For more than a year I have been using Revolut, a versatile financial app with which you can manage, save, pay, invest and budget from your iPhone. For me, the main reason to make the switch was the modern functions and the convenience of paying in different currencies.
Traditional Dutch banks often lag behind innovative functions. Stuck IT systems and slow internal processes ensure that innovation is usually not forthcoming. Are you looking for a modern banking experience with a Dutch IBAN, a smart app and handy automated tools? Then Revolut is an excellent choice.
Contactless payment
For many Dutch people, contactless payment has since become the standard. With the arrival of modern fintech services such as Revolut in combination with Apple Pay, paying at home and abroad is even easier. Revolut not only offers flexible bills with favorable exchange rates, but also gives users the opportunity to pay at lightning speed with their iPhone or Apple Watch. Of course this is not new; After all, many banks support the use of Apple Pay, but Revolut goes one step further.
Revolut and Apple Pay in the Netherlands
Thanks to the full support of Apple Pay you can add your Revolut Mastercard or Visa to the Wallet app on your iPhone with a few taps. From that moment your device works as a means of payment in every store with an NFC payment terminal. It doesn’t matter if you have brought a physical revolut card: your iPhone or Apple Watch is enough. This gives extra safety because your payments are being protected with Face ID or Touch ID.
Multiple free tickets
With Revolut you can create and manage multiple credit and debit cards for free, and then simply link them to Apple Pay. This gives a lot of flexibility, especially when you often travel or need different payment networks.
In the Revolut app you can choose from both MasterCard and Visa cards. You get a physical card as standard, but you can also create several virtual cards. For example, you can:
- Use a (physical) mastercard for your daily payments.
- Create an extra virtual visa card for online purchases.
- Set extra virtual cards for safety, which you can easily remove or replace after use.
Pay abroad
One of the biggest benefits of Revolut is really going on a journey. Traditional banks often charge high allowances for payments in foreign currency or with money recordings. Revolut, on the other hand, uses affordable exchange rates, low or no extra costs. Add the speed of Apple Pay and you pay just as simple as at home abroad.
Affordable currency
The main reason for me was it easy and affordable execution of currency rabbing. By traveling to Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia and Singapore, I was looking for a solution for all that strange currency.
You can easily create a currency bill and all payments are made directly from this account. This gives you a better insight into your foreign expenses and you do not pay for every transaction costs. Depending on your plan, you can even change unlimited money to different currencies without extra costs. With the standard free plan you have a (at the time of writing) limit € 1,000/month. This means that you can exchange 1000 euros free of charge to a strange currency, ideal for traveling!
More about Revolut
Revolut is a fintech company in the financial sector that uses innovative technology to make financial services faster, easier and more user -friendly. Their services are fully digital and are offered through a user -friendly app, without physical bank branches. This allows you to easily manage money, pay and invest international, all faster and cheaper than with traditional banks. You can read more about my experiences with Revolut and other interesting details in this article about Revolut.
Dutch IBAN account number
On the financial market there are several companies that only offer online banking through an app. The biggest disadvantage is that you often get an account number from the country of origin. This is not the case with Revolut. You receive a personal Dutch IBAN number, so you can easily receive and transfer money like any other Dutch bank. In addition, your balance, just like with the traditional banks, is protected by the European deposit guarantee system: if Revolut Bank would unexpectedly get into trouble, your money was guaranteed up to € 100,000 per person.
Belgian account number at Revolut
Revolut has also started issuing Belgian IBAN account numbers (BE-IBAN) to customers in Belgium since 2025. When opening their account, new customers immediately receive a Belgian account number that starts with “Be”. Existing customers with a Lithuanian IBAN (LT) are gradually transferred to a Belgian IBAN; They automatically receive a message from Revolut as soon as the migration takes place for their account.
Trying Revolut for free
You can try Revolut for free and without simply creating an account and using the standard plan, for which there are no monthly costs. You are not tied to anything and you can cancel your account free of charge at any time or upgrade to a paid subscription.
- Download the Revolut app
- Take a free revolut into account
- Add money to your account
- Add the card to Apple Pay and starts paying immediately
- Order a physical card as a backup
Your money is protected
Revolut Bank UAB is a regulated bank, under the supervision of the Bank van Lithuania, the European Central Bank, and in the Netherlands of De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) and the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM). Your money is protected via Deposit guarantees and advanced security technologies.
This article originated from experiences with the Revolut app and offers no financial advice. This article contains information about financial services; Always read the conditions carefully and, if necessary, be advised by an independent expert before you make financial decisions.