Any wonder they don’t have an actual full on banking license at present 
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It is not something for me to use. If the employers have to have agreements with Revolut, it seems like the market penetration will be very small? Are these the people who would dip into overdrafts anyhow? If so, a £1.50 fee is less than the overdraft charge would be. All that said… this feels more like an exercise into getting people to have their salaries deposited into Revolut, with the feature quietly dropped in 6-12 months. But most of those will keep their salaries coming into Revolut afterwards.
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Revolut says its scheme will help alleviate the financial strain some consumers face between paydays.
It only helps once. Unless you then go 6 weeks without being paid, then do it again.
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From a business point of view, it’s quite a good idea. Let’s face it, Monzo needs to be doing stuff like this if it one day wants to turn a profit.
Even if people do go into a cycle of using it every month, it’s essentially a cheap overdraft. Let’s say the average wage is £2,000 per month. So you’re essentially borrowing £1,000 at all times. This is only costing you £18 per year, about 1.8%. To borrow the same amount with Monzo would cost £66. Or am I missing something?
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This very dangerous and needs to be regulated (like Klarna etc as well tbh).
The £1.50 charge could easily stack though, each time you tap at your “up to 50%” you get a £1.50 charge and if you spiral you end up getting into more and more problems so it then becomes basically an overdraft charge by another name with fixed fee’s. You initially want 10% then and pay that charge, then next month you take the 10% and have to draw another 10% and you get 2 charges. Or even worse if it charges you £1.50 each time you start using your incoming salary it could stack very very fast.
The devil will be in the detail though but it could keep people in problems for a while. I also wouldnt be surprised if you need to be on a paid account on revolut as well to get this.
Let us not all forget about how this forum raved over Monzo’s predatory overdraft pricing which could end up being in the thousands of % APR-wise but was heralded as being ‘simple and easy to understand’ - until they were banned.
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Until there is a fair way for those with low income/low credit to access funds for emergency situations this will continue.
I don’t need to, thankfully, draw on any of these schemes, but I know it’s all very easy to dismiss them from the comfort of being people who don’t need payday loans.
For the most part, I think there is a gap in the market for people who genuinely need a brief, infrequent boost to help them one or two months of the year. Banks used to fill this role, when you spoke to a human who knew you and took the time to listen to your unique circumstances.
Now an American company gives you a number and decides for you.
It’s something I believe Tom spoke about way back in the Mondo days, and I think people are too quick to dismiss these kind of schemes. Are they great? No. Are they necessary for some? Yes.
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… which tells you that the business’s goals are not aligned with yours, making it very much an adversarial relationship. It’s precisely why dozens has chosen never to provide credit, unless it funds an asset purchase (ie mortgages). You want your bank on your side contra mundum
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“Revolut will need a partnership with employers to run the scheme”
So it’s going to be a tiny number who can use this, if any
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I don’t think any responsible employer would go near this! Or is there a financial incentive to sign up?
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Revolut have absolutely become the innovating company I once wished Monzo would.
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Agreed. And I don’t even use it (but have an account) mostly because almost all my spending goes through my Amex so really my current account makes little difference.
I do keep an eye on the app though; how do they manage to have such a large number of pretty decent cashback rewards?!
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Does Revolut send anything in the post when you open an account? I might open one just to see what’s it’s like but I won’t be at my current address in a few days so don’t want any mail.
I was sent a card for free but I think it was some kind of offer at the time.
You can add to Apple Pay without a card though so you can try it out without ordering a card.
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Are they any closer to being a bank?
Feels like it’s been coming soon for a long long time.
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Is anyone using Revolut as their main, current account?
I don’t 
Only as investment 
account for cryptocurrencies and for international payments/fees 
I imagine there are a few, but the numbers are very very small. In the UK, at least.
It’s a reputational thing, but rightly or wrongly, Revolut have a higher bar to reach for me: better service, banking licence, fewer press articles about negative cultural practices…
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With 15 million users (Revolut’s own advertised figures) I would say there could be a few.
But as @Peter_G mentions probably not that many in the UK.
On the whole, I don’t see many Revolut cards at all, compared with other cards.
Maybe any of the folk on here that deal with card payments can give an insight on how often Revolut cards are used. Not an exact science, but would give an idea.
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