Revolut alternatives: who accepts you when Revolut says no

The 25 industries Revolut Business doesn't support

Six of the 25 are crypto: exchanges, brokers and dealers; on- and off-ramps including crypto ATMs; some ICO providers; mining, investment and trading firms; crypto asset and investment managers; and unregulated custodial wallets. A crypto company with its own MiCA licence is still on the list. The others include weapons, adult content, gambling, cannabinoids, charities, foundations, trusts and religious organisations, special purpose vehicles, precious metals and stones, auctions and fine art, secondhand vehicles, oil and gas, and client-funds management.

Revolut isn't unusual here. Of the 122 providers on Finzil that publish a refused-industries list, 93 name gambling, 77 crypto and 52 charities (October 2026).

Your company isn't registered in the UK or EEA

This is the most common reason, and the easiest to fix, because several multi-currency accounts accept companies from long lists of countries. Airwallex names 69 countries, including the US, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and Canada, with local account details in 20+ currencies and exchange at 0.5% on major currencies. Sokin names 214 countries and charges no monthly fee, with exchange from 0.3%. Dukascopy Bank, a Swiss bank, accepts companies from all but 15 countries.

If your company is in Hong Kong, Singapore or the BVI, Statrys is built for you. If it is a US company, Mercury. For the full list by country, see the best business accounts for non-residents.

Nobody lives in the UK, EEA or Switzerland

Revolut needs one director or owner living in Europe. For a UK company run entirely from abroad, Tide states that directors may live overseas and has a free plan; it needs a UK mobile number. WorldFirst accepts non-residents and gives local account details in 22 currencies, free. GoSolo takes one-person companies whose founder lives in one of 40 countries.

For an EU company owned from outside Europe, Satchel (€1,075 to open, €50 a month on International) and LHV Bank (€300 to open and €30 a month for an Estonian company with owners abroad) publish what non-residents pay. Avoid Vivid Business in this case: every director must live in the EEA or Switzerland.

You were accepted, but want lower costs

If Revolut took you and you want lower fees, compare on your conversion volume, not the monthly price. Revolut charges nothing on exchange up to your plan's allowance (£1,000 on Basic, £15,000 on Grow, £60,000 on Scale) and 0.6% above it, plus 1% outside market hours.

At £20,000 converted a month, Revolut Grow costs £720 a year in plan and exchange fees, the same as Sokin; Revolut Basic costs £1,488. The worked numbers are in the best multi-currency business accounts.

Our view: Revolut Business is the only account in that table that is a bank, and that is worth something for large balances. If you leave Revolut for price, keep the reserve somewhere with deposit insurance.

Revolut went down: keep a second account

On the morning of 20 October 2026, Revolut customers across Europe could not open the app, pay by card or withdraw cash. Downdetector logged more than 1,500 reports in the UK by 8.09am, and more from Ireland, Italy, Spain, Germany, Greece, Romania, Hungary and Malta. Revolut confirmed "a service disruption affecting multiple features" on X and said customers' money and data were safe. By mid-morning it had given no cause and no time for a fix.

For a company, an outage stops payroll, supplier payments and card spending at once. Revolut Business is now a large share of that exposure: 767,000 business customers at the end of 2025, up 33% in a year, and 16% of Revolut's income, according to its 2025 annual report.

Revolut isn't the only one. Nine of the largest UK banks and building societies reported 158 IT failures and at least 803 hours of unplanned outages between January 2023 and February 2025, the House of Commons Treasury Committee found.

Moving to another provider doesn't remove the risk. A second account at a different provider does, and for most UK companies it costs nothing a month.

Our view: open the second account before you need it, because onboarding takes days and an outage takes hours. Keep a month of payroll and fixed costs in it, give your main customers its details, and make one of your two accounts a bank with deposit insurance. Revolut stays a reasonable main account. Being your only account is the risk. More in what to do if your business account is closed or frozen and is my money safe at an EMI.

What to do after a Revolut refusal

1. Find the rule. Compare your company with the five rules above. If one matches, don't reapply to Revolut; it won't change.
2. Pick providers whose documents accept you. Country of registration, owners' countries, industry.
3. Prepare the pack. Certificate of incorporation, register of owners, IDs and proof of address, a description of what you sell and to whom, and proof of activity.
4. Apply to two at once, at providers in different groups. One refusal shouldn't stop payments.
5. Answer questions about earlier refusals plainly if a provider asks. An answer that later proves untrue can get an account closed.

Finzil runs steps 1 and 2 against the published rules of every provider on the site.