Business

Revolut Business Account: Top 4 Alternatives for UK

Paola Faben Oliveira

21.12.22 (updated more than 1 year ago)

Read time 8 minutes

Revolut is known for its flexible debit card attached to a multi-currency account. Personal customers from the UK use it as a travel card as it’s cheaper and more convenient compared to going to the bank or currency exchange points to get cash before travelling. The service also facilitates local and international transfers and conversion in 30 currencies.

Business customers can take advantage of the same benefits but with extra features like recurring and bulk payments which could come in handy if you’re running payroll to overseas contractors or paying multiple suppliers.

Revolut offers a lot of good features, however there are great alternatives available, Wise Business is one of them, but we gathered other 3 options you can choose when doing business internationally and moving your money across borders.

📝 Table of contents:
Key comparison points Revolut Business overview Wise Business overview Payoneer overview Skrill Business overview Starling Bank Business overview

Key Comparison Points

In order to analyse all the alternatives available let's set a couple of comparison points that are important for UK businesses to evaluate each one of the providers:

Cost

Since international transactions usually have different fees and costs attached to them, with businesses moving higher amounts of money or proceeding a larger number of transactions, choosing a cost effective provider can be essential in order to keep administrative expenses under control.

Speed and convenience

Businesses usually request fast and effective services. The time to process a financial transaction can impact the company in various ways. Being able to manage your business' money through automations, integrations and convenient tools is crucial in order to save time and money.

Security and reliability

Two relevant aspects for any financial provider, but even more important for business accounts, managing high figures and running large volumes of transactions.

Business card

Having a debit or credit card in hand, connected to your account and available to spend abroad is a great convenience for business owners and employees.

Revolut Business overview

Before diving into each one of the alternatives, let's have a look at how Revolut Business meet the key comparison points presented above:

Cost
Revolut business pricing structure is based on plans with monthly subscriptions and restrictions on the number of local and international transfers you can make per month.

Here’s a comparison for Revolut Business Plans¹:

Services	Revolut Free	Revolut Grow	Revolut Scale	Revolut Enterprise
Subscription fee	0	£25	£100	Custom
Foreign exchange rate	Up to 0,4%	Free for transfers up to £10,000, up to 0,4% after that	Free for transfers up to £50,000, up to 0,4% after that	Custom
International transfers	£3 per transfer	10 transfers free, £3 per transfer after that	50 transfers free, £3 per transfer after that	Custom
Local transfers	5 free, £0.20 per transfer after that	100 free, £0.20 per transfer after that	1000 free, £0.20 per transfer after that	Custom

Note: Revolut process transfers via Swift which goes through an intermediary bank who charges their own fee before it reaches the beneficiary account, this can cost around £20 - £40. However, this doesn’t apply to all intermediary banks as some banks might not charge anything.

Speed and convenience
Revolut usually processes transfers via Swift or SEPA (Single European Payment Area). Swift transfers normally reach the beneficiary account in 1 - 3 working days but in some cases it can take up to 10 working days depending on which countries the transactions involve. SEPA transfers (for accounts within the SEPA zone) take up to 24 hours.²

In regards to convenience, Revolut Business has connections with various business tools, from account softwares to ecommerce platforms, like Magento2, WooCommerce, Xero and Sage.³

Security and reliability
Revolut safeguard their customers' money on a dedicated account with a large global bank, or invested in low-risk assets, they have procedures in place to keep your money safe. However, as Revolut Business is not a bank, they are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).⁴

To address issues or questions regarding your account, Revolut Business customer service can be reached by chat on website or mobile app.⁵

Customers under Scale or Enterprise plans have an account manager available to discuss some topics via call, previously schedule.⁶

Business Card
Revolut Business cards are available within the account. They are debit cards provided from Visa or Mastercard and are available as virtual or physical cards. You can grant Revolut Business debit cards for your employees, controlling spending limits and automating expenses management.⁷

First physical card for each user is free, and additional cards will be charged a delivery fee starting from 4,99 GBP or equivalent on your currency.⁸ Purchases made with the card are free and ATM withdrawals have a 2% fee regardless of the account plan you chose.⁹

Wise Business overview

Wise is a fintech company based in the UK that offers financial services for both personal and business users. Wise Business is a multi-currency account created to help business owners and financial teams to manage their money across borders in an easy, transparent and convenient way.

Let's have a closer look at what Wise Business can offer, considering the key comparison points presented above:

Cost
Wise Business pricing and fees are quite straightforward, there are not any allowances restricted by subscriptions. For every transfer you make, there’s a small, transparent fee which is displayed on the transfer page before proceeding. And for all international transactions you will always get the mid-market exchange rate.

Services	Wise Business
Subscription fee	One-time fee of £45 when opening an account
Foreign exchange rate	From 0.41% (varies by currency)
International transfers	Variable fee from 0.41% + fixed fee between £0,20 and £4,40
Local transfers	£0,32 per transfer

Speed and convenience
Wise always tries to process transfers as quickly as possible and manages to offer instant transfer for some of the major currency routes. Some currencies generally take 1 - 2 working days.

In regards of convenience, Wise offers some features and services which help your business to manage your finances easily and without hassle:

Batch payment tool to make up to 1,000 transfers in one go.
Hold and convert funds in over 40+ currencies.
Send money to 160+ countries.
Receive local and international payments for free in 8+ currencies.
Connect the multi-currency account to Xero or Quickbooks for accounting purposes.
Debit card attached to your multi-currency account.
Employee expense cards to manage spending effortlessly, even abroad.

Get started with Wise Business

Security and reliability
Wise is an e-money institution, and follows a strict set of rules set by regulators in the UK and also abroad. These regulatory agencies protect you and the financial market.

