Revolut and using in UK

I have a Revolut card and planning to use in the UK next week. I have always used my card in the currency of the card - ie. Euro. Have never used it in a different currency before.

Is it best to Buy/Exchange a sum of money for the trip on the app (Euro to Sterling) before I go and there will be a certain amount in the Stg currency on the app? Not sure which is most cost effective? I am assuming the card recognises the currency and takes from the Stg amount on app.

Thanks for any advices.

Yes, thats correct. Buy sterling on Revolut before you go.

I was in London last year and topped up my Revolut in Sterling. Then just tap/pay as usual in the UK. The only charge was the initial exchange rate when sterling was bought, so avoiding the penal charges that Irish banks charge on sterling purchases, especially Irish debit cards.

Was great for using the tube in London! Just tap at the validators.

If you STG on your account in the STG Revolut wallet it will be recognised when you make a purchase.

Make sure to buy the STG on a weekday though, as Revolut charge a market-adjustment fee if bought at the weekend.

Yes, transfer some money to sterling, then go to settings/spend from in the app and set it to your sterling account. I don't know how it handles contactless limit in other currencies.

thanks a million

If you know you're going a long time in advance (eg over for a wedding in the summer) you can actually set up an Order for a Limit Sell. You tell Revolut to purchase Sterling when it hits a certain rate. You're not going to get a huge saving if it hits the rate but it can be done.

I'm over in UK at the moment. I loaded sterling on my Revolut and withdrew £200 from ATM just in case. Haven't had to use cash at all. Note that the free limit ATM withdrawal attracted a small fee of 83p. I think that's because the free withdrawal is capped at €200(euro). I'm on the basic card.

Duddaa said:

You're not going to get a huge saving if it hits the rate but it can be done.

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Or you could lose a lot if the FX rate goes the other way.

A retail punter should focus on minimising fees. Buy/sell during working hours and stay within the limits for cheap transactions which your provider has.

Don’t try and time the markets

If you're using your revolut card then it'll just charge you at the exchange rate at the time.

However this applies Monday - Friday only, on Saturday and Sunday you'll be charged extra, about 1% if I recall.

So if you plan on using it in the UK at the weekend, then open a sterling account and put enough euro into Sterling on a Friday to tide you over. So long as you do this you won't get charged the extra. It shows you the fees quite clearly in any case.

Revolut is great. You can use your Irish cards just the same except the exchange rate is a bit higher. UK is more friendly in terms of contact less payments than Ireland. I forget to keep cash now.