Hi, im travelling to korea in a few weeks. Is there any problem about using revolut there?? I realized that the krw option is not available for transfer but can i use revolut to pay without a problem there in south korea???
Hi,
Here’s my feedback after using Revolut (basic card) as my only source of money in South Korea :
Payment with Revolut card in South Korea: great
Not much to say really other than it works perfectly fine : payment by card, Visa or Mastercard at least is accepted pretty much everywhere in Korea. No fee imposed whatsoever when paying with Revolut and the exchange rate applied is very favorable. The transaction is registered in your Revolut account immediately and you receive confirmation on your smartphone within seconds of your payment. I never had any trouble. Very very useful.
However, one difficulty you might face if you have not anticipated it the maximum limit of international payment from you “traditional” bank account (see below).
Withdrawing cash with the Revolut card : not so great
Withdrawing cash was a much less satisfactory experience for 2 main reasons, one general to Revolut in any country, the other more specific to South Korea.
The first one is that you have to always keep in mind that Revolut (with a basic Revolut card anyway) allows you to withdraw cash in foreign currencies without any fee but only in the maximum limit of 200 €/£/$ (whichever your revolut account is in) per month.
This is not a lot ! Even in a country like South Korea where payment by card is accepted almost everywhere, 200 Euros or Pounds (even more 200 USD) a month are very likely to be insufficient even for the few expenses you have no choice but to pay in cash.
The second problem I faced is that after two weeks I have only found one single bank in South Korea where i was able to withdraw cash without fee with my Revolut card, which is Shinhan Bank.
I read on other threads that people had been able to do it at KB Star offices, however i was never able to get cash from a KB Star, with ot without a fee, the transaction would get straight up refused everytime.
Other banks I have tried which requested a fee include KEB, Korean Commercial bank (or something like that) and Bank of Busan.
Thus what I would recommend is to run into the first Shinhan Bank you come across upon arrival (this is a vey big bank, you will see many at least in Seoul), and withdraw your 200 € (approx. 264,000.00 KRW today), since it is all you can get for a month anyway as explained above.
Warning : be aware of the international payment maximum limit on your “traditional” bank account
Another difficulty you might encounter is not related to Revolut, but to your “traditional” bank account that you might use to top-up your Revolut account.
You have to bear in mind that Revolut is a UK-based company. Thus, your Revolut account is considered to be based in the UK in the banking/financial/legal system.
Thus, if you are not a UK resident yourself, and use a card from a “traditional” bank account to top-up your Revolut account, this transaction will be considered by your " traditional" bank to be an international payment, for which most banks in the world impose monthly maximum limit that is lower that your limit for domestic payments.
I strongly recommend anyone to go check what there monthly limit for international payments is before starting topping-up their Revolut account, as once you’ve reach the limit you will not be able to add money to your Revolut account anymore (unless you have other “traditional” bank accounts), nor pay anything with your “traditional” card while travelling (unless you have other bank accounts), which might put you in a very difficult situation …
Hope this is helpful,
Sat
I don’t have any monthly maximum for payments by card on my bank. There is a 2500€ in max 10 transactions per day. That means ~77500€ in a month cumulative for payments and withdrawals from ATM 
Limit can be increased for specific payments (call the bank and tell them you need to pay 7000 an airline for 4 bookings, it’s fine, for a short time they’re gonna increase the limit)
Transfers are not limited but incoming payments might be questioned after 10000€ in a fiscal year.
What I liked about Revolut was that card transaction number is not limited (I guess). Had 12 while in Narita airport 
About Korea (and japan):
Activate mag stripe payments! In many shops (all convenience stores and other supermarkets) they don’t use chip and pin…
1 Like
I spent 5 days in Seoul and DMZ. The only reason I needed cash is to top up my Tmoney card (it is insane that all that machines accept cash only and not bankcards).
I tried Shinhan bank and KB Star bank with my Revolut Visa. They charged 3600 and 3500 KRW respectively.
In any other situation (shopping, restaurants, hotels) I could use my Visa Revolut card smoothly.
Hey,
A quick update from November 2021:
I’m using the standard Revolut MasterCard. I had no problem paying in shops so far, but withdrawing cash from ATMs seems to have changed. I tried 4 different banks, here are the results:
- Shinhan Bank: not possible
- Woori Bank: not possible
- KB Star: possible, fee is 3500KRW
- Hana Bank: possible, fee is 4200KRW
Before anyone asks, all of the ATMs had the MasterCard logo, and English menu with seemingly supporting international cards, but once I inserted my card they said it’s not supported for this type of transaction.
1 Like
Hey,
I’m about to travel to South Korea and I have been looking everywhere in the website but really it’s not clear so can you confirm to me that there is no fee to paying with your Revolut card there with the basic card?
Thx!
Revolut has no fees for card payments whatsoever.
But currency conversion fees might apply when you exceed the limit for currency conversion of the free plan. All conversion counts. Payments, cash withdrawals, …
And beware of the weekend markup on conversion rates.
Thanks for the answer!
If I understand the limit is 200€ right?
I’m so sorry if I sound dumb but as English is not my first language I have a hard time understanding how it works 
do I need to first exchange euros to wons in my Revolut app and then pay with my card ? Or can I pay with the card directly with the euros I have in my Revolut account?
Cash withdrawal is free up to 200 Euro (or 5 withdrawals, whatever occurs first). Currency exchange is free up to 1000 Euro. (Double check this on the Revolut price list for your country, it might vary.)
In principle, you can, but you do not have to, exchange beforehand. It does not affect how fees are calculated. But it is an option to avoid the weekend markup.
(I find that a good way to familiarize oneself with Revolut’s app are the FAQs. They might be available in your language as well.)
It is not possible to exchange KRW beforehand.
1 Like
Hi,
I saw that there are additional fees during weekends, for those who used it in Korea, does that represent a lot more?
Hi!
I’m planning to get pricey medical surgery in Korea because it’s cheaper there than here in the US, but still expensive at around &8,000 USD. Would I have to contact my traditional bank that I will be spending that much in Korea even if I have the money in the revolut balance? Do you think I would be able to even use that much money at once using the metal plan?