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Anyone use it?

I opened an account basically to try and mitigate the hideous banking charges when transferring to Euro or TRY. We have a Turkish bank account which we use to pay our apartment bills etc and so I move GBP to TRY and transfer the money across to pay the bills and also allow us to withdraw TRY when over there on holiday for spending money. I last did this in September 2020 without issue.

I noticed that the rate was very favourable recently so exchanged some GBP and attempted to transfer money to our Turkish account, but got a flaky error message saying the beneficiary was no longer supported. Their online chat told me 'I checked with the relevant team and unfortunately, this beneficiary is no longer supported and it will not be possible to transfer money to this bank account. This is for internal security reasons and we will not be able to share all the logic behind it. I'm sorry for any problems this may cause you! Thank you for your understanding! Hope we can solve that and they are again available pretty soon, for now, we can not provide further details.' which is about as helpful as a kick up the arse.

I presume that Revolut have been flagged or something that they don't want to admit to me, but has anyone else experienced anything or know of any issues with Revolut?

I've used revolut for a while. Had no problems using the card in Spain, USA out Canada

was very useful when buying ifollow from abroad too.

But I don't have any advice or help. Just that revolt are a legit company

Cheers. I have no doubt at all they are legit. I just wondered if there was some regulatory reason why I could no longer transfer money that some of the more 'in the know' people might be aware of.

just to be clear, you have money in Turkish   on the card, and tried to put it into a Turkish account...

I'll ask a mate who may know

Yes that's correct. have money in TRY and trying to send to our Turkish Bank Account. Appreciate that Batch, DM if you need any other details.

I hate to mention it, but could the B word have some involvement here if you used in Sept 2020 but its not working now?

he's not sure Bob. Sounds simple like no agreement between revolut and your Turkish bank but not 100% sure.

I only found this, it should be possible

https://blog.revolut.com/swift-sepa-how-international-money-transfers-actually-work/

I was thinking that as it goes but didn't want to suggest it.

I use Wise to transfer money from our UK account to our bank in Spain.
It's really quick and very cheap, usually the transfer happens instantly and it costs around £2 in commission and you get the published exchange rate too..

It's the cheapest and most convenient way that I've found so far.

Cheers Batch.

I think that there must now be an issue between Revolut and our Turkish bank, possibly due to the B word, or maybe some other regulations or something. Hey Ho, will have to find another solution now by the looks of things.

Hey BO, hope you're all good?

I don't use Revolut but I do use both Starling and Uphold. Uphold is great for moving around between pretty much any currency (and other assets) for zero fees. They also have great off and on ramp options for moving into and out of your main connected accounts.

Starling have next to zero fees for spending but also charge very little for transfering money into an international account. It also allows you to use either SWIFT or the local network (which is much cheaper and nearly as quick). I know you're in banking so might be aware of this! For example I think the transfer fee is 0.4% and delivery fee to send money to a TRY account is just 30p when using the local network. Otherwise it's £5.50 using SWIFT. Rates are quite good too at around 11.2 TRY to the GBP.

Just a thought though. I know this isn't the same but could you not try sending the transfer to your TRY account in EUR? Since most Turkish accounts accept EUR (bit like in the UK really, we're not in the Eurozone but still in SEPA) too and the payment I assume would stay within the SEPA network. It might force it through is what I'm thinking as that connection may still be open?! Seeing as the messaging hasn't got to happen twice, in the same way as using other cross border currencies (other than ones in a common network or huge like USD) to transact with. It'll just treat it as EUR.

Probably doesn't make sense but also trying a different vendor (other than Revolut) might work and the ones stated above could be favourable. Especially Starling and you can start banking straight away as they give you a virtual card before your physical one arrives. Oh and you'll be able to withdraw/pay with TRY over there with them too in the same way you can with Revolut.

If no joy with Revolut on the EUR end, give Starling a bash!

Hope this, kind of helps and doesn't hinder :)

All good thanks Bamboo.

Funnily enough I was looking at Starling Bank earlier and will have a little deek at Uphold as well. (Initially it looks like they don't have TRY, get have all kinds of intergalactic crypto stuff!)

I hear what you are saying about SEPA and that makes sense, but I'm wary of transferring EUR to a Turkish bank as I'd end up with a raft of exchange fees the Turkish side. (they love a fee over there!) I have an open chat with Revolut as to whether there is a problem with Revolut to the Turkish Bank and depending on the result of that, will take a look at alternative options.

Bit annoying really as Revolut was working perfectly and I'd have to also check with Starling if they are able to send to the Turkish bank (perhaps the problem is with them?)

Cheers for the input though, its appreciated.

Yes wasn't too sure on Uphold, they have Argie Peso and other stuff so it's strange that TRY isn't listed. Maybe it will in future. It is still good for moving money around within the app though and then off ramping with whichever currency you've chosen.

Yeah, I see what you mean on the EUR/TRY end once in the account. Just wondering if the fees would be less so that end than this end. Which bank are you with? Is it Yapi Kredi as I've used them before and are quite good. As are Garanti for expats. I'm sure you know this and bank with whoever benefits you the best.

There might be another option though too...

Denizbank. Revolut have advised its for compliance purposes so that's a bit concerning about our Turkish bank choice! Eek.

Ah well. time to put on as many jackets as I have and go for a pint!

Bit too chilly for me for an outdoor one! If only it were somewhere nearer the Turquoise coast!

Denizbank's corporate structure has, in the past, been slightly dubious in that it was owned by a large Russian bank. No longer the case, though.

Revolut have, in the past, had some compliance problems of their own so I suspect what is happening here is they are being over-compliant in a way that they do not need to be.

If international transactions are important then maybe consider changing your Turkish bank.

As always, this is not advice, investments can go up and down, etc etc etc

Yup.

Personally banked with Garanti in the past but never had any huge probs with Yapi Kredi too. Garanti might suit BO better though considering he's almost a "one foot in the door" kind of expat and their accounts are more suited to expats. Can't remember their fee structure though as it was a little while ago now.