Currently used by roughly 2 million people in Ireland and 30 million people worldwide, Revolut are a online banking platform who aim to make banking as easy as possible, allowing their customers to spend, save, and invest all from their phone.
In this Revolut Ireland 2023 Review, we look at who Revolut are, what they offer their customers, how to set up a Revolut account, the pros and cons of setting up a Revolut account, the alternatives to Revolut, and finally is a Revolut account worth it.
| Best Instant Saving Accounts | Bunq | Raisin | AIB | N26 | Trade Republic | Revolut |
| Savings Rate (AER) | 3.36% | 3.09% | 0.25% | 2.8% | 3.75% | 2.00% |
| Term | Instant | Instant | Instant | 1 Year | Instant | Instant |
| Conditions | upto €100,000 | upto €100,000 | no limit | no limit | upto €50,000 | upto €100,000 |
Who are Revolut?- Revolut Ireland Review.
Licensed by the Bank of Lithuania, Revolut are an online banking platform offering a variety of banking services to their Irish customers all through their online app, such as debit cards, current accounts, money transfers, budgeting tools, and even cryptocurrency trading.
Revolut aim to take the hassle out of online banking by offering a user-friendly interface for their customers to conveniently access a wide range of banking services wherever and whenever they might need them.
What do Revolut offer their customers? – Revolut Ireland Review.
With Revolut, customers can sign up for a Standard Plan, Plus plan, Premium Plan, Metal Plan, or Ultra Plan. Here’s a breakdown of the monthly and yearly cost of each plan:
| Cost | Standard Plan | Plus Plan | Premium Plan | Metal Plan | Ultra Plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly | €0 | €2.99 | €7.99 | €13.99 | €45 |
| Yearly | €0 | €35.88 | €95.88 | €167.88 | €540 |
Standard Plan
For no cost at all, customers can enjoy Revolut’s Standard Plan. The key features of this plan include a 0.4% cashback with Revolut Pro, a Revolut Junior account with limited access, €200 or 5 fee-free ATM withdrawals per month, and €1000 fee-free currency exchange each month.
For those who travel, this plan also involves up to 3% cashback on accommodation booked through with Revolut Stays.
For those who are looking to invest, the Revolut Standard Plan allows 1 free stock trading commission per month, 0.25% stock exchange fees, 1.49% crypto exchange fees, and a 1.99% commodity exchange fee.
Plus Plan
For €2.99 a month, customers can enjoy Revolut’s Plus Plan. Some of the key features offered by the Revolut Plus Plan that sets it aside from the Standard Plan is that it includes a personalised card, and 2 Revolut Junior accounts.
For those who are interested in investing, the Revolut Plus plan offers 3 free stock trading commissions per month.
Premium Plan
For €7.99 a month, customers can enjoy the benefits of the Revolut Premium Plan. Some key features offered by this plan and not the Revolut Plus Plan includes a 20% discount on international transfer fees, €400 fee-free ATM withdrawals per month, 0.6% cashback with Revolut Pro, and unlimited fee-free currency exchange.
For those who travel, the Premium Plan includes discount on the airport lounge access, global medical insurance, luggage, loss, damage, and delay insurance, winter sport insurance, and up to 5% cashback on accommodation booked through Revolut Stays.
For those who are looking to invest, the Revolut Premium Plan offers 5 free stock trading commissions per month, and a 0.99% crypto exchange fee.
Metal Plan
For €13.99 a month, customers can enjoy the Revolut Metal Plan. Some key features of this plan includes is a 40% discount on international transfer fees, cashback on card payments, €800 fee-free ATM withdrawals per month, 0.8% cashback with Revolut Pro, and 5 Revolut junior accounts.
For those who travel, the Metal Plan offers up to 10% cashback on accommodations booked through Revolut Stays, car hire excess insurance, and cover for claims up to €1 million for damage caused by you to a 3rd party whilst abroad.
For those looking to invest, the Revolut Metal plan offers 10 free stock trading commissions per month.
Ultra Plan
Finally, for those who are looking for a plan to suit their luxurious lifestyle, Revolut are now offering an Ultra Plan for €45 a month. This plan offers customers free international transfer fees, €2000 fee-free ATM withdrawals per month, subscriptions with partners such as Financial Times and We Work, everyday insurance, 1.2% cashback with Revolut Pro, and fee-free currency exchange. Revolut are also offering 5% cashback on purchases made within the first month.
For those who travel, the Ultra Plan comes with many travel benefits, including unlimited airport lounge access at over 1400 airports, as well as trip and event cancellation insurance.
For those looking to invest, the Revolut Ultra Plan offers a 0.49% crypto exchange fees and 0.12% stock exchange fees.
How do I set up a Revolut account?-Revolut Ireland Review.
Setting up an account with Revolut is fairly straightforward and can take as little as 10 minutes.
After you’ve downloaded the Revolut app, you’ll be asked to enter your phone number and create a 4-digit password for your new account.
