-
Revolut • International transfer fee (USA) question
Many thanks for reading this, first of all.
Would anybody know what Revolut’s fee is to transfer money from my USD account within Revolut to an American bank account?
They seem to list their fee as 0.30%, but when I did a test transfer ($12.00) they charged me 38c in fees, which is not 0.30%.
I’m looking to send around $700.00 per month to a US bank account, but trying to work out Revolut’s fees for doing this is proving beyond me.
Any pointers would be much appreciated.
P.s. I have the free version of Revolut, just to say.
It is because the min fee is 0.3 GBP, which is around 0.38 USD.
BTW, I believe you can see the fee before making the transfer. I tried typing 700 in, and the app says there will be a 2.11 USD fee.
Have a look at wise
Have a look at wise
Another vote here for Wise – it is a properly licensed UK bank that offers comparable services and rates to Revolut without the downsides.
Revolut have blocked my account several times for spurious ‘compliance’ reasons. The most recent time I just stopped using them (luckily I didn’t have any funds on account when the block was applied). A couple of months later, without me responding to any of their ‘robot’ correspondence and certainly with no additional KYC materials provided, they unblocked my account, sending a template email saying “Thanks for verifying your income. We’ve finished reviewing your submission and everything is in order!”. As I say, I hadn’t provided them with any additional information over and above what they already held on file – a Mickey Mouse outfit!
Another shout for Wise.
Revolut won’t allowed me to pay my US version of AMEX as my account was registered in UK.
Another vote here for Wise – it is a properly licensed UK bank that offers comparable services and rates to Revolut without the downsides.
In Wise’s own words, they are a “non-bank payment provider” and “your money… is not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)” (see https://wise.com/help/articles/2949821/how-wise-keeps-your-money-safe).
They are apparently licensed to hold money and it is “safeguarded” (see https://wise.com/help/articles/2949821/how-wise-keeps-your-money-safe), but I am not sure what their assurances and safeguarding would actually mean if Wise were to experience any difficulties.
I’m looking to send around $700.00 per month to a US bank account…
Given my concerns with Wise above, I have been using HSBC’s Global Money Account to transfer money to my US bank account. I haven’t been charged any fees when sending money to my US account and I’m covered up to £85,000 through FSCS’s deposit insurance scheme for any money with HSBC.
Another vote here for Wise – it is a properly licensed UK bank that offers comparable services and rates to Revolut without the downsides.
In Wise’s own words, they are a “non-bank payment provider” and “your money… is not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)” (see https://wise.com/help/articles/2949821/how-wise-keeps-your-money-safe).
They are apparently licensed to hold money and it is “safeguarded” (see https://wise.com/help/articles/2949821/how-wise-keeps-your-money-safe), but I am not sure what their assurances and safeguarding would actually mean if Wise were to experience any difficulties.
I’m looking to send around $700.00 per month to a US bank account…
Given my concerns with Wise above, I have been using HSBC’s Global Money Account to transfer money to my US bank account. I haven’t been charged any fees when sending money to my US account and I’m covered up to £85,000 through FSCS’s deposit insurance scheme for any money with HSBC.
Excellent point @RK228 – thank you for highlighting this – I certainly didn’t mean to mislead anyone but rather wanted to highlight what I felt were Revolut’s shortcomings…
I’ve had the same experience with Revolut – random blocking of legit transactions. They’re deceitful about blocking and claim technical problems etc.
I’m also still very sore about a trip to a popular destination a few years ago, which turned out to be blanket-blocked by Revolut UK and their customer service people instructed to lie.
Wise have been very professional. The first transaction of size – on both personal and business accounts – resulted in a stop and request for KYC docs, invoice to cover payment, etc. After that it’s been totally smooth. They now pay worthwhile interest on GBP and USD in both personal and business accounts, too.
I’ve had the same experience with Revolut – random blocking of legit transactions. They’re deceitful about blocking and claim technical problems etc.
I’m also still very sore about a trip to a popular destination a few years ago, which turned out to be blanket-blocked by Revolut UK and their customer service people instructed to lie.
Wise have been very professional. The first transaction of size – on both personal and business accounts – resulted in a stop and request for KYC docs, invoice to cover payment, etc. After that it’s been totally smooth. They now pay worthwhile interest on GBP and USD in both personal and business accounts, too.
Whoaa hang on. Wise aren’t paying interest, they’re investing your money in a government bond via Blackrock. Your capital is at risk. And if you read reviews, Wise block accounts just like Revolut.
I’m a fairly new Wise customer but you can’t pretent they’re squeaky clean just that they seem more acceptable than Revolut.
Wise aren’t paying interest, they’re investing your money in a government bond via Blackrock. Your capital is at risk.
Pedantically correct but the risk is very small. Particularly, all the bonds in the funds have very short duration. Neither Blackrock, nor a fund consisting of short duration US or UK government bonds, is going to be permitted to fail and money will be printed to whatever degree necessary to prevent this. To all intents and purposes this *is* interest – indeed it’s a lot less risky than bank deposits over the FSCS limit are.
And if you read reviews, Wise block accounts just like Revolut.
You’re replying to a post that said “Wise blocked my account” to say “Wise block accounts” !
Everyone blocks accounts – the difference is in how they deal with it. Smooth and professional with Wise in my experience.
hwqcgsw – many thanks for the explanation. Now it makes sense. Thanks, too, for the information about seeing the fee in advance — very useful to know!
It is because the min fee is 0.3 GBP, which is around 0.38 USD.
BTW, I believe you can see the fee before making the transfer. I tried typing 700 in, and the app says there will be a 2.11 USD fee.
Bill — many thanks for this.
Have a look at wise
Guernsey Globetrotter — many thanks for this, both re Wise and Revolut.
I’ve had awful issues with the latter — which is why I’m using my wife’s account. They closed my account in Autumn ’22 and stopped my accessing it, though continued to charge me a monthly amount. Then, a refund from Lufthansa came through a month ago to my now-closed Revolut account — getting that refund through has been like pulling teeth and I’ve had to threaten the FOS and FCA to get my refund, only to find they’ve deducted the fees they charged me for having an account even after they’d closed it from the refund! Mickey Mouse is right.
Guernsey Globetrotter
Wise aren’t paying interest, they’re investing your money in a government bond via Blackrock. Your capital is at risk.
Pedantically correct but the risk is very small. Particularly, all the bonds in the funds have very short duration. Neither Blackrock, nor a fund consisting of short duration US or UK government bonds, is going to be permitted to fail and money will be printed to whatever degree necessary to prevent this. To all intents and purposes this *is* interest.
Is it taxable in exactly the same way as bank savings interest?
Is it taxable in exactly the same way as bank savings interest?
AIUI in the UK income from bond coupons is taxed the same way, and subject to the same allowance, as interest on bank deposits.
The prospectus for the sterling fund says “378A ITTOIA 2005” which says “taxed as interest”.
It gets a bit hazy about redemption, but it’s not clear to me that one ever does redeem these as a holder via Wise.
Anyway, I put it on my tax return as “interest”, and I’m a mere pleb with a statement from Wise on which it’s listed as “interest”, so I would not expect to come seriously unstuck over it in an HMRC investigation.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
Popular articles this week:
