Revolut Ltd · DRN-6318646

The complaint Mrs L complains that Revolut Ltd upgraded her bank account to a premium subscription account without her knowledge and has refused to refund all the fees she’s been charged. What happened Mrs L has a bank account with Revolut which was opened in January 2022. Mrs L contacted Revolut in December 2025 as she’d realised Revolut had been debiting £7.99 per month. Revolut said the fee was being charged for a subscription to their premium account and had been since the account was upgraded in February 2024, and after the two-month free trial period had ended. Mrs L disputed she’d agreed to, or would need this account, and asked for a full refund of all the fees she’d been charged. Revolut downgraded the account and refunded four months of fees (totalling £31.96) as a gesture of goodwill but didn’t agree to a full refund. As Mrs L remained unhappy, she approached the Financial Ombudsman Service. One of our investigators looked into things but didn’t recommend Revolut do anything further. He said Mrs L was signed up via a free trial offer, provided with the terms and conditions and how to cancel the subscription, and the fees were shown on her account. So, he didn’t think Revolut had acted unfairly. Mrs L didn’t agree and asked for a final decision from an ombudsman. I was minded to reach the same overall outcome as our investigator, but I wanted to provide some clarification. So, I issued a provisional decision, to give both parties the opportunity to comment on my initial findings, before I reached my final decision. What I provisionally decided – and why In my provisional decision, I said: “I’ve considered all the available evidence and arguments to decide what’s fair and reasonable in the circumstances of this complaint.

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I’ve reached the same overall outcome as our investigator, but I wanted to provide some clarification as I don’t think what happened has been explained clearly to Mrs L by Revolut or our investigator. So, I’m issuing a provisional decision, to give both parties the opportunity to comment on my initial findings, before I reach my final decision. From the information provided, I can see that Mrs L’s account was initially upgraded in February 2024. And she has been charged a £7.99 monthly fee from two months after the upgrade. And it wasn’t until December 2025 that Mrs L raised this with Revolut, who then refunded £31.96 (four months of fees) as a gesture of goodwill. Mrs L says Revolut signed her up for a free trial of the premium account, which then incurred subscription fees after the free trial, without her knowledge. However, based on what I’ve seen, I don’t think either Revolut or our investigator have been clear with Mrs L about how she came to be enrolled in it. Revolut said in their final response to Mrs L’s complaint: “…you were subscribed to our Premium plan following a free trial period…” And I can see our investigator said Mrs L was enrolled following a free trial, but without details of how enrolment happened. So, without either Revolut or our investigator explaining this to Mrs L, I can see why she may be under the impression that she was signed up to the initial trial by Revolut without her involvement. However, that’s not what actually happened. Instead, Mrs L was sent an email by Revolut on her two-year anniversary of being with them (in February 2024). The information I’ve seen shows this was sent to the email address Revolut held for Mrs L and was delivered to that email address. The email said: “Hi (Mrs L’s first name), 2 years ago, you joined Revolut. Instead of sending a token thank you email, we wanted to truly show our appreciation. That’s why we’re giving you the gift of 2 months Premium, when you upgrade by 25/02/2024. Here are some of the features… … So, will you make Premium yours? Tap the button below to upgrade before 25/02/2024, and get 2 months on us. T&C’s apply.” Then in a highlighted box immediately below this, it said: “How it works This promotion is valid….Our Paid Plan Terms will apply to your account. See plan fees in-app on the plans dashboard, or our Fees Page. Please note that this is a rolling plan, and monthly Premium subscription fees will automatically apply after the trial period. You can cancel for free at any point before the end of the trial, but you’ll be charged for any ordered card and delivery.

