Review: Is the new metal Revolut card as good as it looks?

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• Colin MacKinnon says:

  28 Feb28 February 05:02

  Will someone produce a card for over-50s with BIG numbers on it!

  This looks a bit like my curve with numbers engraved and so small you’d need a magnifying glass!

  • Mike says:

    28 Feb28 February 07:32

    +1

  • Oh Matron! says:

    28 Feb28 February 08:27

    Furthermore, this makes it much more difficult for mobile phones to read when being added to things like Apple Pay, Android / google / whatever it’s called this week pay

  • Mark2 says:

    28 Feb28 February 08:49

    I am over 70 and I find the smaller numbers on the back easier to read.
    The large embossed numbers can get mixed up with the logos on the front especially Amex Platinum.

  • Rob says:

    28 Feb28 February 08:54

    You should try metal Curve. The number is on the back in tiny dark print on a dark background.

  • Andrew L says:

    28 Feb28 February 09:21

    Should’ve gone to Specsavers 😎

    • David says:

      28 Feb28 February 09:35

      Last time I went, they didn’t take AMEX.

      • Anna says:

        28 Feb28 February 11:29

        Ah ha! I paid for some new Reactions glasses yesterday (so of course the sun has now disappeared – sorry!). Didn’t ask (deliberately due to a previous post on here!) but paid with my BAPP, which went through fine. After which the assistant said, “Oh, we don’t take Amex.” I told her they do indeed take Amex until their machine says otherwise.

    • Peter K says:

      28 Feb28 February 14:26

      Specsavers, or instead a decent opticians that isn’t run on a franchise basis thus giving rise to a money above customer ethos. Just saying.

      • Rob says:

        28 Feb28 February 15:34

        Specsavers opticians are technically independent. It is a really good model – few optomoptrists could afford to open their own shop these days. You do a 50/50 JV with Specsavers – which is how all the shops work, although the % differs – and they take care of much of the leg work.

        You have less control than you have by opening, say, a Holiday Inn where you keep 100% ownership and just hand over a cut of revenue for the name, but it makes it massively easier. IHG doesn’t help you find locations, contractors etc as Specsavers does.

• Ks820 says:

  28 Feb28 February 05:37

  From my understanding there is one exceptionally irritating thing about all of these metal cards: Paying for a premium subscription does not mean you receive a higher card limit. It is ‘dynamic’ and will be unknown when you receive and use the card. This makes it a deal-breaker and defeats the entire use case of the kind of heavy spender that would purchase the premium cards. Rob can you confirm if I am wrong? if you can know your limit at purchase I will definitely get one!

  • Trev says:

    28 Feb28 February 06:39

    It’s a pre-paid card, not a credit card so there isn’t a credit limit.

    • Genghis says:

      28 Feb28 February 07:05

      Not a credit limit but there are limits. You don’t know them now. In the old days i got my £25k annual limit raised to £75k but no idea exactly what limits are in place for me now. They’re supposedly “dynamic”.

      • guesswho2000 says:

        28 Feb28 February 07:36

        Indeed, I got my limit raised after much back and forth, and a few days later they stopped showing you what your limit was. I’ve had a temporary stop put on the card once more since then, to check my income, which was resolved quickly though.

      • Alan says:

        28 Feb28 February 14:36

        Indeed, used to be nice and clearly displayed within the app but no longer the case.

• Markpeterboro says:

  28 Feb28 February 05:38

  I have an emergency use Revolut card (currently de-activated) which gets hidden within the lining of my daughter’s suitcase whenever she goes away on trips with the school. if she ever was to text home to say that she has lost her money she would be told about the back-up plan.

  • Hector says:

    28 Feb28 February 08:23

    Surely the school would step in there? / Worst case you might have to BACs it to a teacher? Or are you embarassed by how much pocket money she’s talked you into? 😉

• Genghis says:

  28 Feb28 February 05:56

  Lots of mention of “current accounts” but remember Revolut isn’t a bank. No FSCS.

  • BJ says:

    28 Feb28 February 06:22

    Are you sure Genghis, I thought I read rlsomeplace recently that it now does?

    • BJ says:

      28 Feb28 February 06:39

      Thanks 🙂

  • Ricatti says:

    28 Feb28 February 07:15

    Revolut “current account” is not reported to Experian/credit bureaux.

    Therefore, it does not create a credit history/confirmation of identity.

