Is revolut safe?

[Jaynew]

Just doing a live chat with revolut and got sent this by accident!

for all as we did not get our salaries yet :/

It's worried me a bit as about to put £1500 on it for our trip in 3 weeks!

[Rufus1]

did you mention it to the person that sent it on live chat?

[sdrfish]

Money on revolut is ring fenced and backed by Barclays if Im right so you should be fine.

[Jaynew]

Originally Posted by Rufus1

did you mention it to the person that sent it on live chat?

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Yes, he claimed he was talking to a colleague about his old job and he apologised but it sounds like he's talking in the present not the past.

[fredflintstone]

Originally Posted by sdrfish

Money on revolut is ring fenced and backed by Barclays if Im right so you should be fine.

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I've always wondered what ring fence means, if you need to get to it if they did go bust. Does an administrator have power to access it and if so what fees are incurred in getting you money back ? Free, 10% or 90% ?

[ERICSMUM]

Originally Posted by sdrfish

Money on revolut is ring fenced and backed by Barclays if Im right so you should be fine.

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If by 'backed by Barclays' you mean Barclays will guarantee the money, I'm not sure that's correct.

The money is held with Barclays and ring fenced as you say, so that Revolut can't use the money for purposes other than fund spending on the cards,

What I wonder with these ring-fence arrangements is if the company (any company that does pre-paid cards, not just Revolut) does go bust, will the cards be blocked immediately while the administrators go over the finances. How long would it take before the cards could be used again ?

It's been said loads of times on the Dibb, these cards aren't covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme under which banks and building societies are obliged to guarantee account balances up to £85,000 (I think) per person.

For these two reasons I avoid such cards. But I'm cautious by nature, having worked in international banking for 35+ years and 'seen it all'. I don't think I'm alarmist though.

[Rufus1]

Originally Posted by Jaynew

Yes, he claimed he was talking to a colleague about his old job and he apologised but it sounds like he's talking in the present not the past.

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That may well be the case, and im sure it's all good however if I was going to be using one of these cards id be asking for more clarification from someone more senior in the company.

I was looking at using supercard by travelex but still not received it after 4 months no updates from them I messaged them and got some half hearted not committal response that told me nothing so lost any faith in trusting any part of my holiday to that company. and now possibly revolut too.

will stick with my Credit cards and cash. even if there is a few extra $ in charges not so worried about that as I will have peace of mind I not going to have my spends locked up by some company in trouble.

[sdrfish]

Originally Posted by ERICSMUM

If by 'backed by Barclays' you mean Barclays will guarantee the money, I'm not sure that's correct.

The money is held with Barclays and ring fenced as you say, so that Revolut can't use the money for purposes other than fund spending on the cards,

What I wonder with these ring-fence arrangements is if the company (any company that does pre-paid cards, not just Revolut) does go bust, will the cards be blocked immediately while the administrators go over the finances. How long would it take before the cards could be used again ?

It's been said loads of times on the Dibb, these cards aren't covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme under which banks and building societies are obliged to guarantee account balances up to £85,000 (I think) per person.

For these two reasons I avoid such cards. But I'm cautious by nature, having worked in international banking for 35+ years and 'seen it all'. I don't think I'm alarmist though.

See more...

Thats what i meant be ring fenced I.e if revolut went bust there would be some type of mechanism to get your money back and also the company cant spend you money on there debts.

No these cards are not guaranteed under the fscs in any way so if your car is stolen you lose all your money with it. There is nothing wrong with these cards if you use them right. I have a revolut and all I do is top up £100 when needed. So if my card is stolen I only lose £100. But there is no way in hell I would put more than this on for example putting 2k on it for a whole holiday spend.

[Dinglebert]

My understanding is this. Your money that you have on your card is ring fenced. The company cannot touch it and if they went bust then you would eventually get that money back. How long eventually is, is unclear.

If there is an issue with your card, eg its stolen or used fraudulently then there is no guarantee you will get your money back. They state they will investigate but thats not the same as saying you will get it back. This is no different from any other pre-paid card.

A credit card is a whole different set of rules which benefit the customer rather than the card company.

[Jaynew]

So I'm just reading that fountain of financial knowledge moneysavingexpert and it says this about pre paid cards including revolut.

All prepaid cards listed below are backed by a bank or building society. When you load cash onto a prepaid card, your cash goes into a ring-fenced account, separate from the prepaid card provider's account.

So, if the prepaid card company goes bust, the bank or building society where your money's resting will still retain your cash.

The slight risk comes if the bank or building society backing the prepaid card goes bust, as your cash is NOT protected.

So doesn't that mean my money would be safe if revolut went bust?