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Revolut raises $500M at a $5.5B valuation

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Re: Revolut raises $500M at a $5.5B valuation

#151

Post by ilikerashers »

bkinnard wrote: post #135

I'm also very sceptical of that 10 million customers line. Do you think its just people that have opened an account with them at any point? I bet the DAU (a reasonable metric for someones main bank, especially in today's cashless society) is a very small percentage of that.

I just use it when abroad (my high street bank FX is terrible) so I might be one of those casual customers. The crypto and "premium" features don't interest me in the slightest.

I might be just outside the millennial target market though.

Re: Revolut raises $500M at a $5.5B valuation

#153

Post by angry_octet »

interfixus wrote: post #149
angry_octet wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You may soon discover (depending on your jurisdiction) that topping up is no longer an option, because your actual bank starts treating these transactions as cash advances, 3%-4% fee (and trashing your credit rating too). Revolut has been completely useless about this, and their chat teams are just there to waste your time. Multiple currencies and cheap exchange are great when you travel a lot, and virtual credit car…

>> You may soon discover (depending on your jurisdiction) that topping up is no longer an option, because your actual bank starts treating these transactions as cash advances, 3%-4% fee (and trashing your credit rating too) I may not. In fact, I have no idea what you mean by 'cash advance'. By HN standards I am pennyless, but wouldn't ever dream of spending or withdrawing money that I haven't got.

Calm down, I'm not saying you are poor. Banks have started treating top ups as cash advances, even when your account has a positive balance. This has logical sense because you can immediately withdraw that money as cash.

For some reason Revolut is unable or unwilling to support normal cash transfer mechanisms.

Re: Revolut raises $500M at a $5.5B valuation

#154

Post by ritz_labringue »

ValentineC wrote: post #107
mantap wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could say the same about Transferwise. Revolut is setting themselves up as a bank for millenials/gen Z. It is light years ahead of traditional banks in terms of user experience. Banks are a proven way of making money.

> It is light years ahead of traditional banks in terms of user experience. Their app experience is mostly stellar, but I wouldn't say the same of their support, and the fear that one's account would be locked because they hit some undisclosed limit. I haven't had to deal with TransferWise's support yet, but I've heard that it's one of the "better" ones.

If you pay for the premium/metal plan, the support is stellar as well (or at least, it has been for me)

Re: Revolut raises $500M at a $5.5B valuation

#155

Post by akrymski »

virgilp wrote: post #123
Aeolun wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

2% of all withdrawals?! WTF is this insanity. I thought it might be interesting for a bit, but never mind. Are they preying on people that live in countries without a working banking system?

Do you know many other banks that let you withdraw abroad for less? I mean, in Romania there are technically banks that give you zero-cost withdrawals abroad... but only because they figured they could shift that cost into the exchange rate and most people wouldn't notice (although it's far worse, now they charge you for online & offline payments too, not just ATM withdrawals!) Transferwise for instance (which was pr…

> Transferwise for instance (which was praised here) apparently charges you 1.25% to _add_ money to your account (USD)

That's if you're using a US debit card. They seem to charge a fixed fee of $5.34 to top up any amount of USD via wire transfer.

Re: Revolut raises $500M at a $5.5B valuation

#156

Post by interfixus »

angry_octet wrote: post #153
interfixus wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> You may soon discover (depending on your jurisdiction) that topping up is no longer an option, because your actual bank starts treating these transactions as cash advances, 3%-4% fee (and trashing your credit rating too) I may not. In fact, I have no idea what you mean by 'cash advance'. By HN standards I am pennyless, but wouldn't ever dream of spending or withdrawing money that I haven't got.

Calm down, I'm not saying you are poor. Banks have started treating top ups as cash advances, even when your account has a positive balance. This has logical sense because you can immediately withdraw that money as cash. For some reason Revolut is unable or unwilling to support normal cash transfer mechanisms.

Okay, this is news to me. But then, my bank is not a US one. There is no money in my account that I cannot immediately withdraw as cash. That is sort of the whole point of my bank account, except of course it's mandatory if I wish to receive wages for the job I perform...

Anyway, call me poor all you like. I actually am.

Re: Revolut raises $500M at a $5.5B valuation

#157

Post by iliaznk »

ascari wrote: post #9

I refused to interview with them due to their poor employment practises. A quick search reveals what's going on.

So did I. They gave me a home task, but after some googling and watching an interview with the founder I got an impression that the whole thing is a Ponzi scheme (in addition to the toxic environment and other negative things you can find about them), so I told them I changed my mind and would not proceed.

Re: Revolut raises $500M at a $5.5B valuation

#158

Post by virgilp »

akrymski wrote: post #155
virgilp wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you know many other banks that let you withdraw abroad for less? I mean, in Romania there are technically banks that give you zero-cost withdrawals abroad... but only because they figured they could shift that cost into the exchange rate and most people wouldn't notice (although it's far worse, now they charge you for online & offline payments too, not just ATM withdrawals!) Transferwise for instance (which was pr…

> Transferwise for instance (which was praised here) apparently charges you 1.25% to _add_ money to your account (USD) That's if you're using a US debit card. They seem to charge a fixed fee of $5.34 to top up any amount of USD via wire transfer.

> That's if you're using a US debit card

A USD debit card. Revolut also claims to charge US cards too (an undisclosed amount) but amazingly enough they charge me nothing for topup from my USD card (issued by Romanian bank)

The transferwise wire transfer fee is on top of SWIFT fees and whatever other fees your bank will charge you for USD. That's pure profit for them, there's no cost that justifies the fee.

Re: Revolut raises $500M at a $5.5B valuation

#159

Post by kashyapc »

thesimon wrote: post #6

Quite impressed with the valuation. Transferwise Borderless seems to have a better business model with sane prices and not "everything free". And Revolut still uses their e-money license instead of their proper Lithuanian banking license. Quite surprising.

TransferWise has a robust "no bovine manure" approach. I've used different kinds of services from them over four years, and they have been consistently excellent. I make sure to tell so whenever I talk to them, and politely make a note to not lose sight of the valuable things that customers are happy about (transparency, competent human support).

And I like it that they charge a decent price. I have a general allergy to "gratis services", especially in finance-related things.

Re: Revolut raises $500M at a $5.5B valuation

#160

Post by rchaud »

angry_octet wrote: post #132
thefounder wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> They're also prone to the start-upy customer service "minimalism" math. I have found their customer service to be very good. They respond within 2-3 minutes so I don't know what you could ask more. It's nothing like Paypal.

When you have a real problem with some aspect of Revolut their chat agents are not empowered to actually fix anything, they just follow a script. If the UI won't allow it, they can't help, and they won't escalate. The only path is to get your solicitor to send them a letter.

With a real bank, you can walk into a branch and speak with the person at the counter. The IRL dynamics alone make it much more likely that your issue will be addressed. That said, I use "traditional" banks and fortunately have not had issues that couldn't be resolved on the phone.
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