We’ve got some good news for all our users in Spain. We’ll soon start issuing Spanish cards if you are a Spanish resident and you order your card there. What does it mean for you?
Some Spanish banks (e.g. Santander, Sabadell, etc.) began to charge ATM withdrawal fees on foreign-issued cards last summer (these are on top of the fees they typically charge and those we take care of and pay for on our end). From what we understand, only a handful of banks do this at present but as we strive to provide the best possible service in Spain, we thought it was important to fix this. Given that cards will now be issued in Spain, you will be sure not to be charged these sneaky fees ever again.
When paying with your Revolut card, some merchants (depending the bank issuing the POS card terminal) will offer you the possibility of paying in local currency (EUR) or in GBP - even if you don’t have a balance in GBP, just because their terminals pick up that it’s a foreign-issued card. This does not happen often and, at present, if you select local currency on the terminal (in this case EUR) you’re sure not to get charged any extra fees. But sometimes you’re in a rush or the merchant just presses the buttons quickly without you noticing. So you may get charged in GBP and the conversion happens from your EUR balance at the processing bank’s exchange rate (which is not, by any means, as favourable as Revolut’s).
We’re very committed to continuing to improve our users’ experience in Spain and will be introducing more fixes, new features and other cool stuff soon. Stay tuned!
Hi @Exmachina - this is also in the works at the moment. It may take a little more time to set up than the Spanish-issued cards though (as two different and independent processes) but it’s also a very high priority.
@viguerapablo, thats good news for Spanish customers. Would you care to share with us if Revolut is planning to introduce “locally issued” cards in other markets? I am asking because there are still merchants out there that use the country code instead of AVS for determining a customer’s residency (like Apple iTunes).
@viguerapablo Wow, that was fast. I was the one pointing it out in the revrally. Do you know if that would apply as well for premium design cards? What’s more or less the timeframe we can expect for this so-much-needed feature? Thanks a lot, it means a lot that you guys actually listen.
It would be really valuable to do this for Portugal as the functionality of the card is limited without Multibanco support. A dual network Multibanco/Visa card such as the ones Portuguese banks issue is a must for residents in Portugal.
Lots of places such as tolls, petrol stations and McDonald’s (to name a few) only accept Multibanco cards. Also most monthly payments such as water or electricity or any other utility are mostly made through Multibanco payments at Multibanco ATMs.
With the current Revolut Visa you only have the withdraw option at ATMs, no option for payments.
Via Verde, the automatic toll system, so that you don’t have to stop at tolls to pay, also requires association with a Multibanco card in order to make debits to the account
Very Good news! So if i have the original UK issued card i just got like 2 weeks ago what do i have to do in order to receive the Spanish Card? Do i have to pay again for the card? . You guys will replace it with the new one for free?
Should i just still use the UK issued card you sent?
Hi @Machete - the plan is to start rolling this out soon but still no exact timeline/date, so we would definitely recommend you continue using the card you just received.
In terms of mechanics, we’re still seeing how this will work.
