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 allow users to manage their entire financial life from a single app, regardless of where they are living. From everyday spending to budgeting, to foreign currency exchange, 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.
Read Also: Complete Guide To Getting A Digital Nomad Visa In Japan
#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 $15,000 with the Premium plan, and at the interbank exchange rate. There is a fee of 1% for exchanging more than S$5,000 on the Standard plan, and a fee of 0.5% for more than $15,000 on the Premium plan.
If you do exchange money on the weekends (Saturday to Sunday London time) then there will be an additional 1.0% fee for all currencies.
This is one of Revolut Card’s major advantages; you get to spend fee-free at the inter-bank rate in 150 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 takes Visa or Mastercard. 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.
#3 Optimise Your Finances With Revolut Analytics
Source: Revolut
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.
This article was first published on 30 January 2021 and has been updated with the latest information.
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