Which scores better when comparing CurrencyFair vs Revolut? See how each provider scores and who wins when comparing their services, fees, supported countries and customer service.
CurrencyFair
Overall score:
67
67
Revolut
Overall score:
56
56
Personal Features
Business Benefits
Fees & Exchange Rates
Ease of Use
Support & Countries
Trust & Transparency
38
38
CurrencyFair for individual customers offers a range of services beyond just international money transfer. CurrencyFair adds to their service offering for individuals on a regular basis. Currently they offer only online international money transfer features.
50
50
Revolut provides digital banking and international money transfer services for personal customers from different countries.
44
44
Along with features for personal accounts, Currencyfair offers business customer benefits although there are gaps to their offering. iCompareFX keeps in close contact with CurrencyFair management and Currencyfair’s scoring will be adjusted as new benefits are released.
56
56
Businesses signing up with Revolut can receive multiple benefits.
50
50
Exchange rate margin fee - Between 0.25% and 0.45% on top of the real exchange rate.
Transfer fee - Transferring out of CurrencyFair can cost €3 (currency equivalent).
International intermediary bank fees - Some currencies supported by CurrencyFair have the receiving account (the one you send your payment to), not in the home country of the currency. E.g. ZAR is located in London. This means that transferring ZAR to USD through CurrencyFair can attract an additional charge for the banks to send ZAR internationally. This can be up to US$20 currency equivalent. Currencies without local bank transfer payment support:
AED, CAD, HUF, NZD, USD, ZAR
Express deposit fee - In some countries, if you choose an express deposit or payment to CurrencyFair, it can be with an additional fee.
CurrencyFair free transfer offers - Yes! There are CurrencyFair coupons with up to 10 transfer fees free.
No. CurrencyFair exchange rate margin fees are non-negotiable with larger transfer sums.
12
12
When you use your Revolut card to make international transactions, you could benefit by getting existing interbank rates. Revolut fees depend on the type of account you open and where you live. As you will see to get the best out of Revolut for international transactions, you need to choose a monthly subscription plan to match your forecasted monthly international money transactions volume, and most importantly.. don't use Revolut on the weekends for currency conversions! Read on to see why…
| Region | Account type | Monthly subscription fee |
| The US | Standard | $0 |
| Premium | $9.99 | |
| Metal | $16.99 | |
| The UK | Standard | £0 |
| Premium | £6.99 | |
| Metal | £12.99 | |
| Australia | Standard | $0 |
| Premium | $10.99 | |
| Metal | $24.99 |
Fees for ATM withdrawals
| Account type | Fees |
| Standard | No fee up to $300 per month, then a 2% fee applies. |
| Premium | No fee up to $600 per month, then a 2% fee applies. |
| Metal | No fee up to $1,200 per month, then a 2% fee applies. |
| Account type | Fees |
| Standard | No fee up to $6,500 per month, then a 0.5% exchange rate margin applies. |
| Premium | No fee up to $20,000 per month, then a 0.5% exchange rate margin applies. |
| Metal | Unlimited free transfers. |
For example, you have an Australian Revolut account but have a USD balance. You may have converted your AUD balance to USD and are holding it in your Revolut multi-currency account. Since early 2021, a new fee is applied. The fee for same currency international money transfers from your Revolut account to a non-Revolut bank account is 0.3% of the transfer amount. The minimum charge is $0.30 and the maximum charge is $8.
Same currency transfers between Revolut customers internationally still does not cost anything.
Revolut provides interbank exchange rates when processing international money transfers involving major currencies, provided they fall within a customer's monthly allowance limit. Transfers that involve THB (Thailand) and UAH Ukraine) come with markups, as do cryptocurrency exchanges. The markup depends on the type of account you hold.
