Topping up from a USD account (based in EURO area) to me Revolut USD account

Hello all!
I topped up my Revolut USD account via bank transfer. I sent 1000 USD from my bank account (an account held in USD, bank based in SEPA area). I received 25 USD less in my Revolut account. Why is that? There should be no fees in such a transaction

Hm, that’s bad. Did you check if your bank charges fees for such transfers? USD can be transferred using SEPA, but it is not fully covered by regulations, as far as I know. And SEPA regulation in principle does not say a transfer needs to be free, it just says that cross-border transfers can’t cost more than domestic transfers.

Another thing comes to mind: Revolut’s infrastructure is not ready to process USD SEPA transfers straight-through. This is what they write in their FAQs:

Revolut does not charge a fee to top up your account via bank transfer.

However, it is important to watch out for third-party fees. Topping up from a UK bank in GBP is free. If your transfer is denominated in Euros and your bank is located in a country participating in SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) then a transfer to Revolut will cost the same as a domestic transfer. SEPA comprises the 28 E.U. member states as well as Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco and San Marino.

If your bank is located outside of the E.U. or is not denominated in Euros, then your transfer will be sent via SWIFT (Society for Worldwide InterBank Financial Telecommunications). This means that your bank (and/or an intermediary bank) may charge you an international transfer fee.

SEPA legally includes ONLY transfers in the EUR currency inside the SEPA area. Your transfer was not a SEPA transfer (regardless of your bank located in a SEPA area), because the transfer currency was the USD, which is why a fee for international transfer has been applied.

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Right, but USD transfers can be channeled through the system.

Are US-dollar (USD) denominated accounts held at European banks also covered in the scope of SEPA, particularly regarding the use of IBAN and BIC for intra-Europe USD payments?

Although USD payments are outside the scope of SEPA, it is generally recommended to use the IBAN and BIC for all intra-European payments, as this information has become the general market standard for straight-through processing. Also, many banks have started charging clients for any cross-border payments within the EU that do not contain the IBAN.

Hello @Maikol

@expatier is right.

Revolut does not charge a fee to top up your account via bank transfer.

But If your bank is not denominated in Euros, then your transfer will be sent via SWIFT.

With SWIFT transfers there are a few things to bare in mind:

  1. Your bank is likely to charge a fee to make a SWIFT transfer to Revolut.

  2. When your money is in transit, it may be processed by an intermediary bank. They may also deduct a handling fee.

  3. The amount you receive in your Revolut account therefore may be less money than you sent.

  4. Depending on which fee option (SHA, BEN, OUR, REM) you choose while doing a SWIFT transfer to Revolut, intermediary, originating bank and beneficiary bank (namely Lloyds) can apply a handling fee for that transfer.

  5. As banks charge different amounts and are not always transparent, we cannot provide an accurate amount you would be charged.

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I see that. So now I have paid my bank for the international transfer charges (which was clear to me when I made the transfer) and another amount of 25 USD which is (as you say) intermediary-not always transparent charges.
Still, I can’t understand why this should be treated as an international transfer via SWIFT. No matter what the currency is, a bank in SEPA area sends an amount to another financial institution in SEPA area (Revolut).
So I suppose the same will happen with a GBP account transfer?

Well, since SEPA literally means Single Euro Payment Area, all other currencies aren’t covered by the regulations.

The situation in the UK is tricky. UK is part of SEPA territory, yes. But again, only EUR transfers are covered. The SEPA regulation for transfers says a cross-boarder SEPA transfer can’t cost more than a national one. Since SEPA transfers are not standard in UK for wire transfers, most UK banks charge their customers something even vor national SEPA transfers. That allows them to also charge for international ones.

@anon33247966 Could I ask you which cost/fee option (SHA, BEN, OUR, REM) is used when making an international (SWIFT) non-EUR bank transfer through Revolut/Currency Cloud to a certain country?

+1 for this @anon33247966 so then is it possible that we also get less if we initiate an outgoing transfer from our revolut accounts in another currency than EUR?

GBP transfers to GBP accounts should also be free.

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I just topped up ~USD 30000 from my Swiss Postfinance USD account using a normal SWIFT transfer to my Revolut IBAN. Just in case anyone is interested in the associated fees:

  • Fee charged by Postfinance for SWIFT transfer (normal, SHA-type): CHF 2
  • Intermediate bank charged USD 15
  • Revolut USD account was thus credit with wired amount minus USD 15, no further charges were levied.
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a little bit of topic, but have to ask-transferring from a Romanian bank account (but in USD) to my revolut account (also in USD), besides the charges, how long did it take?revolut says 1-3 working days, but not sure this is realistic

Do you have a card linked to that account?
It might be worth looking into topping up by card if you are not charged extra fees from your bank. (like spending abroad).

Regarding a regular transfer: it will be executed as a SWIFT payment which may take up to 4 days (+ 1 if you miss the bank’s cut-off time for execution). SWIFT transactions are generally really slow.

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@anon33247966 May I ask, what the REM option means? So far I found

  • OUR - Sender pays all charges
  • BEN - Beneficiary pays all charges
  • SHA - Sender pays his bank’s charges, beneficiary pays intermediate bank’s charges