As Revolut becomes increasingly popular in Ireland, many people are using the accounts for their day to day spending.
The company offers customers a prepaid debit card that allows people to make chip and pin cards, contactless and online payments and has quickly racked up over 300,000 customers in Ireland.
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However, what you may not realise is that if you’re applying for a mortgage, banks may look for your Revolut statements and your spending on Revolut could prevent you from getting a mortgage.
When you’re applying for a mortgage, banks are trying to establish your affordability. In simple terms, this means ‘are you able to afford to pay this mortgage?’
When you apply for a mortgage, banks usually look for six months worth of current account statements that show your salary going in weekly, fortnightly or monthly.
Bank staff then go through these statements with a fine-tooth comb to see what you’re spending money on and what money is coming in.
Several things throw up red flags for the banks. This includes a lot of gambling, money being lodged to the account that isn’t your salary and large ad-hoc payments.
A common myth is that if you transfer your money from your main current account to another current account, such a Revolut, you’ll be more likely to get your mortgage because the banks don’t see these accounts.
Unfortunately, this is not true and banks are now looking for Revolut statements from customers.
If a mortgage analyst can see you topping up a Revolut account from your main current account, they will look for the statements.
If you don’t provide the Revolut statements upfront, the bank could delay giving you a decision on your mortgage application until they get them.
Your spending on your Revolut account will affect your mortgage affordability as it is still you spending money. If the bank can’t see these statements, they can’t establish your affordability.
Several banks, including KBC and AIB, told extra.ie that they now look for Revolut statements as part of their mortgage application process.
‘KBC reviews mortgage applications on a case by case basis assessing all applications against our qualifying criteria,’ a spokesperson for KBC Bank said
‘We require customers to provide six months of bank statements from their primary account and may ask for Revolut statements if a customer is actively using Revolut’.
AIB said that they will also look for Revolut statements as part of a mortgage application if it will affect affordability.
‘We currently do not request Revolut bank account statements as part of our core documentation for mortgage applications,’ an AIB spokesperson confirmed.
‘However, if it is observed during an application assessment that seeing Revolut statements is necessary to establish a customer’s affordability, they may be requested on a case-by-case basis’.
The Central Bank of Ireland confirmed to extra.ie that their Consumer Protection Code does ‘not specify exactly what information should be collected’ and that banks must be able to afford affordability before offering products.