Next you’ll receive a text message from Revolut that includes a PIN. Once you’ve entered this PIN into the app you’ll need to enter in your personal information. This includes your name, date of birth, home address, and email address.
Then you’ll need to make an initial deposit from another bank account. Once you’ve done this you’ll need to verify your identity. You can do this by selecting the ‘Profile’ icon in the app, and then selecting ‘Personal details’ and ‘Verify your identity’. Take a photo of a valid form of ID, such as your passport, as well as a photo of your face.
Then you’ll just need to choose which out of the 5 plans Revolut offers that you’d like to go with and then you’re all good to go.
Pros and Cons of setting up a Revolut Account. – Revolut Ireland Review.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Offers an Irish IBAN. | Users report their accounts being frozen temporarily due to security reasons. |
| Offers a Free Plan. | Certain features only accessible if you pay for premium plans. |
| Offers Junior accounts for those under 18. | Premium plans can be fairly expensive. |
| Allows users to Invest and Trade with stock and cryptocurrency. | Some users report poor customers support. |
| Offers cashback with Revolut Pro. | |
| Offers Travel Benefits. | |
| Offers a user friendly interface and easy access to banking services. | |
| Allows users to spend and save with 28 different currencies. |
What are the alternatives to Revolut? – Revolut Ireland Review.
Another alternative online banking platform is Bunq. Bunq, the “Bank of the Free”, are a European online banking platform licensed by the Dutch Central Bank that offer a variety of banking services to Irish customers.
So how does this Dutch fintech compare to Revolut? We’ve laid out some of the key differences between the Revolut Standard Plan and the Bunq Easy Bank Plan:
Revolut vs Bunq: Accounts
| Entry Level Current Accounts | Cost per month | Key Features |
|---|---|---|
| Revolut Standard Account | Free | – Easy money transfers to 2 million Irish customers. – Irish IBAN |
| Bunq Easy Bank Plan | €2.99 | – Offers overnight savings rate of 2.36%. – Irish IBAN |
| Best Instant Saving Accounts | Bunq | Raisin | AIB | N26 | Trade Republic | Revolut |
| Savings Rate (AER) | 3.36% | 3.09% | 0.25% | 2.8% | 3.75% | 2.00% |
| Term | Instant | Instant | Instant | 1 Year | Instant | Instant |
| Conditions | upto €100,000 | upto €100,000 | no limit | no limit | upto €50,000 | upto €100,000 |
Revolut vs Bunq: Features
| Features Offered | Revolut | Bunq |
|---|---|---|
| Cryptocurrency Trading | Yes | No |
| Currencies offered | 28 | 15 |
| Irish IBAN offered | Yes | Yes |
| Account for under 18’s | Yes | Yes |
Revolut vs Bunq: Fees
| Revolut Standard | Bunq Easy Bank | |
|---|---|---|
| ATM Withdrawals Fee | Up to €200- No charge After €200- 2% charge | First 5 withdrawals are €0.99, withdrawals after that are €2.99. |
| Transfer Fee | Free when transferring money to other Revolut accounts. 0.7% fee on what you are sending when transferring money to non-Revolut accounts within Europe. 2.3% fee on what you’re sending when transferring money to non-Revolut accounts outside of Europe (€0.46 minimum fee). | Free to send/receive money. |
| Top-up Fee | Free for EEA Cards Small fee for Non-EEA Cards | 0.5% for EEA Cards 2.5% for non-EEA Cards (first €500 free per month). |
This data was gathered from the CCPC and other sources [1].
In a nutshell- Is it worth opening up a Revolut account?
To wrap up this Revolut Ireland review, Revolut emphasises the need to make banking straightforward, and hence has created fast and smart products to help customers spend, save, and invest as easy and as quickly as possible. With their plans starting from €0, customers can enjoy the many benefits Revolut have to offer at no cost.
Whilst some of the more advanced features are only available to customers who are willing to pay for a more premium plan, Revolut still offers great features such as cashback, investments, monthly amounts of fee-free ATM withdrawals and money exchanges all in their free Standard Plan.
That’s why we at moneysherpa believe that Revolut are one of the best options out there for Irish customers looking to open an online bank account to spend and transfer money easily. If you are looking to maximise the return on your savings you should also check out our review of the Dutch equivalent to Revolut Bunq here.
When will bank transfers reach my Revolut account?
Transfer processing times are dependent on your location and the currency your transferring money in.
For local Euro, Regular SEPA will take up to 2 business days, and instant SEPA, if supported by your bank, will take just a few seconds.
What’s available to trade with Revolut?
You can check out the available investment universe in the ‘Stocks’ feature of the Revolut app, even without creating a trading account.
Which Cryptocurrencies are supported with Revolut?
You can buy and sell 80+ tokens with Revolut, including Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, and more.
You can check the full list in the Revolut app anytime by visiting the Crypto section.
