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Revolut: Money & Investments

Name: Revolut: Money & Investments
Rating: 4.6 (3000000 reviews)
Author: Revolut Ltd

4.6

CategoryFinance

Download50M+

PriceFree

RatedEveryone

RequiresAndroid 9.0+

DeveloperRevolut Ltd

Screenshots

About this app

Revolut started in 2015 as a travel card with good exchange rates and has since bolted on nearly everything a retail bank offers: current accounts, savings, stock and crypto trading, budgeting tools, and business accounts. Tens of millions of customers across Europe and beyond now use it, many as their primary account. The Android app is the entire product; there are no branches.

Its legal footing depends on where you live. In the EU, Revolut operates as a fully licensed bank through its Lithuanian entity, which brings deposit protection under the EU guarantee scheme. In the UK it received a banking licence with restrictions in 2024 and has been migrating customers from e-money status since. Elsewhere it typically works through local partners or e-money arrangements, so checking your country's specific protections before depositing serious money is not optional.

Spending abroad without card surcharges

This remains the app's strongest pitch. Exchange between dozens of currencies happens at rates close to interbank, within a monthly allowance on the free plan, and the card charges no foreign-transaction markup of its own. Frequent travellers save real money compared with high-street bank cards.

Managing money across two countries

People who earn in one currency and spend or send in another can hold balances side by side, convert when rates suit them, and get local account details for several currencies. Cross-border workers and expats make up a large share of the user base.

Budgeting and controlling subscriptions

Spending is categorised automatically, with per-category budgets, instant payment notifications, and a subscription view that flags recurring charges. Card freezing takes one tap, which turns the app into a decent damage-control tool when a card goes missing.

Multi-currency accounts and exchange

Hold, convert, and spend in a long list of currencies from a single balance screen. Free-plan users get a monthly fair-usage allowance for conversion before a markup applies, and a weekend surcharge has historically applied when markets are closed. Read the current fee page, since these limits change.

Disposable virtual cards

Paid plans include single-use virtual card numbers that regenerate after every online purchase, which neutralises card-detail theft from sketchy websites. Standard virtual cards, available to everyone, still beat typing your physical card number into an unfamiliar checkout.

Trading and savings

Stocks, ETFs, commodities, and cryptocurrencies can be traded in-app, alongside interest-bearing savings in supported countries. Convenient, but the investment products carry their own fees and risk, and the ease of one-tap crypto buying deserves more friction than it has.

Granular security controls

Location-based card security, per-card limits on contactless, swipe, and online payments, instant freeze, and biometric login are all standard. Two-factor protection is built into the login flow, which ties the account tightly to your phone number and device.

Privacy & Data Safety

Opening an account means full KYC: passport or ID scan, a selfie video, address, and phone number, as financial regulation demands. The app then sees every transaction you make, and its personalisation and marketing features lean on that history. Location permissions are requested for the optional location-based card security. Data handling is regulated-industry standard; the bigger practical risk is losing access to the account, not leakage of your data.

Identity verification with document and selfie checks is mandatory and processed partly by third-party verification providers.
Transaction analytics power budgeting but also in-app product offers; marketing personalisation can be toggled off under privacy settings.
Location-based security is optional; the app functions fully without granting continuous location access.
Account access depends heavily on your registered phone number and device, so update these in-app before changing SIM or handset.

Advantages

Near-interbank currency exchange within plan allowances
EU customers get real deposit protection via the Lithuanian banking licence
Excellent card controls, instant notifications, and virtual cards
One app replaces several: banking, budgeting, transfers, and investing

Updates

Few finance apps iterate as fast as Revolut, which pushes Android releases roughly weekly and trials features regionally before wide rollout. That pace cuts both ways: security fixes arrive quickly, but menus reorganise often and features occasionally appear, move, or vanish between versions as the company runs experiments on its user base.

Gradual migration of UK customers onto the new banking licence arrangements
Continued push into investments, including expanded stock and savings products by region
Anti-scam interventions in the payment flow, such as warnings and cooling-off prompts for suspicious transfers

Editor's Assessment

Our verdict

Revolut's product quality is ahead of most banks, and for travel spending and currency management it is close to unbeatable. The caution is operational: when its anti-fraud systems flag an account, customers report long freezes with only a chatbot to argue with. Verify what licence and deposit protection apply in your country, enable every security control, and think carefully before making it the sole home of your salary. As a secondary account it is excellent; as your only account it demands more trust in the support process than the record justifies.

What works

Near-interbank currency exchange within plan allowances
EU customers get real deposit protection via the Lithuanian banking licence
Excellent card controls, instant notifications, and virtual cards
One app replaces several: banking, budgeting, transfers, and investing

What to know

Support is chat-only and widely criticised as slow when something serious goes wrong
Compliance checks can lock accounts abruptly, sometimes for weeks
Protection status varies by country; not all customers are covered by a deposit guarantee
Free plan limits, weekend exchange surcharges, and persistent upselling to paid tiers

FAQ

Is Revolut a real bank?

In the EU, yes: Revolut Bank UAB is licensed in Lithuania, and eligible deposits are protected up to 100,000 euros under the EU scheme. In the UK, Revolut obtained a banking licence with restrictions in 2024 and is transitioning customers. In other markets it may operate under e-money or partner arrangements, so protections differ; check the terms shown for your own country.

Why do Revolut accounts get locked?

As a regulated institution, Revolut must run anti-money-laundering checks, and its automated systems suspend accounts pending review when transfers look unusual. Large incoming payments, crypto activity, and rapid movement of funds are common triggers. Reviews usually resolve after document checks, but users report waits ranging from hours to weeks, with balances inaccessible in the meantime.

What does the free plan actually include?

The Standard plan covers the account, a card, transfers, budgeting, and currency exchange up to a monthly fair-usage allowance, after which a conversion markup applies. Paid tiers raise or remove those limits and add travel insurance, disposable virtual cards, and better rates. Most casual users do fine on Standard; frequent exchangers should price up the paid plans against their actual volume.