Banking in Ireland often leaves a lot to be desired. While KBC is leading the way in terms of the traditional banks, Revolut is gaining ground quickly. Not only are they gaining customers, but the online-only bank is also offering unique features like rewards and quick ways to split bills. Revolut has also been offering a Junior account for customers in Ireland which has quickly grown to serving 40,000 young people in just four months.
What Is Revolut Junior?
Typically, Revolut customers in Ireland still have a traditional bank account. The primary reason is the perceived volatility of the fintech and startup markets that the public sees Revolut operating in. There’s also the lack of a credit functionality. By that I mean there are no credit cards, loans, over drafts or mortgages. Pretty much all of these drawbacks are little or no problem when it comes to meeting the needs of young people and banking.
Revolut Junior launched in May of this year realising that this was a perfect market for them to play in. Strategically, this means the bank is getting young people, aged 7 to 17 years old set up on their platform. In the coming years, as the platform develops and additional features are added to the online-only bank these growing youth customers will be able to avail of more. It’s all very clever.
The Junior arm of the bank is also just a great digital experience.
Features of Revolut Junior
Revolut Junior isn’t just another card on your account. It’s a special offering to benefit parents and their kids alike.
First of all, and many kids will say most importantly, Revolut Junior offers three uniquely designed cards just to junior accounts. These cards have the typical functionality of contactless payments along with chip and pin security too. They will also work with online payments so you can add pocket-money which in turn pays for services like Xbox Live and the likes.
Next up in parental oversight. Within your Revolut app, you’ll be able to check where the money is being spent and apply some additional controls. You’ll be able to disable contactless payments remotely and even get an alert for every transaction on the account.
There is a Revolut Junior app too for your kids to use. In the app they’ll be able to check their own balance and get transaction alerts. If they’re a little on the younger side they don’t need to have their own phone.
There is a monthly top-up limit of €40 per month for Revolut Junior accounts. If you want to top-up by more, the parent who set up the junior account will need to subscribe to Revolut Premium. This raises the limit to a maximum of €4000 per year.
Benefits Of Revolut Junior
The big benefit of Revolut Junior is giving younger people some experience in banking. The unique thing Revolut brings to the table is their fantastic app which lets you oversee and manage your kids’ spending. Sending your kids pocket money for doing jobs around the house couldn’t be easier. I think the example I gave earlier of paying for something like Xbox Live or Disney+ is a great use of this new found financial independence.
As we all get used to a new COVID-19 world, Revolut Junior also overcomes a practical issue. Many places no longer want to accept cash but many parents only have cash as an option for kids to pick up a bite to eat on lunch. With Revolut Junior you can give them a nice handy card to pay with and you can make sure they’re spending it on lunch too, even if they’re sneaking out for a McDonalds. This would have been a disaster in my day.
Revolut Surging Forward
Revolut itself seems to be unstoppable. The 40,000 new junior users in just four months echo the general performance of the online-only bank. Also in May this year, the company announced that they had already signed up over one million users in Ireland. Sign up for Revolut today and if you do it through that link there I might even get a wee kickback or a free card or maybe nothing at all. They change referral rewards a lot!