Is Revolut Business Safe?

Thinking of moving your business banking to Revolut? It’s a popular choice, as the London-based neobank and financial technology company apparently signs up around 10,000 new businesses each month.¹

But if you’re going to trust your business funds with a company, you’re going to need to check out security. This means protection against fraud and the company itself going bust.

So is Revolut bank safe for businesses? Find out everything you need to know here in our handy guide, covering everything from regulation to security technology.

What is Revolut Business and how does it work?

Revolut Business is a digital business account for everyday money management. Unlike a bank account, it’s a fully online money platform - so you’ll manage your account through the Revolut app and online.

The company Revolut was founded in 2015, initially aimed at retail customers. A business account was launched in 2017, and both personal and business accounts are offered today.²

Revolut Business accounts offer a huge number of features (depending which plan you’re on), including:

• International transfers and currency exchange
• Bulk, recurring and scheduled payments
• Physical and virtual company cards
• Team member permissions, expense management and approval
• Payment links, invoice creation and QR codes
• Card reader
• Business API and app integrations

The Business and Personal accounts at Revolut share some features, but they are quite distinct.

Revolut Business is only for business transactions, offering services such as invoicing, bulk payments and expenses management that personal customers simply wouldn’t need.

The main benefit is to help business owners keep company finances separate and organised, and to streamline processes like accounting, analysis, cash flow management and tax compliance.

Read more about the differences between Revolut Business and Personal accounts here.

So, is Revolut trustworthy? A decent starting point to form an opinion on this is the company’s TrustPilot score, which comes in at a healthy 4.2 out of 5 (with 150,000+ reviews).³

Is Revolut Business safe?

Revolut uses a number of security protocols to protect your business funds, and your account. This includes the following:⁴

• Anti fraud systems, including extra verification on accounts and users, and flags for suspicious transactions
• Card protections, including 3D secure and contactless card limits
• Safeguarding funds with licensed banks
• Team permissions - including access management and spending limits, plus custom rules for payment approvals

Is Revolut regulated in the UK?

In the UK, all electronic money services providers must be authorised and adhere to strict rules and practices in order to operate. This is set out in the Electronic Money Regulations 2011.

Revolut is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).⁴ This is the UK’s main financial regulatory body, which operates independently of the UK Government.

Is Revolut covered under FSCS?

Banks operating in the UK are obliged to offer protection for the customer funds they hold as part of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). This protects up to £85,000 per person, just in case the bank should go under.

But electronic money services like Revolut aren’t required to offer FSCS protection. Instead, Revolut uses another technique called safeguarding to protect customer money.

Safeguarding is a set of laws which set out how an e-money institution must protect your money. Here’s how Revolut explains it:⁵

“Once an e-money institution receives your money, it must either place it in a dedicated "safeguarding account" with a bank, or invest it in low risk assets that have been approved by the regulator as an alternative to cash. The protection this provides means that if an e-money institution fails, there should be a pot of money (the safeguarding account) sufficient to pay all customers the money they are owed.”

Is Revolut safe for large amounts?

Due to its FCA regulation and sophisticated security measures, Revolut should be safe for keeping and sending large amounts.

However, you’ll need to understand and be comfortable with how safeguarding works, as it isn’t necessarily as clear-cut as FSCS protection and its £85,000 per person protection limit.

Revolut Business accounts don’t have any sending limits on most currencies. It also uses the Clearing House Automated Payment System (CHAPS) operated by the Bank of England for same-day large transfers between banks.⁶ This is a good option to use if you need to send a large sum quickly and securely.

Tips to keep your Revolut Business account safe

Revolut has a lot of security features in place for both business and personal customers.

But there are also things you can do to keep your Revolut Business account safe. Here are a few useful tips to remember:

• Make use of two-factor authentication for ultra-secure logins and payments. Simply click to activate when the authentication request pops up.⁷
• Use biometrics to login to the mobile app - this is unique to you, so it’s a secure way to control access to your account
• Regularly monitor account activity and inform Revolut immediately if you spot any suspicious transactions
• Never send money to a person or business you don’t know, without doing your due diligence to verify them beforehand. If you feel pressured into making a payment, pause until you can check the authenticity of the recipient and the request.
• Choose a strong password for your Revolut Business account and change it regularly.
• Avoid sharing your business account details with anyone.

Wise Business - A safe alternative to Revolut in the UK

Revolut Business isn’t the only game in town when it comes to digital business accounts. It could pay to compare all the available options, including the Wise Business account.

The Wise Business account is ideal for companies that trade internationally, or who buy goods or employ people from other countries.

There’s just one powerful account, with no monthly subscription fees. Features include:

• Local account details for 8+ major currencies
• International payments to 160+ countries for low fees and the the mid-market exchange rate
• Employee expense cards
• API integration with business and accounting tools
• Bulk payments - batch pay up to 1,000 people at once
• Bespoke permission levels to control team access.

And Wise takes security extremely seriously. As well as being strictly regulated, Wise uses 2-factor authentication for extra-secure transactions, has a dedicated anti-fraud team and is committed to keeping your personal data safe.

Wise protects customer funds through safeguarding. This means that Wise holds all customer deposits with top tier financial institutions.

Safeguarding customer funds in this way means your money is not held with Wise’s own working capital, so it can’t be used for the day to day running of the Wise business.

Get started with Wise Business 🚀

So there you have it - a complete look at Revolut Business safety features, from top to bottom.

After reading this, you should have a better idea of security measures on offer at Revolut, so you can decide whether it’s the right option for your company.

Sources used for this article:

Sources checked on 09-05-2024.