I have just got a new job working abroad(I’m from N.Ireland) in France for one year and I have been looking into opening a bank account so that I don’t get charged by my U.K bank every time I want to withdraw money, but before I started looking at banks my friend told me about Revolut which seems to be a better option.
My question is, is it ok to use Revolut as a permanent bank account that the employer will pay into while I’m working in France or is Revolut more for trips and Holidays? This may be a silly question but any help would be appreciated!
The Euro account that comes bundled with your Revolut is a real authentic account with an IBAN and a BIC. I would certainly use it to receive my salary if I worked in a Eurozone country. In fact I wouldn’t know even know to open a traditional Euro account in England or France but I have a suspicion it would be complicated and difficult and cost money with fees and so on.
Against that: things might be easier in N.Ireland because of having the border with Irish Republic, maybe people are more used to dealing in Euros? Also depends if you need an old-style physical bank branch for anything as Revolut is online-only. Finally do you do things like standing orders as I don’t believe Revolut supports them.
Even if you do decide on a traditional bank - opening a Revolut account is pretty simple and free if you only need the account (and not the plastic card) so you might as well just do it anyway as a backup.
After activating your personal EUR IBAN from within the app, you can use these bank details for your salary. That should not be a problem.
Since Revolut won’t be your one and only account, it should be perfect for you to hold and spend EUR, or exchange them and then transfer them to your GBP account.
Keep an eye on your yearly top up limit! Since Revolut is not a bank but an e-money company, they have to follow different regulations. Check your yearly limit for top ups via more, profile, verification & limits and make sure to raise your limit if necessary before you hit it. Your incoming funds above that limit will be frozen if you don’t.
Thanks for getting back to me your answer was very helpful, as you said it probably wouldn’t hurt to open a Revolut account. As long as the employer can pay into Revolut with the IBAN and BIC I should be fine then. The only slight issue I have is that the Comapny I will be working for is based in Switzerland and will be paying me in Swiss Fracs during my time in France. You mentioned a Euro account that come bundled with Revolut, would you know if there is a similar account for Switzerland?
Also to answer your question about The N.Ireland/Republic question, the same rates for withdrawing money apply the same way as other European countries. Meaning that if drive 40 miles south of my home and lift out money I get charged -_-
Thanks for getting back to me! My plan with Revolut was to use it for the employers to pay into, then I would keep some money in the Revolut account and transfer the rest money into my own bank account which is what you suggested so that is perfect.
As I said in my reply to Funn3r, The company itself is based in Switzerland and although I’ll be spending a year in France they will be paying me in Swiss Francs (CHF), would this be a problem?
I will also be sure to raise the limit of my profile once I get it set up, thank you for the suggestion!
Wait a second. Since Revolut does not offer individual IBANs for CHF, this is more complicated!
First, if the company sends money from a Swiss account to your Revolut CHF account, it would be am international transfer, most likely with additional fees for a SWIFT transfer. And second, make sure the bookkeeping department can send salary to a pooled account where the have to use the reference code and a 3rd party name as payee.
Would it be better for me then to get my salary paid into my UK bank account and then transfer funds into my Revolut account for spending in France? The company will be using a platform called B-sharp to pay my salary which will have a low exchange rate.
I know I will be hit with exchange rates either way, my only concern is that if I were to use my UK bank account for a year in France I will be charged heavily for withdrawing money.
Revolut does seem like the best option for using money while I am in France, I’m just new to the world of international Banking and would really appreciate any advice you have!
Hm, I would be surprised if sending to the GBP account would be cheaper, since it would be an international transfer, I assume, since money will come from abroad. And then you would face two conversions: from CHF to GBP and then to EUR. That sounds not like a good idea
Generally speaking, SEPA EUR transfers are cheap and reliable transfers and the beauty of the SEPA system is that it does not really matter if it’s a local or international transfer. Same fees are guaranteed here.
So I would check this: Where is the sender located? Is your company, either directly or via the B-sharp service, using a local EUR account to send you the money? This way, you’re not facing any additional fees.
But if the money comes from abroad, from Switzerland, you might see additional fees for the transfer, since Swiss banks do charge for SEPA transfers! This is hard to know beforehand, it’s probably something your employer can tell you, or one of your colleagues in a similar situation. It could also be that your employer might cover for these fees.
Long story short: If you’re employer is going to send the money via a French bank for example, the local SEPA EUR account Revolut provides seems like a good option. If money comes from Switzerland, it’s more complicated.
Thanks for the feedback, I’ve had a chat with the employer and they have said that they normally use the B-sharp service to pay into a EUR account. And the exchange rate that b-sharp offers is quite low which is good news, they advised that the best way to do it would be for them to pay into the Revolut EUR account. And then I will be able to transfer to my UK account to avoid freezing my limit.
Although I will be hit with some exchange fees, this will be cheaper than the employer paying straight into my UK account. So I think I’ll go with that option!
Thank you for all the help I really appreciate it! I have just set up my Revolut account!
The annual top up limit is a cumulative limit of all incoming transfers. It’s not a limit for holding funds. So if your annual salary is higher than this, you need to raise it. It should be very easy, though. If you can provide payslips from your employer, they can raise it to your annual salary based on this.
