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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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
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
Revolut uses a Sherlock anti-fraud system to detect suspicious activity in real time.
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.
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:
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.
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
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
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. |
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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
Revolut has embedded protective systems throughout the app so customers can keep their money as secure as possible. These systems include⁴:
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.
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
Although we’ve covered many of the technical protections here, here are a few tips to help keep your account safe.³
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.
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 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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Sources:
Sources checked on: 18 May 2023
This publication is provided for general information purposes only and is not intended to cover every aspect of the topics with which it deals. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content in this publication. The information in this publication does not constitute legal, tax or other professional advice from Wise Payments Limited or its affiliates. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. We make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether express or implied, that the content in the publication is accurate, complete or up to date.
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