payments (if you have NFC activated) or with the physical Revolut card.
Remember that if you want to use the Revolut Card for transport, you must carry a card for each adult, just like with the Oyster. If you swipe the same card twice to enter the metro for two adults, then the maximum rate will apply and each journey will be much more expensive.
Very important : When you go to pay with your Revolut Card in London in shops, restaurants, cafes, etc. in many cases they will tell you do you want to pay in Euros or Pounds? – Always select Pounds. This way you will pay with the money from the Revolut Card with the best exchange rate and not that of the establishment’s payment processor.
A piece of advice if you are going to use the Revolut Card in London. There are ATMs that may charge you an amount of more or less 2 Pounds to use them (it always warns you on the screen). They are usually cashiers that are in small food stores, inside pubs or in similar places. They are from private companies and it is best not to use them since you will always have a bank ATM nearby if you are in central London. There they will not charge you anything for withdrawing cash with the Revolut. Free ATMs in London have a sign above them that says: ” Free Cash Withdrawals “.
Does the Revolut Card have limits?
The truth is that the Revolut card is quite flexible but it has some limits that you should know.
The withdrawal of money from ATMs is limited to €200 per month . From €200 they apply a commission of 2% of the amount you withdraw. If you think you are going to use more on your trip there is a trick . If you come as a couple or with a friend , you can always make 2 Revolut cards instead of one and thus you can withdraw up to 400 Euros without paying the 2% commission.
Those limits are only for cash withdrawals from ATMs. As for the card payment limit, it is 5,000 Euros per month and from there they charge a 0.5% commission. In short, for your trip to London you have more than enough with Revolut’s free option.
An important detail is that Revolut charges a 1% commission if you make the currency exchange during the weekend. But if you do it during the week, from Monday to Friday, you will not be charged that 1%.
All Revolut Card expenses are grouped into categories
If you’re one of those who travels a lot ( lucky you! ), Revolut also offers the “Revolut Premium” and “Revolut Metal” options. They are identical cards but with unlimited use in other currencies and limits for cash withdrawals at ATMs of 400 and 600 Euros, respectively.
Advantages of using the Revolut Card
After having used our Revolut Card in several countries such as Spain, UK, Italy and France, all we have seen are advantages. Some of them are:
- Each transaction is made based on the best possible exchange rate at that time.
- They operate in more than 140 different currencies and in no case do they charge commissions to be paid in them.
- You can use it to pay and also to withdraw cash from Visa or Mastercard ATMs.
- You can make an international transfer without paying for the entry and withdrawal of money as it happens with the banks of a lifetime.
- You can manage your Revolut Card from its mobile application to top it up, block it, check your balance or make transfers.
The only time we couldn’t pay with the Revolut was on a British Airways flight as they have some restrictions but otherwise everything was great.
Something that we also find very useful about Revolut Cards is that the mobile application interface shows you all your expenses grouped by categories. So you can see what you have spent on Gasoline, Food, Restaurants, etc. for a period of time you choose. (Very useful to know where we are going with expenses!).
Revolut Card Discount
Thanks to the trust of our users, Revolut offers 10 Euros for free and 1 Month of Free Premium to everyone who signs up for Revolut through our QverLondres link. Here we leave it so you can take advantage of this great promotion.
Steps to open a Revolut account
The process to open a free Revolut account is simple and will take less than 10 minutes. You just need to have your mobile phone at hand.
Step 1
- Click on the following link to go to the official Revolut website:
Step 2
- The first thing they will ask you for is your mobile phone number. When you enter it, click send. You will receive an SMS text message to your phone to verify it and they will give you a link to download the Revolut mobile application and finish creating your user account there.
Step 3
- Once everything is verified and ready, then you can make your first top-up of 10 Euros so that they can send you the physical card.
- It is possible that they will ask you for some personal document such as a photo of the DNI to verify your data. The same application explains all the steps and valid documents that you can use just like a bank would do to open a bank account. They do this to prevent people from creating fake accounts.
