Tried 3 different banks in Saudi Arabia and my Revolut card kept getting declined. Is this a Revolut issue or a Saudi Arabia thing? Worked fine in Thailand last week.
Same experience here, I was doing Umrah in Mecca and needed cash for tipping and small shops. My Revolut Mastercard was declined at multiple ATMs even though I had more than enough funds. I tried enabling magstripe withdrawals and location-based security in the Revolut app - still didn’t help. I later read on a travel forum that Saudi ATMs often don’t recognize certain BIN numbers issued by fintech banks like Revolut. I ended up borrowing some cash from a fellow traveler and used my Revolut only at big-name stores like Panda and Starbucks where POS terminals accepted tap payments. Bring a backup card from a traditional bank if you can.
I just got back from a week in Dammam and had this problem almost every day. My UK Revolut Visa card failed at every ATM I tried - even at SABB and NCB. But when I used the same card in my Google Wallet, it worked at a few larger restaurants and one hotel in Al Khobar. I reached out to Revolut and they confirmed that some Saudi ATMs block prepaid and neobank cards by default due to fraud filters or older ATM software. It’s frustrating, especially because Revolut works perfectly in Europe and Southeast Asia. Best workaround was to avoid ATM withdrawals altogether and use contactless where possible.
I ran into the exact same problem in Jeddah in June. Tried my Revolut Mastercard at three different banks including Banque Saudi Fransi and none of the machines accepted it. It worked fine at a hotel POS terminal when I used Apple Pay, but failed at physical ATMs. I called Revolut and they said it’s a known issue with ATM compatibility in Saudi Arabia, not with the card itself. According to them, it’s random — some machines will work, others won’t. I ended up using my backup Visa debit card from HSBC for cash and kept Revolut for digital payments. So yes, it’s a Saudi banking infrastructure issue, not a Revolut problem per se.
I just had the same issue in Riyadh earlier this month. My Revolut Visa worked perfectly in Turkey and Thailand but in Saudi Arabia, I tried Al Rajhi, SNB, and Bank Aljazira ATMs and got declined every time. No error code, just transaction failed. I contacted Revolut support through the app and they told me Saudi Arabia is known for frequent ATM-level rejections of foreign-issued fintech cards, especially Revolut and Wise. It’s not about your account, it’s about how the local bank’s ATM system handles international prepaid cards. They suggested using contactless in shops instead of ATM withdrawals, which actually worked better for me.