That’s why we have charity analysis done by non profits like GiveWell.org. A way to make sure you get the most altruistic bang for your donated buck. 
(Join us in doing good better https://www.effectivealtruism.org/)
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There doesn’t seem to be many “good” charities looking at the list on there - unless I’m looking in the wrong place?
Has Revolut had a data breach ? It’s currently trending on twitter because so many people are asking about phising text messages they received this morning.
Now obviously these types of messages can be sent out at random but a lot of customers all popping up this morning with same complaint…
This doesn’t immediately say ‘data breach’ to me, more that it’s a blanket phish and that only current Revolut customers are drawing that conclusion. Anyone who hasn’t heard of Revolut is likely to just delete the text.
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I know the below questions are things I can probably Google, but I would like to stick with the good old Monzo forum tradition and ask the fellow forum members:
Do Revolut offer features such as Direct Debits out and BACS payments in?
Do they do a credit check on application (either soft or hard)/does it report to CRAs?
Can the account be linked to Marcus?
Is it good enough to replace Monzo as a day-to-day account?
I never keep enough money in the account to matter as mostly spend on a CC so I’m not too bothered by FSCS
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Yes
I imagine yes, for Know Your Customer purposes
Dunno
Yes
I’ve been using them as my spending card for a while now, and really like it, but I’m not comfortable replacing my bank with them entirely. I think they provide a good banking experience, and compared directly to Monzo, the UIX is so much better.
To expand on @j06’s answer to your Marcus question, I’m going to say it’s not likely. I haven’t tested it with Marcus, but Freetrade won’t allow Revolut because they are not a UK authorised bank. So it’s better to assume financial services requiring a linked account won’t work with Revolut, than to assume they do and find out the hard way later on.
Is that because of the FSCS protection, of something else?
Ah, that’s a dealbreaker for me. I only use my bank account to pay DDs and transfer to/from Marcus, the balance is barely £100 most of the time. I guess I’ll just go to Barclays unless Monzo make some big changes in the next month or so
A combination of lack of FSCS protection combined with the larger than usual number of stories of people getting their accounts locked or Frozen. I keep no more than £100 my revolut account at any one time, just in case that happens to me too.
It’s something you’ll probably need to ask Marcus though. I’ve been meaning to, but haven’t gotten round to it, as I’ve no plans to expand my use of Revolut just yet. For me, they function the same way Monzo did before Monzo became a bank, in that they supplemented my traditional bank account, so my bills and fixed costs are segregated from my spending.
Isn’t that the case with Monzo too?
I do know Revolut had a compliance nightmare at some point so I could also see them becoming too harsh
Perhaps, I’m not too familiar with cases related to Monzo. But those issues with Revolut are happening to respected members of fintech communities. When I see instances of similar issues with Monzo, they tend to come from newly created accounts with no posting history.
The Revolut phishing text message is a curious one as I had one but I’ve only just recently setup an account with them. However I do know people who don’t have a Revolut account get them too.
It could be coincidence but I’m fairly careful with my mobile no, so it would have to be a random mass text event or somewhere the number has been leaked.
On a separate note, I really like the interface but as they have no apparent savings protection, I’m nervous about using them with anything more than £50 to £100
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Direct debits, no, standing orders/scheduled payments, yes, BACS should work (you get a personal UK account)
Revolut uses open banking APIs only. Marcus doesn’t provide one, I believe (Yolt and Emma have stopped supporting Marcus as well)
No, thrice no. Revolut customer service is the bad lands. They’ll lock your account in a second and leave you without info for months. They don’t do what most people expect a bank to do as a minimum either - direct debits, overdraft, loans, etc.
I wonder how it compares with the Monzo approach, which has probably changed since this:
I think both parties have to have each other or at least be enabled for it to work with Monzo.
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Thank you for that, I’ve turned that setting off. It’s not great that they allow that to happen.
I believe they are referring to linking their revolut account to Marcus so that they can make withdrawals and deposits to their Marcus account from the revolut account, rather than viewing their Marcus account inside Revolut (though that would be nice).
If we’re comparing to Monzo, I completely disagree. Customer service is an aspect that matters a lot, so I test it a lot. I will avoid a company, or cease my relationship with one on the basis of bad customer service. Revolut are very responsive, and the front line agents seem to know enough to handle most queries satisfactorily. Monzo is simply incapable of that. Front line support act more like a concierge whereby everything needs escalating and can take a very long time to get an answer. Monzo’s approach to customer service was the deciding factor in my decision to going back to Barclays. I could have forgiven their other quirks if customer service was stellar.
This act alone does not constitute bad customer service. It’s how they deal with it after the fact that determines the quality of it. That can vary depending on the reason why, as in some situations they are simply not allowed to say or do anything to help you. That will be the same with Monzo.
They offer direct debits. Loans and overdrafts are not features that should be considered the minimum. Basic accounts from all banks that offer them offer no overdraft or credit facilities.
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You have to consent to using this feature before you can use it. If you don’t give Revolut permission it won’t affect you, so there is no privacy violation here in my opinion.
I don’t like the practice, and I hope they can fix it, but I suspect this is working as intended. It’s very similar to Twitter. You can look users up by email, if the user allows you to, then you can target those people with phishing emails. This can also be just as easily automated with simple scripts. Obviously your finances aren’t at risk if your twitter account gets phished though (unless you’re refusing passwords!).
I don’t recall turning the feature on as I don’t use it on Monzo or any other bank that has such a feature. I don’t normally like any apps having access to my contacts unless there is a very specific need.
You might not see it as a concern but the very fact that Revolut shows which numbers have accounts not just a picture or name means it’s easier to determine who has an account and harvest the details for an attack. It’s not random, it’s targeted.
Yes, but this has always been an issue for any service that allows you to find your contacts. It’s not a privacy issue per se, since you have to consent and the other person needs to know your number to see (just like look up by email with Twitter). iMessage rats you out in the same way, and attackers can use that method to target phishing scams towards Apple customers, it’s been known to happen. The same technique has also been used to target phishing texts and emails towards PayPal customers. It’s a standard industry-wide implementation.
Monzo does the same thing, although they don’t show the contacts mobile number in app, so it’s harder to know which user belongs to which mobile number using that script method. They are the only financial app I’m aware of it that obscures it in that way though.
There are methods Revolut can use, such as not showing the phone number in app, or using usernames instead for the services that require you to be identified by mobile number.
But this utility has always existed with service providers, and in turn this exploit has always existed with them. The usability trade off to prevent a rate case of targeted phishing isn’t usually worth it, and the method is actually more privacy friendly than alternatives. Revolut probably can and should do more to obscure the identifiable info so it’s harder for the bad guys identity which contacts are Revolut users, but that’s not going to put an end to phishing.
If it concerns you with Revolut, it should concern you with others who have an identical feature, and in some instances, you don’t even have a choice of opt in or opt out. It’s not a feature I’ve ever needed to use with any service, so I’ve never turned it on. The only exception is with iMessage, as that’s not a possibility.
To avoid any confusion, this is the setting you need to turn off (disallowing contacts access won’t turn it off):
