Ive tried several banks, and every time my card is declined. Its a Revolut card with enough balance. Is this a known issue in Mexico?
Revolut worked perfectly for me throughout Yucatán. I withdrew cash from a HSBC ATM at the airport and also at Banbjio and Banrejio sometimes and paid for everything from hostel beds to tacos using contactless. But a friend I was travelling with had constant issues, even though we were both using Revolut. She finally discovered her account was set to auto-block transactions from high-risk regions, and once she changed that, it worked again. Could be worth checking your security settings in the app.
My Revolut card was super hit and miss in Oaxaca. It worked at a few ATMs like Banco Azteca, Bancoppel but failed at most others. Even some point-of-sale terminals would reject it without giving a reason. I contacted support and they told me some local banks don’t accept prepaid cards consistently. Since then, I started using it only for in-app payments like Uber or booking sites and carried a second card for cash.
I travelled through Mexico City and Guadalajara and had no issues at all with my Revolut card. Used it at Santander, Scotiabank, and Banorte ATMs without any declines. Also tapped it for metro rides and coffee shops and it worked just like back home. I made sure to activate the international settings in the app and keep GPS off during transactions. Maybe the card works better in big cities but struggles in smaller towns.
I had the exact same problem in Mérida. Tried three different ATMs - Azteca, Citibank and Multiva and my Revolut card kept getting declined. I had plenty of balance and no freezes on the account. Eventually I used my Wise card at a BBVA machine and it worked immediately. Later I found out some Mexican ATMs just don’t like Revolut, especially when withdrawing pesos directly. I switched to using it for payments at larger restaurants and hotels, where it worked fine.