Revolut Singapore: Card, fees, exchange rates

The popular digital banking app Revolut currently has around 15 million users worldwide¹, and around 700,000 of these are in Singapore².

But is Revolut the right option for you? In this guide, we’ll give you the lowdown on the Revolut Singapore card and app, including how it works and how much it costs. Plus, how it stacks up to rivals such as the Wise account when it comes to international spending.

Learn more about Wise 📖

If you want to read how Revolut compares to Youtrip, head on here.

But first, let’s cover the basics you need to know about the Revolut card.

📝Table of contents:
What is Revolut and how does it work? Revolut currencies Revolut Card and membership pricing Other Revolut fees Revolut currency exchange rates Is Revolut safe? Wise account 💡

What is Revolut and how does it work?

The Revolut card lets you spend in multiple currencies, get local cash from ATMs, and transfer money globally through one account based in Singapore.

The card is linked to the Revolut app that helps you purchase currencies, keep track of your spending as well as exchange rates, and get alerts on purchases. It is easy to open an account by downloading the app and setting it up through your phone.

The Revolut card is a great option for spending and sending money overseas. Whether you're dining in restaurants, paying bills or buying crafts at a local market, the Revolut card can help you with your needs overseas.

The app has additional features to help you keep track of your spending and budgets. And you can keep an eye on your purchases as you go with instant notifications when you use your card.

Since there are limited features at home, the card is ideal for use when traveling or living outside of Singapore. You can spend money in local currencies with just a small fee, withdraw cash, transfer money and set up recurring payments as needed.

There are 3 different plans that you can sign up for with Revolut - Standard, Premium and Metal. Each comes with different features, perks and fees, which we’ll look at shortly in our fees section.

The more you upgrade your plan, the fewer limitations you have to put up with and the more features you get.

For example, higher cash withdrawal access and LoungeKey Pass access. This makes it quite flexible, so you can choose the plan that works best for your travels.

Some of the best features of Revolut Singapore include:

• Exchange, send and receive 28+ currencies in seconds
• Peer-to-peer instant transfers
• Spending analytics tools to help you manage your money
• Customisable security features.
• Personal Vaults to help you reach your savings goals faster.
• Daily discounts and cashback with the Rewards scheme.

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Revolut currencies

With the Revolut card, you can spend overseas in over 140 currencies³ wherever Mastercard and Visa are accepted.

You can hold and exchange between these currencies and SGD in the app⁴:

• Australian Dollar (AUD)
• Bulgarian Lev (BGN)
• Canadian Dollar (CAD)
• Czech Koruna (CZK)
• Croatian Kuna (HRK)
• Danish Krone (DKK)
• Hungarian Forint (HUF)
• Israeli New Shekel (ILS)
• Mexican Peso (MXN)
• Norwegian Krone (NOK)
• Polish Zloty (PLN)
• Qatari Riyal (QAR)
• Swiss Franc (CHF)
• Euros (EUR)
• British Pound (GBP)
• Hong Kong Dollars (HKD)
• Japanese Yen (JPY)
• New Zealand Dollar (NZD)
• Swedish Krona (SEK)
• Thai Baht (THB)
• Turkish Lira (TRY)
• United Arab Emirates Dirham (AED)
• US Dollar (USD)
• South African Rand (ZAR)

Your home account, or base currency, will be held in Singapore Dollars. This means that, with Revolut, when payments go through they will be pulled first from the applicable currency balance, and if that doesn’t have enough, it will be pulled from your base currency account⁵.

So if you are shopping in the UK and use the Revolut card, it will first try to pull the money from the GBP balance on the card, and then will pull from the SGDs on the card if there aren’t enough pounds.

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Your Revolut account can also be used to do international money transfers. These transfers can be done in around 30 currencies, including⁶:

AED, AUD, BGN, CHF, CAD, CZK, DKK, EUR, GBP, HKD, HRK, HUF, ILS, ISK, JPY, MAD, MXN, NOK, NZD, PLN, QAR, RON, RSD, SAR, SEK, SGD, THB, TRY, USD, ZAR.

It is important to note that if you are transferring money to a bank account that requires a currency conversion, there will be a charge for that. Check out our fees section for overall charges with Revolut.

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Revolut Card and membership pricing

While the Revolut card is a great option compared to money exchangers, the fees can start to feel confusing.

First, unlike some other multi-currency cards, Revolut has a monthly fee for tiered plans. Let’s take a look at the fees and features of each:

Revolut Standard

The basic Revolut⁷ plan is free, with no monthly charge. It offers:

• Exchanges in 28+ currencies up to S$5,000 with no hidden fees
• Spend in 150+ currencies at the mid-market exchange rate
• Send money in 28 currencies
• Free international ATM withdrawals up to S$350 per month
• Free Revolut card (although there may be a delivery fee).

