Jul 27, 2015
Optimal Payments delivers multi-currency, globally-accepted MasterCard®enabling Revolut’s customers to access their funds using either a virtual or physical card
LONDON (27 July, 2015), Optimal Payments (LSE AIM: OPAY), a leading global payments provider, has announced a partnership with Revolut for the launch of its innovative currency exchange solution set to bring change to the foreign exchange market this summer. The solution is an innovative multi-currency MasterCard and mobile app that allows people to both spend and send money abroad at the best exchange rate available, completely free for the first twelve months of a customer using the service. The Revolut solution helps consumers avoid the hidden costs often associated with currency exchange.
Available on both iOS and Android, the Revolut app allows users to set up an account in a matter of seconds to transfer money globally via SMS, email, WhatsApp and social media channels. In order to deliver the best rate available, Revolut takes the wholesale interbank exchange rate, which is updated every half a second.
Optimal Payments’ partnership with Revolut enables customers to hold funds in GBP, Euro and USD, and to spend online and in-store with a globally accepted multi-currency MasterCard linked to their Revolut account. A virtual Revolut card can be used for online purchases as soon as the account is set up, and a physical card is delivered at no cost to the customer within two working days in the UK. The card can be used globally with no fees for the first twelve months wherever MasterCard is accepted: online, in-store and to withdraw cash at an ATM.
Optimal Payments is authorised by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to issue electronic money and is a Principal Member of MasterCard International Inc. In addition, Optimal Payments’ Acquiring Services enable Revolut’s customers to load funds to their accounts.
Andrea Dunlop, Vice President Card Services and Acquiring at Optimal Payments said: “Through this partnership, Revolut is able to utilise Optimal Payments’ expertise in delivering secure and leading-edge payment solutions to customers and merchants around the world. Revolut could revolutionise the money exchange market and we look forward to supporting their progress by providing them with both a prepaid solution and our acquiring services. The Optimal Payments Card Services division can support a variety of different Prepaid Programmes – from white-label cards to bespoke multi-channel solutions.”
Nikolay Storonsky, Revolut Founder, added: “We chose to work with Optimal Payments due to their flexibility and embracing attitude towards start-ups. They have been agile in integrating our services which has been essential in the early growth of Revolut, and have been supportive of our ambition to change the way money is transacted, sent and spent around the world.”
Revolut has been shortlisted for an award at the 2015 Payments Awardshttp://www.paymentsawards.com/awards/shortlist.php.
About Optimal Payments Plc
Optimal Payments is a global provider of online payment solutions, trusted by businesses and consumers in over 200 countries and territories to move and manage billions of dollars each year. Merchants use NETBANX®and Optimal Payments’ acquiring platform and services to simplify how they accept credit and debit card, alternative and local payments. Consumers use the multi-lingual and multi-currency NETELLER and Net+®Card stored-value offering to make secure and convenient payments. Optimal Payments Card Services, another division of Optimal Payments, provides innovative prepaid products and services to merchants. Optimal Payments Plc is quoted on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM, with a ticker symbol of OPAY. Optimal Payments Ltd is authorised by the UK Financial Conduct Authority to issue electronic money and payment tools and is under a licence from MasterCard®International Inc.
For more information on Optimal Payments visitwww.optimalpayments.comorwww.optimalcardservices.comto learn about the Card Services division.
About Revolut
Revolut was established in 2015 to disrupt the foreign exchange industry by offering the very best rates for people spending and sending money abroad. It launched its app and prepaid card in July 2015.
The company is headquartered in Canary Wharf and is a member of the fintech hub, Level39.
To date, Revolut has raised investment from SeedCamp, Europe's leading pre-seed and seed stage acceleration fund, and secured further funding in a round led by Balderton Capital, Europe’s leading tech venture capital firm.
For more information on Revolut visitwww.revolut.com
Contacts:
Director of Public Relations
Melissa Pauléat
Optimal Payments Press Office:
+1-514-758-5820
pr@optimalpayments.com
Media Contacts – United Kingdom:
Simon Fluendy/Simon Hudson
Tavistock Communications
+44 20 7920 3150
optimal@tavistock.co.uk0
optimalpayments_revolut-27072015.pdf
FAQs
Optimal Payments has partnered with Revolut to launch a multicurrency MasterCard and mobile app that enables consumers to both spend and send funds abroad at the best exchange rate available. Revolut is offering the service to customers at no charge for the first 12 months of use.
Is Revolut good for currency exchange? ›
Research results. On average Revolut was 23x cheaper when exchanging 1,000 GBP to EUR, USD, AUD, RON, and PLN on weekdays (we've only quoted 'up to 10x cheaper' in our marketing so that we can be confident that this remains true, even when rates fluctuate.)