- If you do not verify the account with any document, the card will be limited to 250 Euros per year by default. If you verify it, your limit rises to more than 30,000 euros per year of use.
Step 4
- Once you have completed the previous steps, you can now add Euros to your Revolut account through the Revolut App using your usual Bank card.
- You select the amount you want to add, you complete the payment and in a matter of minutes or even seconds, the amount of money you have added will appear in your Revolut app in “Euros”.
- To change those Euros to Pounds you just need to enter the Revolut app, click on “Accounts” at the top left and add a “Libras” account and that’s it. You click on the 3 dots that appear next to your “Euros” account and it will show you the currency exchange option.
When you arrive in London, you can either use your physical Revolut card (if you have one) or pay with your mobile in shops, restaurants, the London Underground, buses and many more places.
Important! – When paying with Revolut in London, always select payment in “Pound Sterling, GBP” instead of Euros. This way you will pay with the Pounds that you have added to your Revolut.
Revolut offers both Visa and Mastercard cards . This is something that is determined by your country of residence and you cannot choose it. In the case of Spain the card is Mastercard . There really is no difference between the two when it comes to using them.
Order a Revolut Debit Card
In order for them to send you the Revolut debit card, you have to enter the application with your username and click on “Get Card”.
Once there, you can request it as long as you have already made your first top-up of 10 Euros.
How long does it take for the Revolut Card to arrive?
Revolut offers two shipping options in Spain. The cheapest option can take up to 9 business days and the express option a maximum of 4 business days according to the information on the official Revolut website.
If for whatever reason it doesn’t arrive within those timeframes, then all you have to do is mark it as “lost” in the Revolut app and you’ll be given the option to receive a new one. The former will be automatically deactivated. As would happen with any other debit or credit card.
Top up the Revolut Card
For those of us who are of an age and used to recharge our mobile phones when there were no contracts or data rates and so on, it will seem very easy. Follow these steps:
- Open the Revolut app on your mobile.
- Select “Accounts” and click on “Recharge”. It will give you the option to add a new card or use bank transfer.
- Now you only have to indicate how much you want to top up and that’s it. Everything is processed in a few seconds so you don’t have to wait for anything else to use the money that is now on your Revolut card.
Information and Tips to use Revolut in the most profitable way.
- The Revolut mobile app is available for both iOS and Android and is very intuitive and easy to use. Even if the issue of using bank applications sounds complicated to you, you will see how this is much simpler.
- Assuming that you already have your account activated and that you already use your card, in the Revolut app you can do everything related to top-ups, request new cards, etc. You can also activate or deactivate your card, so you can have it at home or in your wallet without fear of someone using it.
- From the app you can also put a spending limit on each Revolut card over a period of time. An idea in this case is that you can leave it to your children to be able to control what they spend and where they spend it without going over their budget. You will see everything on your mobile and you will be able to say «Boy! stop going to eat oysters with your friends!” .
- When you make a payment with Revolut, the application generates a transaction ticket. So you can later claim expenses or share the expenses with friends if you have gone to eat in a group.
Tips when using your Revolut Card
- Although you can use the Revolut Card in London in any shop or transport, we recommend that you also take your card from your bank with you. For what it could happen.
- Use the Revolut Card to pay for small amounts such as transportation and meals. For example, we do not recommend paying for hotel accommodation if it is going to cost you around 400 Euros, it is always better to pay online from home with your usual credit card.
- The Revolut Card is «Contactless» so you can use it on the London Underground as if it were an Oyster. We have used it without problem. It comes in handy when you arrive at the airport and want to take the subway or train and you don’t want to stop to get the Oyster from the machines, etc.
- Obviously, we recommend that you carry a few pounds in cash while you are visiting London and not rely exclusively on the card. Here we leave you our article on how to change Euros to Pounds in London in the most economical way.
In short: Once you use the Revolut Card on your trip to London, you will want to continue using it in any of your next travel destinations.
Please, if during your trip using the Revolut card you encounter any problems using it or discover new applications or uses of the card, leave us a comment below so that other people can benefit from your comments. Thank you!.