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If you downgrade after the trial ends, you may be charged a fee depending on when you do so…” There was then a button for Mrs L to press which said “Claim free Premium” to enrol in the trial. So, this was an invitation to the trial, that Mrs L actively needed to opt-in to, rather than something Mrs L was enrolled into by Revolut. And the information was clear that this would then convert into a monthly subscription unless otherwise cancelled. Following this email, Mrs L was then sent a further email, and the information I’ve seen shows this was also sent to the email address Revolut held for Mrs L and was delivered to that address. This said: “Welcome to Premium, (Mrs L’s first name) Get the most out of your 59 days trial with our top Premium tips” It then went on to list the benefits, and said: “You’ve got just 59 days left to check out these everyday benefits, and everything else that Premium has to offer in your app. Now you’ve got a look at Premium, we hope you won’t want to cancel. But if you do, just head to Profile>Plan>Setting and select cancel before your trial is up. If you don’t cancel, your subscription will continue and you’ll be charged the plan fee automatically.” So, whilst Mrs L may not recall enrolling in the upgrade free trial in February 2024, which would then become a fee paid subscription unless cancelled, on balance, I’m persuaded that she did, as this was something that needed to be actively enrolled in by her and not something which would’ve happened unless she did. And as the upgrade wasn’t then cancelled by Mrs L at the end of the trial period, it continued with a monthly fee being applied until Mrs L then contacted Revolut in December 2025, around 20 months later, to query the monthly fee and to cancel it. I note that Mrs L said to our investigator that she might have been sent terms and conditions by email following enrolment, but she said she also received marketing emails from Revolut too, so she found it hard to filter out what needed to be read and what could simply be deleted. However, I’m not able to hold Revolut responsible if Mrs L didn’t read emails sent to her. Mrs L has also said she wasn’t aware she was being charged £7.99 each month since April 2024. However, the £7.99 monthly fee did reflect in the account balance and transactions. And although I recognise Mrs L has said she didn’t notice it as she rarely used the account, I can see there were multiple transfers into the account and regular transfers out of the account to a family member over the period she was enrolled. So, Mrs L would also have been able to see the £7.99 monthly fee deduction, over the 20-month period, if she’d chosen to review the transactions when making/receiving payments to her account, and I can’t hold Revolut responsible if she didn’t.

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Ultimately, I’m persuaded that Mrs L enrolled in the trial, and this wasn’t something that was done by Revolut without her permission. It was confirmed to Mrs L before, and after, she enrolled in the plan that fees would be charged after the trial unless cancelled, and it was also explained how it could be cancelled. And Mrs L could also have seen the fee being debited each month over the 20-month period, if she’d checked her account when making transactions to and from it. So, based on everything I’ve seen, I don’t think Revolut have done anything wrong here. Revolut has already refunded four months of fees totalling £31.96 as a gesture of goodwill. I don’t think that’s unreasonable. With the above in mind, unless anything changes as a result of the responses to my provisional decision, I won’t be directing Revolut to provide a full refund.” So, I wasn’t minded to uphold the complaint. The responses to my provisional decision Revolut didn’t respond to the provisional decision. Mrs L responded to the provisional decision. She said she’d like to see ‘genuine evidence’ that she did sign up to the trial, as outlined in the provisional decision, as she doesn’t believe she did. She said she’s sceptical of any free trials so never signs up for them. Mrs L also said she might have missed emails from Revolut confirming she’d enrolled, but she’s drowned in marketing emails. And Mrs L said she disputes that she was using her app or account regularly during the period the fees were charged, and many deductions didn’t show up, as they aren’t displayed in a clear and visible way. What I’ve decided – and why I’ve considered all the available evidence and arguments to decide what’s fair and reasonable in the circumstances of this complaint. And I’ve thought carefully about the provisional decision I reached, and the responses to it. Whilst I appreciate it’ll come as a disappointment to Mrs L, my final decision remains the same as my provisional decision. I recognise that Mrs L says she requires ‘genuine evidence’ that she signed up to the trial. However, I’m satisfied the evidence I’ve already seen demonstrates, on balance, this is most likely to be the case. This is because the emails I’ve referred to in my provisional decision (which Mrs L has been provided with a copy of), are the emails she was sent at the time. This also shows they were both sent, and delivered, to Mrs L’s email address. Given these outline that active enrolment was required by Mrs L, and it’s not something Revolut enrolled her in as she needed to actively do this herself, I’m satisfied this is sufficient in demonstrating Mrs L, on balance, most likely enrolled in the trial. Mrs L reiterated that she might have missed emails from Revolut as she’s drowned in various marketing emails. But, as outlined in my provisional decision, I can’t hold Revolut responsible for Mrs L not reading her emails.

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My view also remains that Mrs L used the account regularly during the period she was enrolled and being charged £7.99 per month. In fact, Mrs L made more than 50 transfers out of the account during the time she was enrolled, in addition to crediting the account on numerous occasions too when the balance was low. So, if Mrs L had reviewed her account transactions when paying in and transferring out of the account, or the statements accessible via the app, these would have reflected the £7.99 monthly deductions. But if Mrs L is of the view that her Revolut app isn’t working as it should be, she’d need to raise that with Revolut in the first instance as a new separate complaint. With the above and my provisional decision in mind, I won’t be directing Revolut to do anything further. My final decision It’s my final decision that I don’t uphold this complaint. Under the rules of the Financial Ombudsman Service, I’m required to ask Mrs L to accept or reject my decision before 25 May 2026. Callum Milne Ombudsman

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