Skrill vs Revolut: Guide for E-Commerce Merchants

Please note that the information provided was collected from their respective websites in December 2024 and may change over time.

Skrill and Revolut are online payments providers that specialise in international money transfers for both individuals and businesses. Is Revolut better than Skrill?

In this article, we provide an overview of Revolut vs Skrill for small businesses – including payment methods, pricing and integrations, with a focus on the UK and Europe – to help you make an informed choice between the two providers.

Skrill vs Revolut: Overview

Skrill is part of the Paysafe Group, a UK-based digital payments platform that formed when Optimal Payments acquired Skrill, competitor NETELLER, and prepaid payment provider Paysafecard in 2015. Skrill was originally founded in the UK in 2001 as Moneybookers and changed its name in 2013.

Skrill initially focused on serving the online gambling sector after PayPal stopped working with the industry following UK regulatory changes. Over time, Skrill shifted from providing cross-border money transfers for individuals to also offering payment processing for merchants, as well as supporting the online gaming, betting and trading industries.

Revolut launched in 2015 in the UK as an online alternative to traditional banks and introduced its Revolut Business product in 2017. The company was co-founded by British-Russian businessman Nikolay Storonsky and British-Ukrainian software engineer Vlad Yatsenko.

Revolut was created to enable travellers to spend and transfer money abroad without expensive currency exchange fees and hidden charges. It has since evolved into a multi-functional financial platform with ambitions of becoming a “superapp”. Revolut Business focuses on serving startups and SMBs that operate internationally with its competitive rates and analytics tools.

Supported Markets and Customer Base

How Is Revolut Different from Skrill?

Skrill operates in more than 100 countries worldwide and supports multiple payment options in more than 40 currencies. The website supports 12 languages, including English, Spanish, German, Polish and Italian. The company’s key markets include the UK, US and Malta. 

Skrill’s instant bank transfer service supports more than 3,000 banks worldwide and enables merchants to take payments from customers directly without leaving their website.

Revolut offers merchant accounts in 29 countries across Europe as well as the UK and merchants can accept up to 33 currencies online depending on the payment method.

The Revolut app supports 24 languages. Revolut offers its Merchant account as a sub-account of a Revolut Business account. The company simplifies international transactions by offering accounts that can hold multiple currencies and transfer funds at real-time exchange rates.

Revolut vs Skrill Features

Payment Acceptance

Skrill provides a robust online payment gateway that can be implemented as a hosted payment page, via ecommerce plugin, or a simple API.

Revolut offers a feature-rich payment gateway designed for merchants that operate across borders. It enables them to take payments via online checkout as well as links and invoicing without full checkout integration.

While Skrill offers a single API, Revolut provides several APIs and software development kits (SDKs) allowing developers to create more customised payment experiences. Revolut also offers plugins for ecommerce platforms.

Subscription Management

Skrill enables businesses to accept recurring credit and debit card payments, making it suitable for subscriptions. Skrill 1-Tap allows customers to make payments within seconds with a single touch on any device, without having to re-enter their login or payment details.

Revolut also supports recurring payments to support subscriptions. And like Skrill’s 1-Tap, Revolut Pay allows customers to pay quickly and directly from their account balance.

Other Features

Skrill supports more than 40 cryptocurrencies, enabling merchants to accept payments in popular digital currencies. Users can buy and sell cryptocurrencies or send them directly to their preferred crypto wallet.

Skrill’s hosted Quick Checkout enables merchants to add cards, wallets, instant bank transfers and cash payment methods via a single integration.

Revolut doesn’t automatically convert payments, avoiding exchange fees. Businesses can also manage exchange rate risk by setting currency conversions in advance with forward contracts.

Revolut Fast Checkout provides a one-click checkout experience using Revolut Pay customers’ stored shipping details to skip manual entry.

Revolut Reader and POS app enables merchants to accept in-person payments with chip and PIN or contactless Visa, Mastercard and Maestro.

Third-Party Integrations

Skrill provides plugins for 22 ecommerce platforms and shopping carts, enabling merchants to use them to take payments online. These include:

• Wix
• Magento
• Shopify
• WooCommerce
• PrestaShop
• BigCommerce

Skrill’s API for custom integration is not user friendly as it is provided in the form of separate PDF files.

