I ran into a problem with Revolut when I tried sending money from my US account to my Revolut account via ACH (US equivalent to SEPA). They demanded proof of the “source of funds” I told them it was from my US bank account which is mostly funded by salary from my employer but they demanded a letter from my employer saying they transferred to my Revolut account, which of course didn’t exist because they hadn’t, so in the end I had to ask them to reverse the transaction and load the money from my Debit card instead.
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It may or may not be related to the recent debanking activity by Novo Banco, but the bank was acquired by the No.2 French bank earlier this year ( from the Portuguese state)
They say they intend to “accelerate digital transformation to improve customer experience” they still have a long way to go.
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We also use Revolut PT with the Metal upgrade for all our day to day banking including paying our various State bills with MBWay on the Revolut app. Previously we were Revolut UK Metal customers and I used the account to move and exchange significant sums to between Hong Kong (HKD), the UK (GBP), Luxembourg (in GBP) and Portugal (EUR) for our initial GV investment and to buy our home here (so a few transactions in the mid GBP100,000s). Before doing so, I had extensive proof of funds ready to send them but after the initial KYC checks when I opened the account I only once had to send them something additional (and my sources are problematic including four years of salary from Mainland China).
I had more problems after Revolut PT sent EUR to our Millennium bank account (before Revolut had a PT IBAN) to buy our property when Millennium sat on the transfer for over a week despite my appeals to our personal banking person before releasing them with no additional documentation required. When this happened, you know for certain that the bank is using your money to gamble on the overnights and make more for itself.
I also shifted my investment account from Swissquote in Luxembourg to Interactive Brokers in Ireland this year after getting sick of Swissquote’s unethical games with my money transfers but I will only do small transfers to Revolut in Portugal of less than EUR10,000 a month which will be easy proved with a share sale certificate.
But good to know that I am not the only one who has landed at the straightforward place of Interactive Brokers IR and Revolut PT to management my financial affairs 
.
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The French obviously don’t realize what they got themselves into. Feels good we aren’t the only oblivious souls to have invested in Portugal.
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Revolut are great. Especially if you have an Ultra plan because their support is very good.
For Portuguese banks for anything serious like holding GV funds use Bison Bank or maybe this Atlantico which also sounds good.
In the UK Revolut is a licensed bank with issuance on funds the same as any other bank. I’m not sure if that’s the same for EU customers.
France are having their own shit show.
Hi. I have the ultra plan but notice zero difference from the metal plan in terms of support. The reason I upgraded to the ultra plan was because the transfer fees for transfers to non-EU countries are waived and that covered the difference in cost for me. But in terms of support, it feels identical: quick resolution for routine issues, but for anything else it’s like talking to a wall. Which is still miles better than novobanco!!!
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no one tried with CGD? i am with CGD and i live in the Algarve and i never had any problems with them, the only thing with them is they dont have a lot of to offer and branches close at 3.30 and fewer branches than Nova Banco and other players
在 2026年8月7日 17:11，live2learnemail@community.nomadgate.com 写道：
Someone replied to a topic you are Watching.
| live2learn
August 7 |
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Another rage, tragedy or racism that I would like to share. This time it is about Banco CTT.
I wanted to open a bank account as banks started doing massacre. I chose Banco CTT because it is a low key bank as nobody mentioned about it.
So, went to one of CTT’s branch few months ago. Asked for “abrir uma conta a ordem” = open a current account. Filled in application form. Came back home and received an email asking for a list of all documents that I could imagine. One week later I went back the branch with all documents. Submitted and since then never heard anything from them. Every 3 weeks I go there to check and the CTT staff said that she sent an urgent request to the headquarter of CTT to ask for more detail but no reply so far. Now I’m fed up and also give up with CTT. Simply just impossible to deal with…
True it doesn’t seem much different but I hope it is when I have serious issues. Also many other benefits. Not sure I’ll keep long term but still trying it.
I’ve been fairly happy with Atlantico. Their app is troublesome to get set up from outside of Portugal, and many things take an email or a call to a dedicated account rep, but the banking relationship itself has been quite good, to date.