Which currencies are supported by Revolut? ›
With Revolut, you can hold and exchange multiple currencies. Currently, the supported currencies are: AED, AUD, BGN, CAD, CHF, CLP, COP, CZK, DKK, EGP, EUR, GBP, HKD, HUF, IDR, ILS, INR, ISK, JPY, KRW, KZT, MAD, MXN, NOK, NZD, PHP, PLN, QAR, RON, RSD, SAR, SEK, SGD, THB, TRY, USD, ZAR.
How does Revolut work with different currencies? ›
When you make a card payment abroad in a different currency, we check if you have money in that currency already and deduct it from that account if you do.
Can you use Revolut in the USA? ›
To order your Revolut debit card and start spending in US Dollars, simply: Download the Revolut app on your Android or iPhone and sign up for free.
What is the downside of Revolut? ›
It is a good choice for beginner investors. On the downside, it doesn't offer popular asset classes like mutual funds, bonds or options.. Research and educational tools are very basic, and customer support only answers some basic questions. Also, Revolut has had some quite negative news coverage recently.
How much does Revolut charge to exchange currency? ›
Exchange fees
A 0.6% fee is applied to any exchanges above your fair usage allowance according to your plan. Exchange mark-up fees below apply to all plans. No foreign exchange fees. We don't charge fees on public holidays unless they fall outside foreign exchange market hours.
What countries are blocked by Revolut? ›
Unsupported countries and regions
- Belarus.
- Cuba.
- Donetsk People's Republic.
- Iran.
- Kherson (Ukraine)
- Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
- Libya.
- Luhansk People's Republic.
You can link accounts from the following banks:
Barclays, Barclays Business, Bank of Scotland, Danske Bank, first direct, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds, Monzo, M&S Bank, Nationwide, NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander, Starling, TSB, Ulster Bank, Virgin Money.
Where is Revolut not accepted? ›
Countries we do not support payments in include but are not limited to: Belarus, Crimea, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Libya, Myanmar, Russia, Syrian Arab Republic, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe. Depending on your region, this list may not be exhaustive, and it's subject to change.
Revolut offers premium accounts with a monthly fee that offer higher limits for fee-free transactions. While Wise can facilitate foreign exchange transactions in 40 currencies and operates in 160 countries, Revolut can send money in 70 currencies to 160 countries, according to their respective websites.
Which currency does Revolut use first? ›
The card selects which balance to use in the following order: *The local currency of the merchant/ATM e.g. if you are in Spain, it will deduct funds from your Euro balance. *Your base currency - i.e. if you used a UK address to sign-up, your base currency will be GBP. *Your largest balance.
What currencies can Revolut merchants use? ›
When you request payment by Payment Links, Invoices, or use our plug-ins or API integration to accept payments, you can take: Debit or credit card, Google Pay or Apple Pay in following currencies: AUD, CAD, CHF, CZK, DKK, EUR, GBP, HKD, HUF, ILS, JPY, MXN, NOK, NZD, PLN, RON, SEK, SGD, TRY, USD and ZAR.
Does Revolut use Zelle? ›
Welcome to our community. Currently, it's not possible to use Zelle App with the Revolut account. But please don't worry about it as we always try to streamline our products.
Is Revolut FDIC insured? ›
Money in your Revolut acount is held at Metropolitan Commercial Bank and money in your Savings Vaults is held at Sutton Bank. Money at each bank is FDIC insured up to $250,000 in the event of Metropolitan Commercial Bank's or Sutton Bank's failure.
Does Revolut work with a US bank account? ›
Payments and Cards
Bank Transfers: Revolut users can send a transfer directly to both domestic and international bank accounts.
Can you use Revolut for foreign currency? ›
You can calculate conversions for most major currencies with our currency converter, and send money to 160+ countries using Revolut. You can also exchange 36 currencies in-app, and hold these currencies directly in your account. Looking for a good way to spend during your next trip away?
Does Revolut have no foreign transaction fee? ›
2. Fee-free spending: With Revolut, you can make payments in over 130 currencies without incurring any additional fees. This means that when you spend overseas, you'll get great value without worrying about excessive fees or markups.
Is Monzo or Revolut better for currency exchange? ›
Exchange rate
If you exceed this, Revolut comes in cheaper with a 2% fee compared to 3% with Monzo. Revolut uses the Interbank exchange rate when exchanging money abroad compared to the Mastercard rate that Monzo uses. The rates are very similar and can vary.
Why can't I exchange money on Revolut? ›
Daily exchange limit
For security reasons we limit the amount of exchanges/orders to 30 in a 24-hour period. If an order is triggered and you have exceeded this limit, it will fail and you will need to wait for the next day before creating a new one.
