Upheld: Service failures generally complaint against Revolut Ltd

Decision detail

Summary

Mr A complained that Revolut was not transparent about fees and failed to provide an option to send an international payment in GBP, resulting in unnecessary currency conversion losses of £426. When Mr A contacted Revolut for help making the transfer, he was advised he could select GBP as the currency, but the app did not provide this option and automatically converted his funds to CHF. The funds were subsequently converted back to GBP at the recipient bank, causing Mr A to receive significantly less than expected. Revolut's own international transfer expert later discovered an alternative payment method that would have allowed GBP transfers. The ombudsman upheld the complaint, finding Revolut failed to investigate fully and advise Mr A properly about available payment options, and ordered reimbursement of £426 in currency conversion losses plus £50 compensation.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that despite Mr A clearly expressing his wish to send funds in GBP and following Revolut's instructions, he was not given the option to select GBP as the sending currency. The funds were automatically converted to CHF, and when converted back to GBP at the recipient bank, Mr A suffered losses due to exchange rate fluctuations. Revolut's own international transfer expert later discovered an alternative payment method that would have allowed GBP transfers. The ombudsman concluded that Revolut failed to investigate the issue fully and advise Mr A properly about the different payment options available, resulting in the unnecessary currency conversion and financial loss.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website