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This is a great question. Could one get away with just Revolut and Wise….
I have a Revolut and a Wise account, as well as the novobanco account which my wife and I will be closing.
For everyday banking, Revolut is great. Wise is a good backup for transfers and direct debits (has a Belgian IBAN).
We have lived in Portugal for six years now and financially we have nothing here but our Lisbon house, the expenses for which are all now set up on direct debit (Revolut).
Provided Revolut keeps working as seamlessly as it does now, we have no reason to degrade ourselves to the level of Portuguese banks.
Except…. For real estate transactions here, one may need bank cheques (cheque bancário). That is something I would need to figure out when we sell our house. But for now our life with Revolut and Wise is much easier than it ever was with Novobanco, which was like having a root canal every year.
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Just FYI, when I sold my house earlier in the year, my lawyer received the money and was able to transfer it to any bank account around the world. So hopefully, it is not an issue for you either.
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Hello,
That’s an alternative I have thought of. It’s just not the one I would prefer. I would prefer being able to control the money myself. And to use a notary only for selling the house.
Regards,
Boris
Using the same logic here, couldn’t there be a case that some people are discriminating against ARI applications, saying that they don’t integrate, are money launderers, causing housing price to rise, etc.
Specifically, this… “They also accuse the mayor of acting with the intention of damaging the honour and reputation of members of the community by portraying them collectively as failing to meet their tax obligations, and by encouraging feelings of aversion and hatred towards them.”
Albufeira Mayor charged over Roma comments - The Portugal News
After the agonizing wait for the Golden Visa renewal, my husband finally received it, only to face the added difficulty of opening a bank account here (After Novo Banco automatically terminated our contract without justifiable reason). I don’t know if traditional banks in Portugal currently have a negative attitude towards Golden Visas, but the account opening process is proving very difficult. My husband has been to several traditional banks and has been waiting for a week without any results, even though our family has lived and run a business here for over four years. As far as I know, those holding residence permits other than Golden Visas have been able to open bank accounts very quickly. Can you tell me about your experience using Revolut and Wise whether transferring large sums of money like 10,000 euros is safe? Thank you.
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Hello Maria,
I have transferred car money, apartment money and bigger on both, Wise and Revolut. Half the time, they want to see the source of funds. You answer questions and send proof by PDF. As long as your money is from a clean source (an established investment account, for instance), they finalise the transfer within minutes.
Boris
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Thank you very much, Boris. Hearing this makes me feel much better. This also means that it’s possible to transfer money from outside Europe into Revolut and Wise accounts, as long as you can prove that the funds are legitimate?
Dear Maria,
I am sure there are some countries on the blacklist, but from friendly countries you can certainly receive incoming transfers. You can also open sub-accounts in different currencies and transfer in the foreign currencies.
Boris
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I’ve used Revolut to do international transfers and currency exchanges in multiple currencies with the eventual destination being euros in Portugal. For example, GBP from the UK to EUR in Portugal. HKD from HSBC in Hong Kong to EUR in Portugal. USD from my investment account in Luxembourg to EUR in Portugal. Some of these transactions were ultimately many hundreds of thousands of EUR (for example the original GV investment, buying our home in Portugal, selling a property in Thailand which was paid for in HKD so the transaction didn’t touch the Thai banking system or currency). You do have to be ready to show the source of your funds in case you are hit with a KYC request at some point but these requests have been rare in our experience and we had worse time with Portugal’s Millennium holding on to our house money after transferring it from Revolut for more than a week while they played around with it / confirmed it wasn’t drug money.
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EVERY single Golden Visa option is functionally a donation. They call it “real estate”, “investment fund” just for variety’s sake. They just take your money, and give you nothing back in each option. That is the definition of an involuntary “donation”. It’s so cute seeing all the innocent and naive new sheep in the holding pen who think they’ll be the lucky one. Read the lyrics to “Sheep” by Pink Floyd to understand what surprises await them courtesy the Portuguese government. This nation lost its sovereign credit ratings for a reason - they don’t pay their debts as they come due. Buyer beware, you have been warned.
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