Fees for foreign exchange outside market hours (weekends)
| High-frequency Standard customers | Premium customers | Metal customers | |
| Major currencies | 1% | 1% | 1% |
| THB and UAH | 1.5% | 2% | 2% |
| Cryptocurrencies | 3% | 1.5% | 1.5% |
Using Revolut on the weekend (GMT), incurs high exchange rate fees of 1%. This is not highlighted very well when signing up and can mean surprise costs for weekend international travellers or travellers on extended trips.
iCompareFX Top Tip: It pays to not use Revolut on the weekends!
You don't have to pay any fees to receive money into your Revolut multi-currency accounts. However, the sender might need to pay intermediary bank fees. For example, a sender transferring EUR from Ireland into your EUR-denominated account in the UK might still need to pay intermediary bank fees. This is because the multi-currency accounts offered by Revolut are physically located in the UK.
83
83
CurrencyFair’s focus on customer service and user experience is of very high standards. Customer onboarding and service process management are clearly well thought out and wrapped in great design.
Account registration - Fast and easy to follow wizard.
ID verification - ID checks can be completed within 24 hours. Sometimes instantaneously with some countries. Proof of ID can be uploaded directly within the CurrencyFair app. Use your phone to take photos of ID and upload with ease.
Transfer speed - 1 - 2 business days upon receipt of payment.
Payment options - There are local bank transfer, local country payment solutions (e.g. BPay), debit card and express deposits available in some countries.
CurrencyFair mobile app - A very well designed Android and Apple mobile app. Very easy to use. New features are added regularly.
Minimum transfer amount - €8 equivalent.
71
71
Sign up process - Create a new account with ease by using the Revolut app.
Payment options - Bank account transfers, debit cards and credit cards..
Apple Pay and Google Pay - Link your Revolut account to Apple Pay or Google Pay to make fast and easy payments.
Mobile app - Available for iOS and Android.
Website access - Customers can not use the Revolut website to access their accounts or send money. They need to use the Revolut app.
56
56
Supported destination currencies - 21 currencies. AED, AUD, CAD, CHF, CZK, DKK, EUR, GBP, HKD, HUF, ILS, INR, NOK, NZD, PHP, PLN, SEK, SGD, THB, USD, ZAR.
International presence - CurrencyFair local offices can be found in Ireland, UK, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia.
Customer support - CurrencyFair’s customer support is very good. Local offices in Ireland and Australia provide 24/5 support.
Foreign language support - CurrencyFair’s website is available in English, French and German.
USA support - No support for US residents.
Local settlement accounts - Not all currencies support local bank transfer payments to CurrencyFair. This can mean higher fees by intermediary banks. (Read more in the CurrencyFair fees section).
CurrencyFair payment bank accounts - These have changed with some frequency. This can cause customer confusion and time while funds are paid to the wrong banks.
50
50
Supported currencies for transfers - Use Revolut to send money in 28 currencies.
Customer support - Local phone support in different countries and 24/7 chat support.
Supported registration countries - Revolut can improve by increasing the number of registration countries outside of Europe.
69
69
Regulated by - CurrencyFair is regulated by ASIC Australia and the Central Bank of Ireland.
TrustPilot - A rating of Excellent by TrustPilot. CurrencyFair monitors TrustPilot for negative reviews. They respond publicly and work diligently to correct legitimate customer complaints.
iCompareFX visitors - Customers referred by iCompareFX make thousands of transactions with CurrencyFair yearly.
CurrencyFair has low and very competitive exchange rate margin fees. There is no need to not be completely transparent. iCompareFX believes that showing the real time exchange rate and the margin fee clearly within their money transfer wizard would result in a more positive customer experience.
44
44
Addressing customer complaints - Some Revolut reviews on Trustpilot mention customers' accounts being locked and their money going missing. Quick resolution of such complaints would work well in increasing trust levels.
WinnerBoth CurrencyFair and Revolut offer personal and business services, with Revolut getting higher scores in both these categories, but CurrencyFair still won overall. The reason is due to their cheaper fees and exchange rates plus their ease of use such as sign up process and transfer speeds. Although less of a difference across the Support and Countries section, CurrencyFair was a clear winner yet again across trust and transparency.
