Would it be possible to select which currency is charged rather than defaulting to the “home” one. This would give the card user some control over exchange rate fluctuations and allow a specific currency to be debited.
4 Likes
I would love to be able to select that, too. I transferred all my funds to my country’s best choice when I travelled. So mostly USD only. I can’t say how it behaves when there are multiple currency with balance. I’d guess they take pound when you’re paying in pound, but I read something different here in the forum so I can’t say for sure but maybe someone else has some further insights.
It is like this: It would deduct from the balance you’re trying to pay with, as long as you’re holding sufficient funds in that currency.
Exception: 100 GBP payment, account balance 50 GBP – in this case, the payment will be deducted fully from another balance that has sufficient funds. Payments are not split between currencies.
Another exception: beware of DCC (dynamic currency conversion). This could be bad. Assume, you’re holding only USD, no GBP, and make a USD payment with DCC. This is what is going to happen: the merchant applies the bad exchange rate and converts the payment into GBP. Revolut does not find sufficient GBP funds and will convert some of your USD into GBP. Two unnecessary conversions. This is a likely scenario, because the card is recognized as a UK card.
I for myself don’t exchange funds before trips. I hold the money in the currency I top up and let Revolut do the rest. I don’t want to bet on foreign currencies, and there is the cost-average-effect.
Having said that, exchanging in a local currency beforehand is a good and easy way to avoid Revolut’s weekend markup. But it only works for USD, GBP and EUR.
And sorry, that was slightly off topic. I assume Revolut would deduct a payment from the GBP wallet in case there are sufficient funds in each of the three basic currencies.
3 Likes
I’m new to Revolut, so still feeling my way. The above seems to relate to my circumstances. I shall top up my account with GBP and wish to spend in EUR.
Let’s assume that I have GBP500 and EUR500 in the account, and that I want to make a payment (or transfer to a bank account) of EUR300. I am not clear from Frank’s comment above whether the payment will come from my GBP or my EUR balance. (I made a trial transfer of EUR5.00 to my French account, expecting it to come from my EUR balance but it in fact was deducted from my GBP balance.)
Please can you advise?
Kind regards, Tim
Card payments and transfers are different.
When setting up the bank transfer, you will find an option to change balances manually at the step where you put in the amount for the transfer.
Frank
Thank you for this. I’ve had a look at the system but cannot really see
what to do. I’m still at the trial stage. I have a EUR balance of EUR5.87.
When I try to enter the amount EUR5.00 for bank transfer, the "continue"
button remains pink and cannot be clicked. There is a message including red
text largely underneath the pink button. I can’t read it! I do not see
any way to “change balances manually”.
Can you please send me explicit instructions?
Kind regards
Tim
Smith
Here’s a screenshot.
I selected “To bank account”, put in payee’s account details, then this screen (see screenshot) appears. Under EUR is a grey text with a little pull down icon:. When you hit it, you should be able to select all available balances.
Frank
Thank you. It works for me BUT the pull down menu is almost completely underneath the “Continue” button! I could only use it blind. This seems to be a defect that Revolut needs to correct. Can you please confirm?
Regarding payments to traders, etc, using a physical card in Portugal, France, etc, can I rely on the system taking the money from my EUR balance and not my GBP balance, provided I have sufficient cash in my EUR balance to cover the payment? This seems to be important for avoidance of the weekend mark-up.
Kind regards
Tim Smith
Unfortunately, I can’t confirming anything about a misplaced drop down menu. I use the iOS version where everything is in place.
Frank
Regarding payments to traders, etc, using a physical card in Portugal,
France, etc, can I rely on the system taking the money from my EUR balance
and not my GBP balance, provided I have sufficient cash in my EUR balance
to cover the payment? This seems to be important for avoidance of the
weekend mark-up.
Kind regards
Tim Smith
Sure, why not? But be careful to avoid DCC (direct currency conversion. Read this thread and the FAQs for further info.
1 Like
Thank you. Tim
…
I have this problem continuously. I hold funds in EUR, GBP and USD. But when I’m traveling and spending in an other currency it is taken from my EUR until it doesn’t hold sufficient funds and then takes it out of GBP. But I want it to take it straight from my GBP since that’s the currency I’m topping my balance up with. No idea if it is possible to “set” this somewhere. Asked customer service yesterday but still waiting for an answer.
I don’t believe it is possible. The base currency is determined by one’s residency.
From the FAQs:
Your Revolut account can hold a balance in EUR, GBP and USD. The card selects which balance to use in the following order:
The local currency of the merchant/ATM e.g. if you are in the U.K. it will use GBP, your base currency (for a UK resident this would be GBP, if you are within the Eurozone this will be EUR and anywhere else will be USD).