Revolut vs YEX
Both Revolut and YEX clear the checkouts our readers ask about most. Here is where the two part ways on fees and verification.
Revolut issues on Visa · Mastercard and YEX on Visa; verification is ID only at Revolut versus ID + proof at YEX; only Revolut funds by bank transfer.
Revolut is the more cost-effective option for everyday spending and travel thanks to its free virtual cards, no monthly fee. YEX still clears the same checkouts in our tests, so match the table to the services you actually pay for.
The short version of the matchup
| Field | Revolut | YEX |
|---|---|---|
| Card network | Visa, Mastercard | Visa |
| Card type | Digital Bank / Neobank | Crypto Card |
| KYC | ID only | ID + proof |
| Card issuance fee | Free | Free |
| Monthly fee | Free (Standard); Plus £3.99; Premium £7.99; Metal £14.99; Ultra £55 per mo | Free |
| Top-up fee | — | — |
| FX fee | 0.5% | 0% |
| Crypto funding | Yes | Yes |
| AI tool support | ChatGPT / Claude / Midjourney | ChatGPT / Claude / Midjourney |
| Risk level | Low-Medium | Medium |
| Our rating | 9.0 | 8.4 |
| User reviews | 80 | 274 |
| Best for | All-rounder · Ad spend | All-rounder · AI subscriptions |
A green left edge marks the side that holds the advantage on that row, where the data gives one.
The head to head
- Revolut covers a wider spread of use cases; YEX is more of a single-purpose tool.
- Revolut asks for less verification up front, which matters if you want a card live the same day.
- In our scoring, Revolut finished ahead of YEX — not by a mile, but enough to tilt a tiebreak.
- Revolut carries the lower risk flag in our file, which some users prefer for a primary card.
Two cards, one decision
Run the numbers against your own usage. Revolut runs free to create plus no top-up fee per top-up; YEX runs free plus no top-up fee. For one or two subscriptions the first column wins; for the rows where it leads in the table, the second does.
Questions people ask
That depends on what you spend on. Revolut scores 9.0/10 against YEX's 8.4/10 in our tests, but the two split on fees, KYC and crypto funding. Read the table above, then match it to the checkouts you actually run.
Revolut is the cheaper card to run. Both Revolut and YEX issue virtual cards for free.
Revolut asks for ID only at signup; YEX asks for ID + proof. If a light sign-up is the priority, the one with the lower KYC label is the faster route.
Both show up in 9 of the same test scenarios, including OpenAI API, Anthropic API, Suno AI. They overlap on a good share of checkouts, so the choice between them matters most on those pages. Where one is accepted and the other is not usually comes down to the billing country and 3-D Secure handling.
Where both show up
Revolut and YEX both landed in our top picks for 9 checkouts. Grouped by category so you can jump straight to the one you actually pay for:
🤖 AI Tools & Developer Tools 4
🎮 Gaming 2
📺 Streaming & Entertainment 1
🛍️ Cross-border Shopping 1
🌐 Cloud & VPS 1
Their BIN ranges
Cards issued in 🇬🇧 UK · 🇨🇦 Canada — the country guides group every range we track from there.
What our charge log shows
Every count here is a real charge attempt we placed on that range, renewals included, with the gateway response recorded. Weeks tracked is how long the range has been in the programme: