Revolut just became a French bank. Here's what that means if you freelance

Pro vs Business, daily-interest savings, fees and cashback for independents in France. No hype, and every number checked against Revolut's own pages.

The news in 30 seconds

On 10 August 2026, Revolut Bank S.A. was granted a full French banking licence by the ACPR and the European Central Bank. It's headquartered on avenue Kléber in Paris. Until now, French Revolut accounts sat with the French branch of Revolut Bank UAB, the Lithuanian bank. That changes between 2 and 5 December 2026, when French personal and business customers move over to the new French bank automatically. What stays the same: your IBAN, BIC, cards, direct debits and scheduled payments. What changes: your eligible deposits move from Lithuania's deposit guarantee scheme to France's FGDR. The cap is the same €100,000 per person, per bank. If you don't want to move, the only option is to close your account (free) before the switch. 8 million French customers and 55,000+ French businesses, according to Revolut.

Who this is actually for

Revolut Pro is available across the UK and most of the EEA (Liechtenstein and Luxembourg are excluded). But prices, rates and features vary by country, so this piece sticks to people living and working in France: auto-entrepreneurs, freelancers, consultants, creators, expats billing clients abroad. If you're elsewhere in Europe, the structure is the same, but check the numbers on your local Revolut site.

Revolut Pro: the freelance account hiding in your personal app

Most people don't know it's there. Pro is a separate account you add from inside the normal Revolut app (Home → Accounts → Add → Pro account). No second app, no second login.

What you get

A separate IBAN, its own balance and its own transaction history

A dedicated Pro debit card (physical or virtual) Payment links, invoices and QR codes, with no fee to create or send them Tap to Pay on iPhone, which works in France, so no terminal needed Tax Pockets: automatically set aside a percentage of every sale for your tax bill €0 — what Revolut Pro costs on top of your personal plan. You only pay when you accept payments.

What getting paid costs

Online (links, invoices, QR codes), domestic personal Visa/Mastercard: 1% + €0.20

Online, international or commercial cards: 2.8% + €0.20

Revolut Pay: 1% + €0.20

Tap to Pay on iPhone: 1.7%

Heads-up: Revolut's own page doesn't list France among the countries where its card terminals (€189 / €139) are sold. In France, it's Tap to Pay or online payments.

Cashback that's actually money

This is the bit I like. Pro pays real cashback, in euros, on business card spend, deposited monthly into your Pro account.

Standard & Plus: 0.4%

Premium: 0.6%

Metal: 0.8%

Ultra: 1%

On top of that, sales boosters add +0.3%, +0.6% or +1% the following month if you accept €1,200 (5+ sales), €6,000 (10+ sales) or €12,000 (20+ sales) through Pro payment tools. Revolut caps the boost at €120 a month, and bank transfers don't count toward the targets.

The rules you need to know

Pro is for self-employed individuals only, not companies. Business only, strictly. Use the Pro card for personal spending and Revolut says it can claw back cashback and close both your accounts. Some activities are excluded outright (crypto trading, gambling, second-hand cars, debt collection and others). Pro uses your personal plan's fees, and everything you do on Pro counts toward your personal plan's limits. That includes the monthly fair-usage limit on currency exchange. Moving money between personal and Pro is a simple in-app transfer. But the balances are kept separate: if Pro runs dry, Pro payments fail even if your personal account has money.

The French angle

If you're a micro-entrepreneur, French law requires an account dedicated to your business once your turnover goes over €10,000 for two calendar years in a row (and straight away for commercial activities). It doesn't have to be a "business account", just a separate one. A Pro account with its own IBAN is built exactly for that separation. (Double-check with your accountant, as this isn't legal advice.)

