Can you use Revolut in Budapest from Ireland?

The capital city of Hungary, Budapest is a popular destination with people looking to soak in the local culture and history. If you’re planning a trip there or even a move, keep in mind that they use the Hungarian Forint (HUF) rather than the Euro.

In this article we’ll look at whether Revolut works in Budapest, covering opening a balance, sending and receiving money, and using the Revolut card.

We’ll also introduce you to the Wise card, a good option if you are looking to spend in the local currency while travelling.

Spend in HUF with
the Wise card 💳

Can you use Revolut in Budapest?

Let’s break it down and take a look at some of the different features an Irish Revolut account has, and if you can use them in Budapest.

Using a Revolut card in Budapest

You'll be able to use your Irish Revolut card in Budapest.

You can use your card in most countries that accept Visa or Mastercard.¹ There’s a list of exceptions but Hungary isn’t on it.

Is it possible to open a Hungarian Forint balance with Revolut?

With an Irish Revolut account you can open a HUF balance, allowing you to hold and exchange the currency.³

Receiving HUF with Revolut

When you open an Irish Revolut account you get access to these currency account details, which enable people to send you money²:

• Irish IBAN for EUR transfers within the European Union
• GBP local account number and sort code
• EUR local account details (LT IBAN)
• SWIFT account for international transfer in supported currency

As you can see you don’t have access to local account details for HUF so would need to use the SWIFT system, which can be costly at times.

The alternative is to receive HUF into your Revolut account directly from another users Revolut account. This is type of transfer is possible because HUF is one of the currencies supported for holding by Revolut.³

If you are looking for an account that can offer you Hungarian forint account details, you should have a look at Wise. With this account, you'll be able to receive payments as a local.

How much does it cost to use the Revolut card in Budapest?

What it costs to use your Revolut card in Budapest depends on a few factors like when you spend, how much and what Revolut plan you’re on. Let’s break it down!

Spending with a Revolut card

Revolut doesn’t have a card transaction fee but if you need to convert money before making the transaction then there are exchange fees which vary based on your Revolut plan.

ATM withdrawal fees

If you want to withdraw cash there are fees for that, which would be applied alongside the currency exchange fee if that applies as well.⁵

The maximum daily withdrawal limit is 3000 GBP or equivalent within a 24 hour period.

Weekend exchange fees

Unlike other companies like Wise, Revolut charges extra for currency exchanges done over the weekend, which is specified as being from 5pm EST on Friday to 6pm EST on Sunday.⁴ Any currency exchanges in this time period are subject to an additional 1% fee, regardless of your plan.

Revolut exchange rate: Why should you keep an eye 👀

Revolut determines their own exchange rate, labelling it as competitive and stating that it’s a variable rate set based on data from multiple sources.⁶

By comparison, Wise uses the mid-market rate, no matter the day of the week, which is the midway point between the buy and sell prices on the currency market.

To give you an idea of how they stack up against one another, here’s an example conversion for 1000 EUR to HUF spent by card.⁷

Data collected at 9.50am GMT-4 on 16 August 2024

Can I open a Revolut account from Budapest?

If you’re considering a move to Budapest you can open a Revolut account from Hungary.

This is because Revolut is available in all countries in the European Economic Area (EEA), which Hungary is a part of.⁸

Wise Account: Send, spend and receive money as a local

We mentioned Wise earlier, now let’s explain what you can do with it.

With a Wise Account you can hold and convert money in over 40 currencies including EUR, HUF, GBP and USD. There’s no monthly account maintenance fees to worry about and as said before, Wise uses the mid-market rate for currency conversion.

From the account you can send money to over 160 countries, and you gain local account details for multiple currencies including EUR and HUF, which enable you to send and receive money like a local.

As a result, people in Budapest can easily send money to you using your HUF account details, and vice versa.

You can also order a Wise card, which you can use to spend money in +150 countries. If you don’t have a local currency in your account it’s no problem, smart technology will take care of the conversion for you using that mid-market exchange rate.

Open your Wise Account
for free 🚀

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