Revolut Business supports many integrations to help businesses streamline their operations, including e-commerce platform plugins. Revolut has plugins for:

• WooCommerce
• Magento
• Prestashop
• BigCommerce
• Shopify
• OpenCart

Other integrations available can vary depending on the subscription plan and region.

The availability of third-party integrations is a key difference between Revolut and Skrill. Skrill’s website does not mention any third-party integrations. However, Revolut provides an extensive range of 46 integrations with accounting, expense, human resources, productivity and payment platforms, including:

• Xero
• FreeAgent
• Deel
• Factorial
• Zapier

Revolut also provides several Business APIs for developers to build custom integrations and an API support team to assist. These can be used to accept and send payments, set up and manage customer subscriptions, manage money for accounting processes, and initiate payments through Open Banking.

Merchant Dashboard Usability

One of the important factors to consider when choosing between Revolut or Skrill for business is usability. Skrill’s merchant dashboard offers basic payment tracking and data exports. In contrast, Revolut offers real-time and granular data analytics to help businesses budget effectively and make informed decisions on their resources.

Security & Compliance: Is Skrill Safer than Revolut?

Skrill is compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI-DSS) Level 1 and offers 3D Secure for fraud protection of online payments. The company has acquired E-Money Institution licenses in the UK and Ireland and is regulated under the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Skrill also holds money transmitter licenses for all US states.

Revolut Bank UAB, which is the company's EEA subsidiary, is licensed and regulated by the European Central Bank and insured by the Lithuanian State Company Deposit and Investment Insurance. Revolut received a British banking licence in July 2024 and is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Skrill offers 3D Secure for fraud protection. Revolut’s advanced fraud protection tools include location-based security checks and AI-powered scam detection, which uses machine learning to identify suspicious activity and prevent card scams.

Skrill vs Revolut Pricing

It is free to set up a Skrill account as a user. Pricing for merchants is not publicly available as it is tailored to their requirements. Skrill offers lower fees for merchants that use its ready-made shopping cart integrations, and it does disclose some of these charges on its website.

Revolut offers tiered subscription pricing. A Basic account is free, while a Grow account costs £25 per month and a Scale account costs £100. Enterprises can negotiate a tailored rate. Pricing for merchants to accept payments starts from 0.8% + £0.02 for in-person payments and 1% + £0.20 for online payments.

Skrill vs Revolut Charges

Revolut vs Skrill Customer Support

Skrill provides customer support through its online merchant help centre, 24/7 live chat and contact form. Responses to messages submitted via the form may take 24-48 hours. Skrill does not provide dedicated account managers, so different staff members may handle each request.

Skrill has a Trustpilot rating of 2.6, with mixed reviews. Common complaints include slow responses to support requests, the lack of a direct phone number to call, account restrictions and delayed transactions. However, some users praise its low fees, fast money transfers and ease of use.

Revolut offers customer support through its online help centre and provides access to its service team in more than 100 languages via secure in-app chat. Subscribers to a Revolut Enterprise plan have a dedicated account manager.

Revolut has a Trustpilot rating of 4.3, with reviewers praising its instant transactions, ease of use and currency exchange services. However, complaints include the lack of phone support, loss of funds in international transfers and poor onboarding experience for business accounts, with no option for sole traders.

Final Thoughts: Skrill or Revolut?

Should you use Skrill or Revolut? To answer the question as to which is better, Skrill or Revolut, you’ll need to consider the specific needs of your business.

Skrill is a good choice for businesses that require support for a wide range of payment options across the UK and Europe, including local methods, pay-by-bank, digital wallets and cryptocurrencies. Skrill is well-suited to the gambling and betting industries, which may not be eligible for accounts with other payment providers.

Revolut is a solid option for businesses that operate internationally and make frequent cross-border transfers in various currencies. Features such as local account details, an array of third-party integrations and analytics tools offer advanced functionality for optimizing business operations.

Consider Alternatives: Noda Payment Processing

Noda offers an attractive alternative to both Skrill and Revolut. Noda’s open banking platform supports pay-by-bank checkout, enabling you to accept direct bank payments from customers without them having to provide their card details.

Noda supports more than 2,000 banks across 28 countries, including the UK, EU, Brazil and Canada. Instant payments and payouts make processing refunds smoother. Noda offers easy integrations with popular platforms like Magento, PrestaShop, OpenCart and WooCommerce, as well as its custom API.

Contact Noda today to find out how our dedicated account managers can help improve your business’s payment processes.