Wise safeguards your money using a financial protection scheme in different conventional banks. It means that by law we need to keep your money completely separate from the resources we use to run our business. And unlike traditional banks, Wise do not land customers money.

Business card
Wise provides business customers with two types of cards:

Wise Business debit card
A debit card connected with the account, which you can use to pay for transactions online or on-site, always with the real exchange rate.

When you activate your account with Wise Business and pay the £45 fee your first debit card is included. Additional cards cost 3 GBP each.

And with Wise Business debit card you can spend in the local currency, or use the Smart Conversion technology to always pay abroad with the lowest conversion fee.

💡 Example:
Let's say you travel to a conference in France and spend with your debit card in Euros, if you don't have the necessary amount of EUR in your balance Wise's Smart Conversion will automatically convert the balance from your GBP with the lowest conversion fee.

Wise Business employee expense card
The employee expense card is also a debit card, however it was created with the purpose to allow employees to spend on behalf of the company with ease.

So with the expense card you can set limits and keep track of the spending within your Wise Business Account.

Earn cashback spending with Wise Business cards
UK-based customers can get 0.5% cashback when spending with Wise Business card, regardless of the type of card used. You can enjoy the convenience of spending with your debit card all around the world while earning your money back at the beginning of the next month.

Start spending with Wise Business Card

Payoneer overview

A provider focussed on companies doing business globally, Payoneer was born in 2005 to help businesses thrive in the digital world. They provide a multi-currency account among other financial services.

Cost
Payoneer multi-currency account doesn't have a monthly or annual fee if you keep using its service, however, once you keep your account untouched for 12 months you need to pay an annual fee of 29,95 USD.

Services	Payoneer¹⁰
Foreign exchange rate	0.5% to move money between currencies
International payments with card	Up to 3.5% + up to 1.8% cross-border fee
Local transfers	Free to other Payoneer accounts. Up to 2% for other bank accounts.

Speed and convenience
Payoneer has a strong connection with multiple marketplace and freelance platforms, such as Fiverr, Upwork, Airbnb and Shopee¹¹, making it easy to withdraw and manage your earnings.

Once you need to withdraw your funds from Payoneer to another bank account the transfer can take between 2 to 5 days to reach your account.¹²

Payoneer offers some other convenient features, such as paying VAT for Europe and UK within the account and store manager to control your payments in multiple platforms.

Security and reliability
Payoneer is registered and regulated by financial entities in multiple locations such as the USA, Europe, Japan and India. They keep your funds at low-risk financial institutions.

Business Card
Payoneer offers its customers the Commercial Mastercard Card, however before ordering your credit card you need to check your eligibility, which is a minimum of 100 USD in payments received to your Payoneer account in the last 6 months.¹³

Once you reach the requirements and order your card you need to pay an annual fee of 29,95 USD for the first card, additional cards are free. Transactions in the same currency of your card are free, but in case of currency conversion there is a fee up to 3.5% plus a cross-border fee up to 1.8%.¹⁰

Skrill Business overview

Digital wallet, checkout and money transfer provider, Skrill Business offers payment solutions for global business.

Cost
Open an account with Skrill Business is free for UK users if you make at least one transaction every 6 months, otherwise a 5 EUR monthly fee is applicable.

Services	Skrill Business¹⁴
Foreign exchange rate	3,99%
International transfers	Up to 4,99% (variable by payment method) + mark-up fee of 4,99% per transaction
Local transfers	Up to 2%

Speed and convenience
Skrill Business provides a quick checkout solution to help you accept online payments. Which your customers can pay by card, bank transfer and other payment methods in more than 40 currencies.¹⁵

Transfers between Skrill accounts and from merchant platforms into your account are usually instant, but when you withdrawal your funds from your Skrill account into another bank the transaction can take between 1 and 5 days.¹⁶

Security and reliability
Skrill is a reliable and secure provider. They are not part of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), however they safeguard your money by themselves, which can result in more waiting time when they need to return your funds.¹⁷

Business Card
Skrill does not provide a business card within your account.

Starling Bank Business overview

Starling is a digital bank from the UK which also offers business digital solutions for payments and financial management.

Cost
Starling Bank business account is free to open and use, however you have add-ons available to purchase on a monthly subscription and also an additional cost to open and use an Euros or American Dollars account.

Services	Starling Bank Business¹⁸
The Business Toolkit (add-on)	£7 per month
Bulk payments (add-on)	£7 per month
Euro account	£2 per month
USD account	£5 per month
Foreign exchange rate	0.4%
International transfers	Fixed delivery fee up to £5,50 per transaction¹⁹
Local transfers	Free²⁰

Speed and convenience
In regards to international payments, Starling Bank has two options of transactions. If you choose to send your payment through SWIFT, the quickest option, it may arrive between 1 and 3 working days. Payments sent via local partners will take longer than that.²¹

Starling Bank Business account has various features to make your life easier and help you save time managing your finances, amongst those we can highlight its integration with Xero, Quickbooks and FreeAgent.

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As you can see, if your business needs an alternative provider to Revolut, there are plenty of options in the market. It's up to you now to evaluate the pros and cons of each option we gathered here, thinking about your business model and specific necessities.

If you need a global multi-currency account with low and transparent fees Wise Business can be the better choice. You can get 0.5% cashback while spending with your Wise card and save time through the connections with your accounting software.

Get started with Wise Business

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Sources used:

Sources last checked: 21/12/2022.

*Please see terms of use and product availability for your region or visit Wise fees and pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information.

This publication is provided for general information purposes and does not constitute legal, tax or other professional advice from Wise Payments Limited or its subsidiaries and its affiliates, and it is not intended as a substitute for obtaining advice from a financial advisor or any other professional.

We make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether expressed or implied, that the content in the publication is accurate, complete or up to date.