If you are looking for a cross-border payment solution that can help you optimise your finances as a digital nomad, Revolut is a multicurrency account with a free virtual debit card that is a great travel companion, as you can exchange money at the real market rate, commission free.
The Revolut card itself is a prepaid Mastercard that is specifically designed for those who travel often. Offering international bank transfers and spending abroad with low overhead fees, the goal of Revolut is to enable users to manage their entire financial life within a single app, regardless of where they are living. From everyday spending to budgeting, to foreign currency exchange, to investing in stocks, gold and crypto and more. You can combine the use of the card with the app itself to optimise your fiscal management from anywhere in the world.
There are 3 different plans that you can sign up for with Revolut:
– Standard
– Premium
– Metal
While the Standard is free, the Premium and Metal accounts come with a monthly charge but additional features and extended limits.
While it may appear that the Revolut card is just another digital debit card linked to a multi-currency account these days, there are benefits that can allow you to use your Revolut card more flexibly overseas than other types of cards.
#1 No Forex Markup
With Revolut, you can purchase currencies with your Singapore dollars with no exchange fees up to S$5,000 with the Standard plan, and at the interbank exchange rate. There is a fee of 0.5% for exchanging more than S$5,000 and markup on certain currencies (such as Thai Baht) and on weekends (additional 1%, and 2% for Thai Baht). If you exchange currencies during the week (Monday through Friday) there isn’t a markup on the currencies except for Thai Baht. This is in addition to the 0.5% fee for exchanging more than S$5,000 in a month.
If you do exchange money on the weekends (Saturday to Sunday London time) then the markup on their currencies is as follows:
– An additional 0.5% on all major currencies
– An additional 1% markup on Thai Baht, which equates to a 2% markup in total
| Fees During London Forex Market Hours | ||
| Standard Plan | High-frequency Standard Plan Customers | |
| THB, UAH | 1.0% | 1.5% |
| USD, GBP, EUR, AUD, CAD, NZD, CHF, JPY, SEK, HKD, NOK, SGD, DKK, PLN and CZK | 0% | 0.5% |
| Any other currency not listed above | 0% | 0.5% |
| Fees Outside London Forex Market Hours | ||
| THB | 2% | 2.5% |
| USD, GBP, EUR, AUD, CAD, NZD, CHF, JPY, SEK, HKD, NOK, SGD, DKK, PLN and CZK | 0.5% | 1.0% |
| Any other currency not listed above | 1.0% | 1.5% |
This is one of Revolut Card’s major advantages; you get to spend fee-free at the inter-bank rate in 200+ countries. Usually when you spend abroad, you get hit with transaction fees and hidden charges. Not when you use a Revolut card. It’s as transparent as it gets.
One thing to be aware of is the fact that if you make a currency exchange during the weekend, you’ll be charged a markup. And that’s because the internet rate is always fluctuating and may not be the same on a Monday as it wasn’t looking at this Friday.
Also, keep in mind that card payments, ATM withdrawals and money transfers may rely on the currency exchange when you are overseas and thus have the weekend markup that applies in all of these cases. Now, if you don’t want to pay in these charges in advance, just withdraw cash on a weekday and you can save yourself some money.
#2 Free Overseas ATM Withdrawals
Revolut lets you take out cash from any ATM abroad that accepts Visa or Mastercard. You can find the relevant ATMs that are near you via the Revolut app: Hub>ATMs.
Cash withdrawals are free up to the currency-equivalent of S$350 per month and then have a 2% charge after that with a Standard account. If you upgrade your Revolut account to Premium or Metal, you can raise your free withdrawal amounts to S$700 or S$1050, respectively.
While Revolut can have free cash-withdrawals from its account, that doesn’t guarantee the whole transaction will be free. Remember to keep in mind that certain local ATM operators may impose their own fees as well.
Do take note that you will also not be able to withdraw cash from your Revolut card in Singapore (yet).
#3 Optimise Your Finances With Revolut Analytics
You can use the analytics feature on the Revolut mobile app paired with your card to help you to track your spending, and you can do that by category. If you’ve spent your funds in more than one country, you can create different payment streams and you can also split the bill with different friends.
This is perfect for digital nomads, who are constantly on the move and may not have time to sit down every day to plan out their budget. Having the Revolut card integrated with a budget tracker allows you to keep track of your finances abroad without having to key in every transaction you made.
You can also organise all your online subscriptions, for both work and entertainment, via your Revolut app. What’s even better is that you can simply set a reminder for your payments (in various currencies), so you never miss a payment again, get hit with a late charge or have your subscription terminated. You can also block unwanted subscriptions by blocking future payments from your Revolut app.
With a $0 Monthly Fee, $0 ATM Fee, 0.5% Currency Conversion Fee for most currencies with the standard account, the Revolut card is one of the most Revolut-ionary cards out there for digital nomads. You can apply here for a FREE Revolut card today.
Moreover, you can now also invest in US stocks, commodities such as gold, silver and precious metals, and cryptocurrencies all from your Revolut app today. Commissions fees are also competitive. For a digital nomad, getting to manage one more aspect of your life within a single app can your life even simpler.
This article was first published on 30 January 2021 and updated with new information. This article contains affiliate links. DollarsAndSense may receive a share of the revenue from your sign-ups that goes towards keeping the site sustainable. You can find out more about our editorial policy here.
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