Why 30,000 Aussies are obsessed with this UK money app
Popular UK-based budgeting and personal finances app Revolut has officially launched in Australia.
Revolut, which touts itself as a “financial superapp” and “one app for all things money”, launched in 2015 and offers money transfer and exchange services, as well as budgeting services that let you view your cash flow.
The app has amassed a global following, with more than 12 million customers across 35 countries.
Revolut has been available in testing mode in Australia since mid-2015 for a limited number of customers, but now available for any Australian to download and use.
The app’s features let you transfer and hold up to 27 foreign currencies without any exchange mark-up or hidden fees and allows you to instantly transfer local and international friends.
You can also split bills and request money, similar to the Beem It app, and it helps you budget and categorise your spending with instant notifications.
Other features include a one-use virtual Visa card for extra security, vaults that let you round up your payments and save, as well as card security that lets you temporarily freeze cards or toggle swipe, contactless or online transactions.
The app is available in a Standard plan (free), a Premium plan ($10.99 per month) or a ‘Metal’ plan, which is $19.99 per month, down from the usual $29.99 per month. Premium and Metal plans come with particular perks, such as priority customer support and free lounge passes for yourself or a friend on delayed flights.
However, note that Revolut doesn’t have a full banking license in Australia, so its Metal card isn’t a debit card.
Before officially launching, 30,000 Australians had added themselves to the app’s waitlist, with an additional 25,000 Australians already using the beta version.
Revolut Australia CEO Matt Baxby said the aim was to have a single app that would let Aussies take care of their finances in one place.
“There are so many existing financial products that are either too complicated or inaccessible for Australians and we want to break that down and put the power back into our customers’ hands,” he said.
The app is available on Apple’s App Store or the Google Play Store.
Other popular budgeting apps include Pocketbook and MoneyBrilliant, while Raiz (formerly Acorns) is a popular micro-investing app. TransferWise also lets you transfer money to over 55 currencies at affordable rates.
Some of Australia’s newest players in the banking industry include Up Bank, 86,400, Volt and Xinja bank, many of which offer similar budgeting and savings features.
Note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that 300,000 people were on the waiting list. This has since been corrected.
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