Is Revolut safe in Australia? What you need to know

When making online transactions, knowing that your money is safe and secure can bring great peace to mind. With so many online payment providers available now to make transfers, understanding the ways they keep your money safe can be tricky and complicated.

Revolut is one of these providers that you have probably noticed and wondered about. We’ll take you through whether Revolut is safe to use in Australia and go through some of the ways they protect your account and money when using their system.

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Who is Revolut in Australia

Revolut is a UK fintech company that offers a range of financial services to its customers. It originally began its operations in 2015 and has since expanded across 200 supported countries, including Australia in 2019.

Since then customers can use their Revolut account to save, spend or receive money, while using a plethora of other premium features depending on which type of account is opened. Revolut offers accounts for personal and business use.¹

Is Revolut safe in Australia?

Revolut Australia is generally safe to use but it’s important to note that it is not a bank but an electronic financial institution.² Nonetheless, Revolut does offer a variety of safety and security features to their customers. We’ll go through some of these now.

How is Revolut regulated in Australia?

Revolut Australia is regulated by a variety of key oversight bodies with the main one being the the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) where it holds an Australian Financial services Licence by the number of 517589.

It is overseen by AUSTRAC where it is obligated to abide by laws outlined in the The Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006.²

How is your money kept safe at Revolut?

Your money is kept safe in your Revolut account through a combination of security features and regulatory guarantees. Below we’ll go through the main ways your money is kept safe.

1. Your money is protected and guaranteed by another authorised Australian bank²

This means that your money is not directly guaranteed by Revolut but through an authorised-deposit taking entity. This is known as a “Bank Guarantee.” Incase of Revolut’s insolvency, customers with money in their account will need to make a demand to the dedicated trustee guaranteeing the funds in all Revolut accounts for a return of funds.

2. Multiple in-app security features³

Through your Revolut app, you’ll be able to manage your account and the security of your cards in the case that something happens. You’ll be able to freeze your card, access disposable virtual cards, set pin numbers for your Revolut card and to access your account on your device, and be able to set spending limits.

3. Fraud monitoring⁴

Revolut uses a Sherlock anti-fraud system to detect suspicious activity in real time.

Holding large amounts with Revolut

Revolut Australia does not state an upper limit for how much you can hold in your Revolut account. However, you should be aware that these funds are not protected by the Financial Claims scheme.² This scheme is a government backed safeguard that protects funds up to $250,000 in Australian bank accounts, such as a bank account with one of the big 4 banking institutions.⁵ Instead, customers are protected by the bank guarantee as we mentioned above.

What about scam protection at Revolut?

As with any financial provider, Revolut is vulnerable to being impersonated by hackers to try to gain personal financial details or access to customers' accounts through phishing attacks, hoax websites or fake apps.

Due to this, Revolut has designated teams working to keep the Revolut app and its customers safe from scams. Some protective features include⁴:

• Fingerprint Identification at log in
• Security management settings in-app
• Disposable virtual cards that are for one-time use only
• 3D secure to verify payments for real time purchases

On top of these mechanisms, Revolut offers advice for how customers can limit their chance of being a target of a scam through their dedicated scam pages.

Data protection at Revolut

Revolut has implemented a combination of data privacy policies and technical security systems to keep their customers private information secure. Some ways that Revolut protects your personal and transaction data is by:⁶

• Secured Sockets Layer technology
• A secure virtual private network
• Encryption technology⁷

Revolut acknowledges that not all security systems are completely foolproof and you should always exercise caution when inputting sensitive personal details online.⁴ Customers can see how Revolut shares or uses their data by going to their settings through the app.⁸

How long is your data kept at Revolut

After you cease using Revolut and its services, your data is retained for a minimum of 7 years due to its legal obligations toward Australia’s local laws.⁶

Read more: Are international transfers safe in Australia.

Requesting deletion of your data at Revolut

Unfortunately, all personal data is kept until for the legal minimum of time as per Australian law, so requests to delete data will not be taken into account until this time has passed.⁹

What are the protection systems in place for your Revolut account in Australia

Revolut has embedded protective systems throughout the app so customers can keep their money as secure as possible. These systems include⁴:

• Two-factor authentication
• Pin or biometric account access
• Option to turn on transaction verification notifications
• Requesting confirmation for money transfers to new recipients
• In-app warnings if payments are detected as a potential scam
• Ability to review transaction in-app
• Automatic security system for fraudulent activity

Although these mechanisms are available, Revolut still expects their customers to exercise their own due diligence in keeping their accounts secure as not every technical control is 100% foolproof.

Transferring money with Revolut and security measures

All users must verify their identity to be able to make transfers or have an active account with Revolut.¹⁰ Nonetheless, once verified there are a few security measures in place to keep your transfers safe.

There are no limits on most transfers.¹¹ However machine learning algorithms are in operation to detect unusual transactions. If one is detected, your card will be frozen and not be able to be used.¹²

When using your card for purchases, transactions are protected by Mastercard or Visa.¹³

However, if you notice a transaction or purchase was not made by you, it is important to freeze your cards through the app, file a police report and report your card lost or stolen if need be. You will be able to submit a chargeback form to Revolut to potentially recover the funds.¹⁴

Tips to help you keep your account safe at Revolut

Although we’ve covered many of the technical protections here, here are a few tips to help keep your account safe.³

1. Make sure you are always using the latest update of the app
2. Never ignore in-app warnings that pop up
3. Never give out your pins, passwords or personal details to anyone over email or phone
4. Only use the app support to connect with Revolut

You should always exercise your own due diligence when buying things online by confirming that the merchants or websites you are purchasing from are legitimate or authorised providers. Remember, If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

Contacting Revolut

You can only contact Revolut through using their in-app support systems after you’ve made an account. There is an option to use an anonymous chat feature if you cannot access your account by clicking “Forgot your password” at login. Once you have initiated a chat, you will be redirected to a live agent.²

The Wise Account

The Wise Account enables you to store over 40 international currencies and get local account details for a number of different countries, including AUD, NZD, EUR, USD and GBP. You can use these to easily transfer your money to Wise or get paid by others.

You’ll also avoid high international transaction fees and get access to the mid-market rate on all conversions and money transfers. The best part — you can open and manage your Wise account completely online.

Safety is super important at Wise and it’s regulated wherever it operates. In Australia, it is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and holds an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL number 513764). On top of this, Wise has dedicated compliance teams and systems working around the clock to keep our customers’ money safe.

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Please see Terms of Use for your region or visit Wise Fees & Pricing for the most up-to-date pricing and fee information.

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Sources:

1. Revolut About
2. Revolut PDS
3. Revolut scam protection
4. Revolut security features
5. APRA Financial Claims Scheme
6. Revolut data storage and privacy
7. Revolut encryption
8. Revolut private information
9. Revolut data rules
10. Revolut verification
11. Revolut transfer limits
12. Revolut algorithms
13. Revolut card protection
14. Revolut suspicious transaction

Sources checked on: 18 May 2023