Fintech startup Revolut wants to foster usage in the U.S. with better free accounts. Like in other markets, Revolut offers both free and paid accounts in the U.S. When you pay for a subscription fee, you get higher fair usage caps and more features, such as insurance coverage and different card designs.
With today’s change, Revolut is making the free plan more attractive. When you open a Revolut account, you get your own account details and a free Revolut card. You can then send and receive money, spend with your card and access a wide range of financial products.
The company is upping the limit on free out-of-network ATM withdrawals. Before today, you could withdraw up to $300 per month without fees on Revolut’s side. After that, Revolut used to charge 2% in fees. All Revolut users can now withdraw up to $1,200 per month without fees. Again, those fees apply for out-of-network ATM withdrawals. Revolut also offers free in-network withdrawals at 55,000 ATMs.
Revolut is also becoming more attractive if you want to buy and sell cryptocurrencies. The company has partnered with Paxos for cryptocurrency trading in the U.S. Before today, users would pay 2.5% in conversion fees after exchanging $200.
Now, users can trade up to $200,000 per month without paying any commission. But there’s some spread — you don’t get the same exchange rate when you buy and sell cryptocurrencies.
One of Revolut’s key features is the ability to exchange currencies in the app. You can create different sub-accounts and hold money in several currencies. Revolut promises low exchange fees with a 0.5% markup fee once you go above the $1,000 fair usage limit for free Revolut accounts.
Additionally, Revolut charges a flat fee to send money to a foreign bank account. That fee encourages your friends and family to use Revolut as well, as you don’t pay it for Revolut-to-Revolut transfers.
But sometimes you have to send money to a foreign bank account. Premium users didn’t have to pay that flat fee for their first international transfer each month. Now, Revolut is waiving the flat fee on international transfers for up to 10 international transfers per month.
Finally, free Revolut users in the U.S. can create up to five Junior accounts. Those accounts targeted toward kids aged 7-17 feature an integration with the main Revolut app on the parent’s side. It makes it easier to manage allowance and give some flexibility to your children.
With today’s move, Revolut is adapting its product depending on market conditions. The company is competing with other fintech companies in the U.S., such as Chime or Robinhood. That’s why it’s important to attract all sorts of users, including users who don’t want to pay a subscription fee to use basic banking features.