  • Zana711 says:

    28 Feb28 February 07:22

    Agreed. It’s also not a full functioning “current account” because I tried to give out my Revolut UK sort code and account no for direct debits a few months ago and it bounced. Monzo and Starling at full functioning current accounts, but not Revolut (just yet)

  • Steve-B says:

    28 Feb28 February 07:25

    Yes and no direct debit facility (except euro based DDs) which is a core feature of current accounts for many people!

  • Alan says:

    28 Feb28 February 08:31

    Also, the “debit card” can’t be used to pay off most credit card companies. Makes it pretty useless as a current account replacement

• Frenzir says:

  28 Feb28 February 06:04

  For those who have been using their Revolut card for manufactured spending in order to earn Virgin Miles or Avios (via Lloyd card):

  After putting through £50,000 over 12 months, my account is now blocked.

  I was allowed to spend the remaining balance on my Revolut account though.

  • Genghis says:

    28 Feb28 February 06:25

    How are you exiting the cash?

    • guesswho2000 says:

      28 Feb28 February 07:39

      When they put a stop on your card, they allow you to keep spending, just not add more. I’ve had a stop put on my card a few times because I shift money between UK/Overseas regularly, but proof of source quickly sorts out the issue. I can still use the money already loaded while blocked though, always via EFT, but I assume you could transfer to a bank account too.

    • Frenzir says:

      28 Feb28 February 08:53

      I paid my Virgin Credit card bills with my Revolut card.

  • Gulz says:

    28 Feb28 February 10:21

    I’ve had to provide them with proof after proof the first time my account was blocked a month ago, including Bank statements, Credit card statements, tax returns, proof of why I was sending money abroad, you name it. Took about 3 days for them to activate my account again. Then a week later it was blocked. This time I had to send a picture of all the cards (with only the last 4 digits visible) I had added to Revolut to prove that all the card belonged to me. Third time blocked again over the weekend. This time I just had to tell them to look at the chat logs and they have all the proofs they need – so in less than 48 hours my account was unlocked.

    Their main flag was that I topped up over 75k in 6 months. Told them that I am buying a property abroad (for which I had to provide proof), and that I will continue to send more abroad in the next few months.

    • Gulz says:

      28 Feb28 February 11:15

      I’ve been blocked again by Revolut – 4th time in a month!

• BJ says:

  28 Feb28 February 06:35

  “Metal payment cards are all the rage at the moment as you will have seen on Head for Points in recent weeks. If you have ever wanted to impressive (sic) your friends with a metal card”

  Seriously Rob, I know it is an advert but this is a bit over the top, I prefer HFP to read a bit more like the FT and a bit less like the Express hailing yet another unproven wonder dru. I would think anybody who is impressed by such trivial things as a metal card must have wires loose somewhere.

  • Andrew says:

    28 Feb28 February 07:22

    Totally agree. The advertising and banging on about Curve that was done on this site and look how that turned out…

    • Matt says:

      28 Feb28 February 07:55

      I really want a metal card, and it’s always an exciting talking point when a friend gets out their centurion card or US issued Amex plat. I’m sure I’m not alone.

      • RussellH says:

        28 Feb28 February 10:06

        You and your friends sit around a table in a bar and you all put your credit cards on the table and look at them?
        And then *talk* about how – ‘cool’ – is that the word? – they look??
        🙂

        Outside primitive countries like the USA where you still are expected to actually hand your card to someone else I did not think that anyone else ever got more than a quarter second glance at someone else’s card!

    • BJ says:

      28 Feb28 February 08:55

      To be fair, I think Rob tried to restrain reader expectations in the weeks leading up to the Curve metal launch, and I don’t think any of us foresaw the Curve amex debacle given all seemed well during the beta trial.

      • Rob says:

        28 Feb28 February 09:00

        As you can see from the many comments on here re ‘I’ve hit my £50,000 annual Curve cap, can it be extended?’, clearly a lot of people are finding it hugely useful and points-generative, especially those with HMRC bills to pay.

        We didn’t do a single article on Curve in the run up to the Amex launch, because I knew what was happening and so couldn’t write anything. If you saw pre-launch coverage it was on other sites that were running stuff based on Curve’s teaser tweets.

