When opening a business account, entrepreneurs are typically looking for three things: fast transactions, low fees, and an array of payment methods they can offer to their customers.
Revolut Bank — the challenger bank which has established itself as a competitor to established banks — could tick all of these boxes, especially if you have clients abroad and deal in foreign currencies.
Revolut says 10,000 new businesses join its platform every month, and one of its key features is cheap foreign exchange and money transfer rates. Traditional financial institutions sometimes impose punishing exchange rates and conversion fees when switching dollars and euros into pounds, but this fintech brand claims to offer market-beating terms.
Here, we'll explain how to open a Revolut business account, explore the pricing plans available based on your company's size, and reveal some of the clever features it offers to help you cut down on admin.
While Revolut is clearly one of the top players when it comes to business bank accounts, it's worth mentioning that it doesn't have a UK banking licence. This means it is not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) but it does have other protections in place for customer accounts and cash.
Open a Revolut Account
Speed and simplicity are championed as two of Revolut's biggest selling points, and the company says new business accounts can be up and running in minutes.
Once you're on the website or app, you will first need to join as a limited company or as a sole trader. For the purposes of this guide, we'll assume you're opening a corporate account. Here are the steps you need to follow:
1. Confirm which country your company is incorporated in.
2. Enter your email address, and type in the confirmation code you receive.
3. Go through the process again, this time with your phone number.
4. Set up a secure password that has numbers, letters and special characters.
5. Confirm your full name as it appears on your ID, as well as your date of birth and your home address (not your place of business, that comes later).
6. Search for your business's legal name, as shown on the Companies House register. It should pop up automatically — complete with your registration number, date of incorporation and official address.
7. Disclose whether you're the only director and significant shareholder in the company, or others have an ownership stake of more than 25% in the business.
Getting set up
Once all of these formalities are out of the way, there are a few additional things you'll need to verify before your Revolut business account is activated.
They include:
Personal identity
- A copy of your British passport or driving licence
- Submitting a video selfie
Business details
- The 10-digit Unique Taxpayer Reference your business uses to pay corporation tax
Nature of business
- Which industry does your company operate in
- A short description of the goods and services you offer
- How many employees do you have
- Whether you trade with individuals or businesses
- How products or services are sold, such as in-store or online
- Your company's annual turnover
- An estimate of how much money you'll send from your business account each month
- What do you intend to use Revolut Business for
NOTE: There are several industries that aren't eligible for opening a Revolut business account. They include crypto firms, dating services, holding companies and tobacco manufacturers. You can find a full list of prohibited sectors here.
Some of these forms may not be verified immediately. In some circumstances, they'll need to be checked by a member of Revolut's team. If you've been waiting for more than a week, the bank says you can follow up with their support team for an update.
How much does Revolut Business cost?
Revolut Business offers four pricing plans to entrepreneurs — and typically, the most expensive monthly subscriptions are geared towards larger companies.
They are:
| Plan type | Price |
| Basic | Free |
| Grow | From £19 a month |
| Scale | From £79 a month |
| Enterprise | £250 to £750 a month |
Bigger businesses are able to customise pricing plans based on their needs. For example, if you'll need more of one feature and less of another, Revolut's team can adjust allowances and fees accordingly. This means the cost of an Enterprise account can fluctuate. Let's take a look at the benefits associated with each tier:
- Basic: Five no-fee local transfers, account details for GBP transfers, SWIFT account details for global transactions, fee-free transfers to other Revolut accounts, hold and exchange over 25 currencies, virtual and physical payment cards for team members.
- Grow: Five no-fee international transfers, 100 no-fee local transfers, £10,000 currency exchange at interbank rates, 2.25% AER on up to £500,000 in savings, free metal card.
- Scale: 25 no-fee international transfers, 1,000 no-fee local transfers, £50,000 currency exchange at interbank rates, 2.75% AER on up to £1m in savings, two free metal cards.
- Enterprise: 50 no-fee international transfers, 1,000 no-fee local transfers, £250,000 currency exchange at interbank rates, 3.51% AER on up to £2m in savings, four free metal cards.
As you can see, some of the biggest points of difference surround how many free local and international transfers you'll receive, interest on savings, and access to forex markets. By carefully considering your company's needs, you'll be able to keep costs low.
There are some features that all Revolut business accounts offer — irrespective of the pricing plan you select — including:
- Bulk payments for up to 1,000 payees simultaneously
- Recurring and scheduled transactions for bills and salaries
- Instant and free transfers to other Revolut accounts
- Limit and stop orders when buying and selling foreign currencies
- Unlimited accounts for team members, with customised permissions
- Expenses approval
Payment options via Revolut — and their cost
All Revolut business accounts can offer the following payment options to customers — reducing friction and ensuring bills are settled faster:
- Payments via the web: Revolut's infrastructure can be integrated into the checkout page on your company's website.
- Payment links and QR codes: For customers who aren't on Revolut, this offers a simple and secure environment when paying for goods and services.
- Customised invoices: Itemised bills complete with your company's logo and branding can be created, with tracking to chase up outstanding invoices.
- Physical card reader: If you've got a brick-and-mortar business, you can purchase a Revolut Reader for a flat fee of £49. This allows you to access Chip and PIN payments, contactless transactions, sales analytics, tipping, and next-day access to funds.
- Tap to Pay on iPhone: This feature transforms your smartphone into a point-of-sale device — ideal if you're an entrepreneur who is constantly on the move.
While Revolut does accept major credit and debit cards from the likes of Visa and Mastercard, they are subject to transaction fees.
Here's a breakdown:
| Payment method | Fee |
| Revolut-to-Revolut | 1% + 20p |
| Online card payments using a British Visa or Mastercard | 1% + 20p |
| Online card payments using an international Visa or Mastercard | 2.8% + 20p |
| In-person card payments using a British Visa or Mastercard | 0.8% + 2p |
| In-person card payments using an international Visa or Mastercard | 2.6% + 2p |
| Instant bank payments | 1% + 20p |
To put this into context, the cheapest payment method available would result in fees of £1.20 for a £100 transaction… rising to £3 if an internationally issued Visa or Mastercard is used online.
Revolut Business Features
In a competitive marketplace, Revolut says it offers several perks that reduce admin for bosses — allowing their businesses to run more smoothly.
They include:
- Physical and virtual debit cards: Company owners can set up cards with limits on how and where they can be used — ideal for keeping projects under budget. Employees are reminded to submit receipts so expenses can be tracked.
- Permissions for staff members: Revolut allows your employees to have varying levels of access within the banking app. While some may be allowed to see which transactions have previously taken place, others will have the ability to make payments themselves.
- Integrations with accounting apps: Raw data from Revolut business accounts can be instantly exported to tools like QuickBooks and Xero.
- Protection against currency volatility: Fluctuations in the forex markets can have a huge impact on the bottom line of businesses with razor-thin margins. Revolut enables future rates to be locked in for 12 months, with limits of up to £15m.
In conclusion…
Revolut Business accounts are ideal for online merchants with an international clientele. Given how some banks charge high fees for cross-border transfers — with funds taking days to arrive — Revolut's business model can boost cash flow and profitability.
The levels of flexibility offered to entrepreneurs through these accounts, in addition to mobile banking through an intuitive app, cut the amount of time it takes to manage your company finances.
And as a company grows into international markets, more advanced features can be unlocked — with Revolut saying it allows account holders to “receive euros like a local”. This can be especially useful if you open new premises abroad.
Revolut says it is “tried, tested and trusted by hundreds of thousands of businesses” worldwide, with slick payments that make the right impression with customers.
