Personal Finance Tips

Revolut Junior: how to order and can I use it abroad?

Zorica Lončar

28.04.23 (updated more than 1 year ago)

Read time 2 minutes

Looking for a simple, secure money account for your child or teen? The Revolut Junior account, now called Revolut <18, could be the ideal solution.

It’s an account specially designed for young people aged 6 to 17, by popular online money company Revolut. But what is it, how do you order it for your child, and how does it work abroad? We’ll answer all of these questions right here in this handy guide.

We'll also touch on an alternative option. Get a Wise card for under 18’s. The Young Explorer card is currently in beta and available for Wise account holders that live in the UK. For a one-off £7 card fee, your child can spend at home or abroad with their own card at the mid-market rate.

The card is completely managed by you through your Wise account, so you can control limits, get real-time alerts, and get push notifications asking you to approve some online purchases for total peace of mind.

Learn more about the Young Explorer card

What is Revolut Junior?

Formerly known as Revolut Junior, Revolut <18 is a money card and app for young people, for everyday spending and saving.

Account holders can access the following features:

Send and receive money between friends, with the option to add notes and gifs. Payments are only available to teens aged 13+¹
Set savings goals
Track spending
Budgeting tools

Revolut <18 also comes with a physical, contactless card that works with Apple and Google Pay. This can be custom designed by the account holder for an extra personalisation fee.¹

Parents can also keep an eye on things by setting up custom spending limits, alerts and in-app card controls.

How to order Revolut Junior

A Revolut <18 account must be opened or approved by a parent or guardian. There are a couple of different ways to get started, depending on the age of the child or teen.

Here’s how it works for children aged 12 and under:¹

The parent will need to open their own Revolut account, by downloading the app
Once set up, they can create a new Revolut <18 account from the app
Order a Revolut <18 card, and your child can choose a personalised design if they like
Parents can set up the account with spending limits and notifications, and set savings goals with their child.

Teens over the age of 12 can open their own Revolut <18 account, by downloading the app. However, they’ll need a parent or guardian to approve it.¹

It’s free to open a Revolut <18 account.¹

How Revolut Junior works abroad

If you’re heading off on a family holiday and your teen wants to use their Revolut card, there’s good news.

Revolut <18 does work abroad. Your teen can use their card to make purchases while travelling.²

The currency conversion works in just the same way as with an adult Revolut account. But as children can’t hold foreign currency balances, the money can’t be exchanged and held in the account beforehand. This means the conversion will be carried out using the exchange rates at the time of the transaction.²

Parents can check the exchange rates in their own Revolut app, along with any fees which may apply. A few important things to note though:

Fees for using Revolut <18 are charged as per the tier of Revolut account held by the parent (e.g. Standard, Plus, Premium or Metal)³
If your teens spends more than £325 a month on foreign exchange purchases, a high frequency fee will be charged.³
Revolut may charge an extra fee for currency exchange at weekends.⁴

With these additional fees, especially for spending at weekends, the Revolut <18 card may not be the cheapest way to give your teen some holiday spending money.

You might want to look into an alternative, the Young Explorer card from money services provider, Wise. Currently available for Wise account holders that live in the UK, the Young Explorer card is for 6-17 year olds, and works in-store, online and at ATMs worldwide.

Join Wise today

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

Sources used:

Sources last checked on date: 20-Apr-2023

*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.