Revolut Premium

The Revolut Premium⁷ plan costs S$9.99 a month, and for this you’ll get the following perks:

• Exchanges in 28+ currencies up to S$15,000 with no hidden fees
• Spend in 150+ currencies at the mid-market exchange rate
• Send money in 28 currencies, including 1 fee-free cross-border transfer
• Free international ATM withdrawals up to S$700 per month
• Free premium Revolut card with exclusive designs
• Global medical and dental insurance
• Priority customer support
• Disposable virtual cards
• LoungeKey Pass access.

Revolut Metal

If you want all the bells and whistles of a souped-up Revolut account, choose Metal.⁷ This plan is S$19.99 a month, but comes with the following features:

• Exchanges in 28+ currencies with no monthly limit
• Spend in 150+ currencies at the mid-market exchange rate
• Send money in 28 currencies, and unlimited fee-free transfers across borders
• Free international ATM withdrawals up to S$1,050 per month
• Free exclusive Revolut Metal card
• Global medical and dental insurance, plus baggage delay and lost/damaged items insurance
• Priority customer support
• Disposable virtual cards
• LoungeKey Pass access
• 1% cashback on all card payments.

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Other Revolut fees

Aside from the monthly cost of your chosen Revolut plan, there are a few other fees.

The first thing to know about is fees outside of the transfer, spending and ATM withdrawal limits of your plan. For example, here are the extra fees for standard Revolut plan customers⁸:

• Non-SWIFT international transfers (outside of free allowances) have a fee of 0.3% with a maximum of S$9.
• SWIFT international transfers have a charge of S$5 (for USD, GBP, EUR or CHF) or S$9.

Just as important as fees are the exchange rates you get when using Revolut. Remember that this can affect the cost of an overseas purchase or transfer, perhaps even more than a one-off fee. We’ll look at this next, so you can get a good picture of how Revolut works overseas.

Overseas ATM withdrawals

As you can see from the Revolut plans section above, you’ll get a certain limit of international ATM withdrawals for free.

But once you go above this, you’ll be charged a fee of 2% of the amount withdrawn⁸. This is regardless of the plan you’re on, as even Revolut Metal account holders will be charged an ATM withdrawal fee if they exceed the upper limit of S$1,050 a month.

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Revolut currency exchange rates

The exchange rate that Revolut offers is the interbank exchange rate, or the mid-market rate, which is the same rate that banks use themselves and which Wise offers too. But for the Standard plan, any exchanges above S$5,000 are charged a fee of 0.5% ⁸.

Now, if you exchange currencies during the week - Monday to Friday- there isn’t a markup on the currencies except for Thai Baht (THB) and Ukrainian Hryvnia (UAH). Only these two currencies carry a markup of 1% ⁸. This is in addition to the fee on exchanging more than S$5,000.

But if you mean to exchange money on the weekends - Saturday to Sunday, London time - then there is a markup on all their currencies⁸:

• An additional 0.5% on all major currencies
• An additional 1% markup on Thai Baht (THB) and Ukrainian Hryvnia (UAH), which equates to a 2% markup in total.

It’s really important to check the final amount your recipient will receive, before hitting ‘send’ on any transfer with Revolut or any other provider. This lets you know the true transfer cost, including the impact of an unexpected mark-up on the exchange rate.

So, if you’re sending money internationally (especially at weekends), take a moment to compare the exchange rateamong providers to see which is cheapest. For example - Wise keeps their exchange rates markup-free even during weekends.

See if you can save with Wise 📖

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Is Revolut safe?

Revolut is licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), and all customer money is held in separate accounts with a number of global banking partners. What this means is that in the unlikely event that Revolut goes out of business, your money will still be protected. ⁹

Additionally, Revolut uses the same rules as Mastercard or Visa to prevent fraud, theft and loss on its card payments.

Other security features to put your mind at ease include:

• Machine-learning algorithms which detect suspicious transactions
• Freeze and unfreeze your card in the app - just in case of loss or theft
• Set a monthly card spending limit.

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Get your Wise account and card - a multi-currency account that is possibly cheaper than banks

There is no reason you should be paying more fees to live globally. Get the Wise multi-currency card and you can spend in 150+ countries, hold more than 40 currencies on the card and receive money into 8 different local accounts.

With one low rate, plus the mid-market exchange rate on all transactions, Wise is able to use technology to make travel as low-cost as possible for you. Plus, want to spend, withdraw cash and hold Malaysian Ringgit or Thai Baht? There are no additional or with Wise.

Sign up for an account today, and say goodbye to confusing fees.

Sources used for this article:

1. Business of Apps - Revolut revenue and usage statistics 2021
2. Techwire Asia - Revolut Singapore on building a global financial 'super app'
3. Revolut Singapore - What currencies are supported for spending?
4. Revolut Singapore - What currencies are supported for holding and exchange?
5. Revolut Singapore - Which currency balance will be deducted for spending?
6. Revolut Singapore - Where can I transfer money?
7. Revolut Singapore - Our Pricing Plans
8. Revolut Singapore - Fees
9. Revolut Singapore - Safety

Sources checked on 12th May 2021