Revolut’s new metal card gives cashback in crypto

The new premium account will allow users to earn cashback in fiat or cryptocurrencies.

It’s premium season in digital banking. A day after the launch of Monese’s premium service, Revolut has unveiled its metal card.

Revolut Metal users may earn up to 1 per cent cashback in either fiat or cryptocurrency. Revolut launched its crypto-trading service in December 2017, and currently supports trading in 5 different coins, including Bitcoin. Metal customers will receive up to 1 per cent on card transactions made outside of Europe, as well as 0.1 per cent on those made within Europe.

The card also comes equipped with a ‘personal concierge’, which can be used for bookings for such things as flights and festival tickets.

Additional benefits for metal users include the ability to withdraw up to £600 per month via international ATMs, free international money transfers, unlimited foreign exchange, various travel insurance options and around the clock customer support.

Revolut already operates a free-to-use and premium service, which it launched in March 2017.

The company says it will continually improve its metal membership with additional features such as wholesale rates at international airport lounges, family accounts and ‘extra incentives’ for its commission-free trading platform, which is in the works.

And now, to the essential business of the card’s design. Digital banks are fast developing a reputation for their grandiose descriptions of their rectangular payment devices. See, for example, N26’s metal card, which weighs in three times heavier than a regular plastic card.

Revolut’s metal number, we are told, has been described with ‘obsessive attention to detail’. It too is three times the weight of its plastic counterpart, and is crafted from ‘a single sheet of reinforced steel using a diamond drill bit’. It gets better: “Paint particles have then been layered to the card using a physical vapour deposition, with customers’ details etched onto the card using a high precision laser.”

Revolut’s founder and CEO Nikolay Storonsky said the new card is a must for international travellers, adding that its launch represents an important step towards the company generating additional revenue.