To soften the blow, it will be adding new perks such as free lifestyle subscriptions including ClassPass, Deliveroo Plus, Headspace and Tinder Plus.
Revolut launched in 2015 with an aim to shake up the travel exchange market, and it now has almost eight million customers in the UK.
Here, Which? explains how prices are changing and whether the accounts are still worth going for.
What do Revolut accounts offer?
Revolut currently offers five accounts – Standard, Plus, Premium, Metal and Ultra – all of which come with a prepaid Mastercard that lets you spend abroad in over 150 currencies and exchange money in 30+ currencies.
The standard account is free to use but restricts you to £1,000 of fee-free exchanges, and you can withdraw £200 at an ATM (or five withdrawals in total, whichever comes first).
The Plus also offers ‘everyday protection insurance’, which covers cancelled UK event tickets and theft or accidental damage to goods you pay for using your card up to £1,000.
The Premium and Metal accounts offer unlimited currency exchange between Monday to Friday, more generous cash withdrawal limits, discounts on international money transfers and global travel insurance.
The Ultra account is the most expensive coming in at £45 a month and gives you all of the above including unlimited airport lounge access, free international transfers, trip or event cancellation insurance and access to a range of subscriptions.
Find out moreNew Revolut prices 2023
Revolut will be increasing the prices of its Plus, Premium and Metal accounts.
If you have one of these accounts you’ll receive an email notifying you of the change in price and when it will take effect.
If you currently pay monthly, you can lock in the existing cheaper rate by switching to annual billing before the date given in your email.
Revolut said you can also downgrade your plan for free until the price change is implemented if you don’t want to pay the higher fees.
New lifestyle perks
Premium and Metal plan holders will now benefit from bundled subscriptions for news, wellbeing, fitness and productivity.
It includes ClassPass, Deliveroo Plus Silver, Financial Times, Freeletics, Headspace, Sleep Cycle, NordVPN, Picsart and Tinder Plus.
Members with a Plus account will have their fee-free exchange limit increased to £3,000 from £1,000.
Find out moreWhy are the prices going up?
Revolut didn’t give a reason why prices had gone up, but it said adding subscriptions to its plans would give customers better value and convenience.
It said according to its own data, its customers spend over £17m per month on subscriptions for digital goods, and its new offering will help them save.
Although Ultra prices aren't changing for now, Revolut said additional benefits would come in due course.
Is it worth it?
Metal customers will face the biggest increase of £2 more a month, or an extra £20 if they are billed yearly.
Premium customers face paying an extra £1 per month, or £8 if they pay annually.
Both Metal and Premium customers will get access to the subscription bundle to soften the blow, so if you already subscribe to a few of these, you can save money – provided you remember to cancel your existing subscriptions.
For example, a monthly subscription to meditation and mindfulness app Headspace costs £9.99 a month, or £49.99 a year. If you already have this, and can now access it through your Revolut subscription, that would be a monthly saving of £7.99 (£9.99 minus £2) compared to what you currently pay.
That said, if you don’t use any of the subscriptions you may wish to downgrade your plan to avoid the hikes.
Members with a Plus account also face an increase of £2 or £10.01 a year, but will not get access to the subscription bundles. Instead, they will only see their fee-free exchange limit improved. So if this isn't enough of a benefit to you, again you may want to downgrade.
Is Revolut a good provider?
Revolut achieved a customer score of 76% in our survey of the best banks in 2023.
Customers rated it highly for the application process, online banking and its app. It scored three stars out of five for its customer service and how it deals with complaints.
It’s also worth pointing out that Revolut operates under an e-money licence in the UK (despite having a Lithuanian banking licence) so your money is not protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). However, your money is held in ring-fenced client accounts with a bank, which means your money can't be lent out by Revolut. In the event of an insolvency, you would be able to claim your funds from this segregated account.
Find out more:What are the alternatives?
If you were attracted to Revolut because of the perks like travel insurance and subscriptions, you might want to check what you can get with a packaged bank account.
The Nationwide FlexPlus account (£13 a month) is a Which? Best Buy and comes with top policy scores for mobile insurance and breakdown cover. It also offers fee-free cash withdrawals and spending abroad.
Find out more:source https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/revolut-hikes-prices-on-some-paid-accounts-are-they-still-worth-it-aZEI54b3Fn79