You probably have Revolut on your phone already. You use it for the card when you travel, maybe for splitting bills, maybe for holding some euros. What most people do not realise is that Revolut is also one of the cheapest ways to send a bank transfer from the UK to Europe – on a weekday, under about 1,000 pounds a month, for free.
The catch is that the same app becomes meaningfully more expensive the moment you send on a weekend, go over your monthly limit, or try to send to somewhere outside its European comfort zone. There is no on-screen warning when that switch flips. The fee line still says zero. It is the exchange rate that is quietly worse.
Here is where Revolut wins and where it does not.
When Revolut is the right app to open
If you are sending money from the UK to a bank account in a euro country – Lithuania, France, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, most of the rest of Europe – and it is a weekday, open Revolut. On the free Standard plan, the currency conversion is free up to 1,000 pounds per month. The rate you get is close to the real exchange rate, the one Google shows you if you search what the pound is worth in euros. There is a small transfer fee (0.3 percent of the amount, with a minimum of 30p and a cap of 5 pounds), but on a 200 pound send that comes to about 60p.
On 200 pounds to a Lithuanian bank account on a Tuesday morning, Revolut is the cheapest option most people will find.
GBP to Polish zloty works the same way. The transfer fee structure is the same (0.3 percent, 30p minimum, 5 pound cap) and the rate on weekdays is close to the real one. If you have not used your monthly free conversion amount, a 200 pound send to Poland on a Monday will arrive in Poland with close to the most zloty you can get from any app. TransferGo is in the same price range on its free “Tomorrow” tier for Poland – on some sends one is slightly cheaper than the other, and on a small weekday send it barely matters. Either is a good answer.
When to open something else
The weekend widen
From roughly Friday 11pm until Sunday 11pm UK time, Revolut Standard adds 1 percent to its exchange rate. That window matches when the international currency markets are closed. Revolut is upfront that this exists; it is on their fees page. But if you opened the app and just pressed send without thinking about the time, you would not see a warning.
On a 200 pound send, 1 percent is two pounds. That is enough to flip the comparison with Wise: Wise charges a visible fee and gives you the real exchange rate any day of the week, including Sunday evening. On a Sunday night send of 200 pounds to Lithuania, Wise will typically land more euros than Revolut Standard, once you account for both Wise’s fee and Revolut’s weekend widen.
The fix is simple: if you can wait until Monday morning, wait. If you cannot, open Wise for that send instead.
Revolut’s paid plans (Plus, Premium, Metal, Ultra) reduce or remove the weekend widen. Premium and above have no weekend fee at all. If you send regularly and the weekend is a real constraint for you, the paid plan maths are worth checking. But for most people, the free plan timed right is the answer.
The monthly allowance
The 1,000 pound monthly free conversion covers most of what most people send. It resets at the start of each calendar month. It also counts across all types of conversion in the app: foreign currency exchanges, crypto, commodities. If you use Revolut heavily for travel and currency conversion during the month, you may hit the ceiling before a large family send.
Above 1,000 pounds in a calendar month, Revolut adds 1 percent to the exchange rate on the excess. On a 1,200 pound send where 1,000 pounds is already used, the extra 200 pounds costs you around 2 pounds more than it would have earlier in the month. Not catastrophic, but worth knowing.
Sending to Kenya or Turkey
On euro and zloty sends, Revolut charges 0.3 percent. On some other currencies that are not covered by the same settlement system, Revolut charges a flat fee. For a GBP send to Kenya in shillings, or to Turkey in lira, the transfer fee is around 5 pounds regardless of the amount. Check the current figure on Revolut’s fees page or in-app before you send, as fees can change.
On a 200 pound send to Kenya, a 5 pound flat fee is 2.5 percent before the exchange rate. Sendwave sends to Kenyan M-Pesa wallets with no fee on the fee line and a rate margin of roughly 1.5 percent on the exchange – on a small send, that is usually less than 5 pounds in total. Before you send to Kenya, open both apps side by side. The number that matters is the amount of shillings that lands in the wallet.
On Turkey, Wise and Revolut are in a similar price range for small sends, with Wise’s fee typically coming in under 5 pounds. Run both apps before you send.
Safety
Revolut is now a fully licensed UK bank, authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority. It received full banking authorisation in March 2026. Customer deposits in Revolut bank accounts are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) up to 120,000 pounds per person.
This is different from Wise and TransferGo. Both Wise and TransferGo are payment firms, not banks. Your money in those apps is safeguarded in ring-fenced accounts at partner banks, but it is not covered by the FSCS the way a Revolut bank account deposit is.
Note: money held in crypto, stocks, or savings products inside Revolut may have different protection arrangements. The FSCS cover applies to the bank account deposit.
The check before you send
Before you press send, open both Revolut and the comparison app. Enter the same amount to the same destination. Look at the number in the receiver’s currency – the zloty, euros, shillings, or lira that your family will see. Press send on whichever shows more.
On a weekday, inside your free monthly amount, that number will usually favour Revolut. On a weekend, or on a route with a flat transfer fee, it may not.
The verdict
For a small weekday bank transfer from the UK to a family bank account in Europe, Revolut Standard is the cheapest app most people can open. The rate is real, the fee is tiny, and the money lands in seconds. Send on a Tuesday morning, under 1,000 pounds a month, and it is hard to beat.
Wait for Monday if you can. Open Wise if you cannot. And on sends to Kenya or Turkey, run both apps side by side before you press send. The number on the receiver’s phone is the only one that matters.