When Revolut Business makes more sense

Revolut Business is a different product: its own app and web dashboard, separate from your personal app. You can reuse the same phone number and email, though. In France it's open to companies and to freelancers registered in the business registry. Pick Business over Pro if you need: Teammates or an accountant on the account (unlimited team members, individual permissions)

Payroll, bulk payments (up to 1,000 recipients at once) or approval workflows

Accounting integrations: Pennylane, Sage, Indy, Odoo, Cegid Quadra and 45+ others

Interbank-rate FX allowances: €1,000/month on Basic, €15,000 on Grow, €60,000 on Scale

Business plans: Basic €10/month · Grow €35 · Scale €125 · Enterprise on request If you're a one-person show invoicing a handful of clients, Pro probably covers you. Once there's a company or a team, Business is the tool.

The personal side: where your buffer lives

Freelance income is lumpy. You need a cash buffer you can actually reach. That's where Revolut's instant-access savings account fits.

Interest is calculated and paid every day, so you watch it tick up

No lock-in: deposit and withdraw any time, for free

No minimum

Gross annual rates (variable), EUR:

Standard / Plus: 2.25% on the first €500, then 0.75%

Premium: 2.25% on the first €1,000, then 1%

Metal: 2.25% on the whole balance

Ultra: 2.50% up to €100,000, then 2%

New customers: 5.25% gross for up to 4 months, on up to €25,000, if you open the savings account within 30 days of signing up. Eligibility criteria apply. Two things people get wrong: It's interest, not dividends. It's a bank savings account (a demand deposit), not a fund. Tax. In France, interest falls under the 31.4% flat tax (up from 30% since 1 January 2026), and Revolut withholds it before paying you. So 5.25% gross is roughly 3.6% net, and 2.25% gross is roughly 1.54% net. Be honest with yourself about the tiers: on Standard, anything above €500 earns 0.75% gross once any promo ends. (Revolut also offers "Flexible Cash Funds", which are money market funds: an investment product with capital at risk. Different product, not covered here.) Paid in another currency? Weekday currency exchange carries no Revolut fee within your plan's monthly allowance: €1,000 on Standard, €3,000 on Plus, no limit from Premium up. Above the allowance there's a fair-usage fee (1% on Standard, 0.5% on Plus), and there's a 1% fee at weekends. Remember that Pro and personal share that allowance. Plans, if you're wondering: Standard is free · Plus €3.99/month · Premium €10.99 · Metal €18.99 · Ultra €60.

Quick hits: crypto and loans

Crypto. 250+ tokens in the app, provided by Revolut Digital Assets Europe. It holds a MiCA licence from Cyprus (CySEC) and is listed on the AMF's whitelist to operate in France. Trading fees: 1.49% (Standard/Plus), 0.99% (Premium/Metal), 0.49% (Ultra), dropping as your volume grows, plus a spread Staking is available on 16 tokens, with Revolut taking a commission on rewards

Revolut X, the standalone exchange, charges 0% maker / 0.09% taker

Volatile, unprotected, capital at risk. And remember Pro accounts can't be used for crypto trading. Personal loans. €1,000 to €50,000 over 9 to 84 months at a fixed rate, for residents of metropolitan France, applied for in the app. Representative example: €10,000 over 84 months at a fixed 5.74% APR (5.59% fixed interest rate), 84 monthly payments of €144.14, total cost of credit €2,109.76, total repayable €12,109.76, excluding optional insurance. Your actual rate depends on your profile. A loan is a commitment and must be repaid. Check that you can afford the repayments before you commit.

My take

For a solo freelancer in France, the combination is genuinely practical: a separate pro IBAN with invoicing and Tap to Pay, real cashback, a tax pot, and daily-interest savings, all in one app, with French supervision and the FGDR guarantee from December. The catches: the low tiers on Standard savings, no card terminals in France (yet?), and strict "business-only" rules on Pro. Want in? Want my referral link? Reply or DM me PERSO/PRO (Revolut Pro, for freelancers) or BUSINESS (business account) and I'll send it over.

New to Revolut? Open your savings account within 30 days of signing up and you get 5.25% gross for up to 4 months, on up to €25,000 (eligibility criteria apply). Ad / referral: I get a reward if you open an account through my link and meet the conditions. Not financial or tax advice. Rates are variable and can change; fees and T&Cs apply. All figures checked on 15 Oct 2026 on revolut.com.