Revolut service disruption

For a dozen hours on Tuesday, October 20, millions of Revolut users were unable to use any payment methods, including card payments, cash withdrawals, transfers, and Wero. Some users found themselves in difficult situations, such as Benjamin Kaddour, a communicator who described on LinkedIn how he was unable to complete a purchase at a store after his Revolut card was declined.

User experiences during the outage

He attempted to withdraw cash from an ATM but was also unsuccessful, leaving him unable to pay for his shopping. Similar experiences were shared on social networks during and after the outage. The affected users typically relied solely on their Revolut card as their primary payment method.

Impact of the service disruption

The outage impacted card payments, withdrawals, and transfers, causing significant inconvenience. While such payment incidents are relatively rare, they can be mitigated by having at least two bank cards, ideally covering the three main networks used in France: CB, Visa, and Mastercard. This approach can protect against both bank failures and acceptance network failures.

Alternative payment options in France

Several institutions in France offer free or low-cost cards that can help users diversify their payment methods. These include options such as BforBank, BoursoBank, Welcome, Fortuneo, Hello bank!, N26, Revolut, Sumeria, and Trade Republic. Each offers different features, including foreign currency payments, costs for payments and withdrawals, income or payment conditions, and usage conditions.