        There was an article on 26 November on the Amex beta launch and then NOTHING until the official launch on 28 January. But don’t let facts get in the way of a good rant 🙂

      • BJ says:

        28 Feb28 February 09:26

        @Rob, I never criticised your coverage of Curve, quite the opposite in fact, this comment was in response to Andrew.. Fully aware there were no articles in the run up on HFP, but the few replies you made to readers comments during this tine served to constrain, not enhance, reader excitenent about the forthcoming card.

        • Rob says:

          28 Feb28 February 11:30

          I wasn’t meant to be criticising you either! I just slotted it under yours.

    • Mr. AC says:

      28 Feb28 February 08:56

      Curve was great before the whole Amex business and continues to be great without it.

      • Alex Sm says:

        28 Feb28 February 19:51

        Actually, it feels like time for a comprehensive update by Rob about what’s going on there. To be ahead of the curve if you pardon the pun 🙂

  • Mark2 says:

    28 Feb28 February 07:58

    are they better for scraping the frost off the windscreen or do they scratch the glass?

    • Andrew says:

      28 Feb28 February 08:59

      Don’t you just set your App to prewarm your car in the morning these days?

  • Rob says:

    28 Feb28 February 08:52

    But they do – it is the only reason they exist. I get LOADS of emails from readers asking if I know when Amex Plat is going metal in the UK, as it already is in the US.

    I am guessing you’ve never queued for a Supreme drop either?

    • BJ says:

      28 Feb28 February 09:08

      You lost me there, had to resort to google…clearly I must be getting a bit long in the tooth 🙂 So if any of our Edinbugh readers see’s a 50+ skater kid flashing metal cards at Social Bite come say hello!

    • Metal says:

      28 Feb28 February 22:07

      Rob – metal cards may not be to everyone’s taste, but I wouldn’t mind one. Especially as I will likely never qualify for the Cent. And besides, Platinum needs a bit of pepping up in the UK – lacks 0% FX, *OW status through Marco Polo long gone, Concierge gets more and more useless and by the time you have been through five minutes of ‘please enter the day and month of your mother’s birthday’ you might as well not have bothered. Might be alright if you could fire off a quick query to them in the app – but they probably couldn’t take the usage.
      Presumably you have regular contact with AmEx and have passed on the size of your postbag on the topic of metal cards?

      • Rob says:

        28 Feb28 February 22:28

        Note that metal Curve is heavy. If you have a traditional wallet, it falls out due to its weight if you turn the wallet upside down. It also noticeably adds to the weight.

  • Mr. AC says:

    28 Feb28 February 08:54

    To each his own. I’m not going to pay extra for it, but all else being equal I’d love to try out something different-looking. Also easier to pick out the right card straight away from my wallet if it’s metal.
    Rob is just observing that many fintech banks are coming out with these: N26, Revolut, Curve.

  • Mr Dee says:

    28 Feb28 February 09:04

    I can believe there is a lot of interest in these items for certain people, for me I would still be using the Asda card if IHG had not devalued it…

• Benylin says:

  28 Feb28 February 06:36

  Starling (free) allows £200 free foreign ATM withdrawal a day… Even the top revolut product gives £600 per month. That’s my biggest annoyance with Revolut

  • Sandgrounder says:

    28 Feb28 February 07:33

    Pair it up with a Curve, set the Revolut to the correct currency in the Curve app, and off you go.

    • Benylin says:

      28 Feb28 February 09:16

      Waste of Curve spending limits 😉

      • Gulz says:

        28 Feb28 February 10:25

        Curve cash withdrawal limits are not part of the spending limits

      • The Urbanite says:

        28 Feb28 February 23:14

        Curve cash withdrawal limits are indeed a part of the spending limits – it just doesn’t appear that way in the app. If you’ve withdrawn £800 and spend £49200, the card will stop working until the rolling year starts again.

      • Genghis says:

        1 Mar1 March 06:17

        @The Urbanite not IME. I was a few quid short of my £50k spend limit but could still do cash withdrawals.

  • SammyJ says:

    28 Feb28 February 08:07

    £300 with Starling I’m sure, unless it has recently dropped?

  • Andrew L says:

    28 Feb28 February 09:32

    Starling is the better of all the new accounts recently launched.

• Louise says:

  28 Feb28 February 06:37

  I have been able to pay my aunts care home fees (BACs) via Revolut monthly, topping up from my Lloyd’s or Virgin. Although sometimes my top up amounts have been restricted so have had to switch cc.
  Has meant I’ve just earned another Lloyd’s voucher

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