Revolut Pro review – A free business account with cashback

If you’re a freelancer, content creator, or developing your side hustle ideas into a business, then you’re likely in need of a basic business bank account. Enter Revolut Pro, the new business account solution from Revolut.

You probably know Revolut for its foreign spending and travel features (if not see our Revolut review), but it also offers business accounts. This article is not about those. Instead, we’re here to introduce you to the new Revolut Pro account, designed specifically for self-employed individuals, and start-ups. With that out of that way let’s begin our Revolut Pro review.

What is Revolut Pro and who is it for?

Revolut Pro is a free business account designed for sole traders and aimed at freelancers, digital nomads, and content creators.

Think of it, as a regular Revolut account specifically tailored towards micro-businesses and self-employed professionals.

The fact that it’s accessed via the standard Revolut personal (retail) account app rather than its business account app is telling. This not an account for Ltd companies, partnerships or any other complicated business structures. If you have a limited company, you’ll need to take a look at Revolut Business.

Instead, it’s a quick and easy account for freelancers and like to get make and receive payments, both locally and internationally, and conduct basic business activity. And it comes with a whole suite of free and paid features to help make this happen.

In summary, Revolut Pro is perfect for:

• Freelancers
• Sole traders
• Contractors
• Self-employed individuals with international clients

Can’t I just use my regular Revolut account?

Yes and no. As a sole trader there’s no legal obligation for you to run a sperate business account, but you do need to be able to separate business income and expenditure from personal spending.

A business account not only allows you to do this with ease, but in the case of Revolut Pro, offers features and support to help you run your business effectively and manage the admin load.

When comes time to file your self-assessment, you’ll be happy you opted for separate business account.

Besides that, it’s against Revolut’s terms of service to use the personal account for business, which mean you’d run the risk of having your account closed if business activity was detected.

Revolut Pro features

In additional to the multi-currency benefits of a regular Revolut account, Pro users also get a suite of dedicated business tools, features and benefits.

Cashback on business spending

Revolut Pro previously offered 1% cashback on business spending. This was a nice touch, that could save businesses a decent amount on the cost of business purchases. That has now changed, and maximum cashback offered is now 0.8%

When logging into my Revolut Pro account in May, I noticed the cashback reduce from 1% to 0.4% right before my eyes.

It seems now you need to a paid plan to enjoy cashback. With Plus users enjoying 0.4%, Premium users 0.6%, and Metal plan uses 0.8%.

Accept debit and credit payments

The ability to accept in-person payments is something that really sets Revolut Pro apart from the personal account.

You need a Revolut Reader, but there are no monthly fees for this, just a 0.8% transaction fee, plus an additional 2p. That’s extremely competitive when compared to Zettle (1.75% only UK transactions), and SumUp (1.69%).

The price does jump to 2.6% (plus 2p) for international payments and commercial cards though, so you’d want to limit that activity where possible.

Invoicing and QR links

Revolut Pro offers invoicing and invoice template tools to allowing you to track and send invoices. You can also add quick payment QR links for faster invoice payment and contactless payment elsewhere.

How does it work?

The Pro account works just the same as a regular Revolut account. If you’ve used Revolut before, then there’s nothing ostensibly new here.

Just like the regular Revolut account, Revolut Pro allows you to hold multiple currencies and convert them at will, spend them via the debit card or just send them to another bank account.

You don’t get a Pro account automatically though; you need to apply for it from within Hub area of the Revolut app. The sign up is simple, but you will have to answer some basic questions about your business, and your estimated earnings.

In some cases, you’ll need to provide supporting documentation to prove that you are actually running a business, as we discuss below.

If you don’t already have a Revolut account sign up via our link here you’ll get three months free premium subscription.

Know your customer (KYC) and due diligence checks

It seems Revolut have upped their game in terms to Know Your Customer and Due Diligence checks for opening an account. My application was initially approved, then the account was put on hold while Revolut asked for proof that I was actually operating a business. This is all standard affair for business accounts these days.

Proof of business can be either a bank statement, a contract, an invoice, or even just your business website/social media.

Despite listing the website, I was asked for further proof of business activity, so I then uploaded an invoice, that was actually to Revolut showing that it owed Money Saving Answers x amount for advertising.

Amusingly, this was rejected as proof of running an actually business. I thought I’d run with this theme and next uploaded a commercial agreement between Money Saving Answers, and Revolut itself.

The support agent remained professional in the chat, but I doubt he was amused. He said he’d have to check with his supervisors.

About an hour later, I got a message saying everything was good, and I could now start to use the account.

Is Revolut Pro safe?

Revolut isn’t yet a bank in the UK but it is regulated by the FCA, and required to hold customers’ deposits in a separate safeguarding account at a larger UK bank such as Barclays.

Until it becomes a bank (something Revolut has complained is taking far too long), your funds won’t be covered under the FSCS.

Revolut is the largest digital account in the UK and in is a registered bank in the EU. There’s little question about losing your money, but as ever, we’d recommend only keeping as much in the account as you need for your day-to-day business activity and transfer anything else out to an a free FSCS protect account such as Cashplus Go, or Tide.

What do others think? User reviews

With the account so new, and niche, there is limited feedback on the Revolut Pro account. Since the account sits within the regular personal account app, the features, and service are much the same.

Revolut has a rating of 3.6/5 stars based on over 50,000 reviews at Trustpilot, and gets a 4.3/5 over at Smart Money People, on a sample of 1,000 customers. It’s general praised for its low fees, virtual cards, and budgeting tool

In terms of the Pro account, some customers (me included) have had to go through additional checks before their account could be verified.

Others have reported Revolut freezing the account with little warning, and having to go back and forth with customer support to get it reinstated. This is something that has been on the rise across all banks and account recently, as more pressure is put on intuitions to carry out checks on their customers and reduce fraud.

Revolut is not unique here, if you have Facebook a quick search of the ‘Natwest closed down my account’ will certainly make you appreciate Revolut.

What do we think – Is Revolut Pro any good?

In a word yes. It’s the kind of account a lot of digital freelancers and those earning money online have been waiting for. A simple free business account that works the same way as their current account.

If you’re earning money online, it’s likely that some or all of it, is going to be from outside the UK. Especially when it comes to advertising networks, and affiliate income.

Even some UK based companies such as OnlyFans pay creators via international transfer. Revolut Pro, (along with Starling), is one of the few digital accounts you can receive international payments free of charge.

But even if you’re conducting business solely in the UK and only in GBP, the low barrier of entry means it’s still a worthwhile addition as a backup to your main business account. Especially if you already use Revolut for your holiday spending.

We don’t however recommend using it as your only account. There’s no FSCS protection yet, and we always suggest having multiple accounts so you’re not caught short, something happen to your main account.