I love Revolut and have told people far and wide.
But when we use it in France and Spain more and more of the petrol pumps and toll booths are non attended so we can’t use our Revolut card.
Could you implement a feature whereby we can click a button in the app to say we are just about to use a non attended service so that you could authorise it?
I think the problem you are talking about is not on Revolut side. It’s a particularity of French (&Spain)'s payment networks. Pumps and highways are using (as a lot of shops in France) “offline system” so the payment’s terminal can’t reach Internet and the bank to verify the account instantly.
Some pumps will work and take automatically between 90€ and 130€ that are locked for 48h (time to verify transaction and revert money not used) in your account to prevent outstanding payment, even though you didn’t buy gas for this price.
Revolut is relying on a prepaid card so I’m afraid they can’t do a lot to fix this…
Hi @markeee, I think @julien is right. As some automatic petrol pumps and toll booths do not have online connectivity, you may find that you are unable to use your Revolut card at automatic petrol stations.
Hi guys, thanks for commenting.
There are different types, some that as you correctly say charge you a fixed amount and later refund you the balance because they were not connected online.
But there are many more petrol pumps and toll booths that are connected to the internet because you can put in your normal credit card and use them and they charge you the correct amount, but Revolut choose not to use these because there is no attendant present and so there is a risk of fraudulent use (which I totally understand and applaud your security approach) but it would be useful if we could press a button in the app to say we are about to use one of these pay stations so that you can then authorise the payment, otherwise we have to use alternative payment methods which are more expensive so we don’t get the benefit of Revolut.
Well I didn’t knew that, what country are you talking about? Must investigate 
So far, I cannot rely on Revolut as a unique solution for payments, I’m often afraid that my payment with Revolut gets rejected and have to use another card.
My holidays always end up with some fees charged by my bank because Revolut could not make it.
Would it be possible to pay with Revolut on offline systems ?
An offline enabled debit card is riskier for the issuer. Credit checks would probably have to be introduced.
In France and Spain for sure. If you look at my Revolut account you will be able to see a number of declined transactions for that reason (not the ones where there were insufficient funds) each time we then paid using a debit card. Happy to provide more information for you if it would help.
I also had this issue in Italy
As I’m reading on French forums/websites I see that the implementation of “online systems” is coming to some highways. If I follow you, Revolut doesn’t work even the material to check account is present?
As said @Fassbrause it’s a risk for Revolut and a button could be a viable option when correctly implemented with the less risks possible to be activated by someone else. I totally don’t know again if it’s a Revolut limitation (waiting for a response of RevTeam ; based on your feedback) or an actual normal restriction due to prepaid card.
If you can deep test all these options and share details screenshots and feedback I think it will be great to the community and Revolut Team to investigate on it and maybe one day make the RevolutCard™ accepted nearly everywhere a standard debit is! 
We will be back in France mid September so more than happy to help you test live, I could ring you as I am about to use one so you could see live the rejection and if there is anything you can do to override it.
Feel free to call me on +447743895573 if it would help.
Thank you for your feedback, we’ll take it on board
Please find below an example of a payment rejected at the gas station, as we can see a friend sent me money earlier, hence I had enough money to pay for it
Here is an other example of payments rejected at the highway toll and then at a car park. I made other payments just after, hence the amount available on the account was not the issue.
Guys, Revolut is a fairly low margin business and they probably cannot afford to take credit risks. If Revolut authorise the transaction, they will have to pay the vendor and take the risk that a customer will never top up the card. Yes, they will be able to sue the customer but they will never do it over a £100 debt. Although I’d love to use Revolut to pay for the in-flight purchases, fuel and things alike myself I can’t think of a viable solution here.
I totally agree Taras. But Revolut only need authorise it if a) you have that amount of credit on your account (like any other transaction) and b) you have pre-authorised it therefore accepting the transaction.
There shouldn’t be any risk to Revolut.
Yep, you are actually right. Hectic week, this:) The problem here is that some (most?) of the automated pumps, in-flight stores and toll booths do not have expensive credit authorization terminals and therefore they actually accept (or do not accept) a risk that they will not get paid (as there is no authorisation from an issuing bank at the time of the transaction). Obviously, the risks for the prepaid cards is much higher than for credit cards (or debit cards of international banks) and therefore these merchants simply refuse to accept the prepaid cards. Therefore, it looks like it is not possible to authorise transactions in those circumstances. Does it make better sense now?
Should also note, that I am unable to use my Revolut card at the majority of Pay @ Pump petrol stations in the UK. Not a massive issue as I jsut have to walk in to pay, but is a little inconvienient
Hi Ratamon
I totally agree some of the automated pumps etc are not connected and charge your card an amount and then refund the difference and that some are not connected to the internet at all so check your PIN and then transmit a batch of files, and also that some do not require a PIN code to be entered (especially toll booths) and these all represent too much risk.
But there are many pumps etc that do require a PIN code to be entered and are on the same system as the kiosk with the attendant inside, so surely these types of transactions could be looked at, by supplementing with a button in the app or something else to allow us to use them.
It would be really helpful.
I have spoken to a friend who works with the LINK system and he feels this last example should not expose you to the risks you may fear with eg the examples at the beginning of the comment.
Hope you can help/.
Thank you.
@markeee Hi Mark, just to clarify - I am in no way connected to Revolut. Your suggestion looks very sensible to me.
P.S. please use @ before my nickname when replying or reply directly to my post. I will not get a notification otherwise:)
