Agree that the added services Revolut offer will make it more difficult to get a banking licence. Regulators also hate to see headlines like this during any application process as they want to see stability and to approve the senior staff responsible for specific functions:
https://www.ft.com/content/b49516a7-e562-4bef-b0d2-deabc767cdbf
Slightly to the side of house payments but in connection with large deposits and how things can go completely bad with Revolut, I contacted Revolut to clear making a deposit of Ā£100k. They agreed to it and I successfully made the deposit. I have had the account with Revolut since they first started and have always found them to be excellent. I have a metal account. However, I decided to move the same amount to an interest bearing account elsewhere. I advised Revolut of my intention to move it and to return the same amount after a few months. I made the move and later returned the funds to Revolut and they froze all my accounts without warning and it has been impossible to make any contact with them since. So, they have well in excess of Ā£100k locked up since 17 June. Luckily, I have other accounts elsewhere to use for food, rent etc but that might not have been the case. In the midst of the virus crisis and the impact it is having, it seems borderline criminal that Revolut freeze accounts in such a manner even if it is due to some AML procedure. So be warned.
Yeah the duration of the lock is the biggest issue with them. They take ages for so many.
I also still think itās pretty minky they block you buying crypto from Coinbase etc as they want you to use their service. Next they will block freetrade and t212 to stop you buying shares for other platforms. Itās a very scummy practice.
I was locked out for two months earlier this year. They didnāt request documents or want to verify identityā¦ No explanation at all for why it was blocked or for so long. One day, it was unblocked and that was that
Looks as Revolut has a policy of freezing the whole account, when there is an account discrepancy while other banks will suspend that particular transaction.
From other forums it looks for common practise, as such it would be near impossible to use as a normal bank account
I hope they do review their processes as I do love Revolut especially the new Junior accounts which I have now opened for the Kids.
Yes, Iāve seen dozens confirm they do this too
Yes indeed. Suspending only the particular transaction makes some sense in this madness. Especially when folk have taken Revolut as their bank for salaries etc. It is frankly irresponsible to freeze all the accounts when a family might as a result be short of funds for food and rent. Callously hiding behind AML rules and mindless algorithms as an excuse for such behaviour is unacceptable. And it is noticeable how neo banks are relentlessly backing away from providing customer support. I predict that customers will remember this when offered alternatives in the future. DeFi may still be some time in the future but itās coming.
Thereās a large number of people who say Monzo have frozen their accountā¦ plus they say it about every other bank going. The AML freezing I think needs to be taken with a pinch of salt.
True but if not for reasons of AML, what possible reason could these banks have for taking such extreme measures?
Monzo Starling Revolut are all ānewā. Other banks have had AML algorithms and methods for a very long time. The new banks will want to take the extreme cautious approach to ensure they stay on the right side of it and donāt end up embroiled in a huge scandal.
My take on it. Plus they donāt have the experience yet to determine what are likely to be false positives. Itāll all come in time. Monzo from reports can be a bit heavy handed but this is a minority of people.
Iāve had one AML issue with Starling and my account was frozen for about half an hour. They sent an in app message asking for an explanation which I gave and it was all fine. Iām not sure what Monzoās approach is or if itās actually freezing accounts for as long as people say but itās not that all of the new banks are bad at AML.
Starling sent you an app message which gave you a chance to set things straight. Thatās the appropriate and professional way to do things. And most banks would act in that way.
Revolut simply froze everything and cut communications completely. Of course these projects donāt want to lose their licences but I suspect Revolut have incompetent staff or out of control algorithms combined with over zealous back covering tactics. Itās not too much to expect that seniors in compliance at least run basic checks on account history before launching a full AML lockdown.
Iāve been frozen once by Starling too. Am I just unlucky?! It was in fact fraud on my card, so, I was happy they picked it up.
Their CS was excellent and quick - they told me how long they thought it would take, what I needed to do, what they would do if they thought it would take longer. All the stuff youād expect of a business that was trying to keep a customer.
Thereās no reason Monzo canāt offer the same sort of money transfer capability that Starling does, instead of making their account holders transfer money through Transferwise. Iām personally one of the many people whoāve had their account deactivated by Transferwise, with the money in my Borderless account locked for 50 days now, precisely because I sent a payment from my Transferwise Canadian account to my Monzo account. And we know Monzo is not good as accepting foreign payments, that is why Transferwise deactivated me.
I remember at the time when Transferwise announced iāts partnership with Monzo, there seems to be a strong relationship/partnership between the two providers. It may be the case Monzo provides services for Transferwise in return transferwise provides services for Monzo. As such there is no invested interest for Monzo to provide/development its own foreign payment service. However I would not recommend Monzo for those planning for international transactions, as there is no international SWIFT number (correct me if I am wrong) to allow those from abroad to directly transfer money into a Monzo account.
Dark mode has arrived in their TestFlight app, I really hope 
isnāt too far behind
hmmm dont do much for me ā¦ :-)ā¦ Dark mode ā¦ 
some will love it I suppose as a must have
Revolut support ālive agentsā are clueless. Canāt say Iāve ever had good experience with them.
Iāve only had good experiences with them
