Revolut clients can now deposit money into accounts… however at a price

Revolut customers will now be able to deposit cash into their accounts at over 12,000 shops and retailers around the UK.

Revolut, which was granted a UK banking licence yesterday, has launched a cash deposit option for its 9million UK customers, though this is subject to limits and fees. 

Customers will be able to deposit cash directly into their Revolut account at participating supermarkets, newsagents and petrol stations, which could include shops such as WHSmith, Revolut confirmed.

It comes after the CrowdStrike outage halted some card payments last week, and the Financial Conduct Authority introduced new rules to protect cash access and usage.

Cash is back: Revolut has launched a cash deposit option for customers. They will be able to deposit cash at 12,000 retailers

Under the new rules, banks and building societies must weigh up whether local communities lack access to cash services, like branches and ATMs, and provide additional services where they find ‘significant gaps’. 

Some 1.5million adults used cash as their main spending method last year, according to new UK Finance data – the first rise since 2019. 

It says this can be attributed to the cost of living crisis, with more people choosing cash to budget. Just 900,000 used coins and notes as their primary spending method in 2022.

Revolut’s cash deposits service will be provided in partnership with global payments platform Paysafe.

Revolut plans to start with 12,000 locations and gradually roll out more in the coming months ‘subject to fees and limits’, the neobank said.

The launch comes as 71 per cent of Revolut customers deposited cash with a bank or other financial institution in the last year, as well as 34 per cent who wanted a feature to be able to deposit cash monthly. 

How much will it cost to deposit cash with Revolut?

Depositing cash with Revolut will come with a charge on everything above the first £100 deposited. 

Customers can deposit their first £100 free from any charges, but any amount deposited after this will be levied with a fee of 1.5 per cent. 

Cash deposits start from a minimum of £10 and a maximum of £500 per transaction, with a daily cap of £750. 

Customers can deposit a total of £2,250 a month in cash, while the yearly limit is set at £10,000.

A customer depositing £750 cash into their Revolut account in this way would pay £11.25 in fees, receiving £738.75 in their account, as the fees are taken from the deposited amount.

Most banks do not charge personal current account holders for making cash deposits, while there is a charge for business accounts making cash deposits. NatWest for example charges business accounts 70p per £100 deposited and a 70p ‘manual fee’ per item deposited.

Amdrew Hagger, founder of website MoneyComms said: ‘I’m not aware that any banks currently charge personal customers for paying in cash.’

How to deposit cash with Revolut

To deposit cash with Revolut, Customers need to open their Revolut app, click ‘Add money’ on their home screen and change their selected mode to the ‘Deposit cash’ option.

Customers will then need to agree to Paysafe’s terms and conditions as well as opening or allowing geolocation sharing, to find to the nearest partner store which accepts cash deposits.

After inserting the amount customers want to add, the app will generate a time-sensitive barcode valid for thirty minutes. This barcode can be scanned at any of the retail partners.

Once the barcode is scanned by the cashier and the customer pays the amount in cash, customers will receive the funds in their accounts within ten minutes. The 1.5 per cent fee will be deducted from the deposited amount.

Gabor Hava, head of core payments at Revolut said: ‘With such a high demand for cash deposits among our customers, Revolut is pleased to bridge another product request of our customers and help those with cash to get access to modern digital financial services.

‘Our cash deposit solution meets clients’ real needs: by partnering with an industry expert like Paysafe, we are now able to offer a fast, simple to use and compliant service that will allow thousands of people to deposit cash into Revolut from different locations and exchange currencies in app to make transfers to family and friends in other countries.

‘This launch will provide a greater level of confidence for all those who have not considered digital financial services yet.’