A system failure in the e-money app Revolut has left a customer £2,000 out of pocket with two banks unable to locate where the money had gone.

Dorota Kowalska, a 38-year-old data analytics professional, was trying to donate money to a school in South Africa, where she volunteers. 

However, a system failure last week  – which affected customers’ ability to sign-in, make card payments, transfer money and top up accounts – stopped Ms Kowalska in her tracks.

“I raised money for the students there,” she said. “I was meant to fly over, but unfortunately due to Covid the trip was cancelled. I thought this shouldn’t affect the children, so I arranged for pizzas, donuts and drinks to be delivered. But that money went missing.” 

“Initially I tried topping up my Revolut account with £500,” she explained. “When this didn’t work, I tried four more times. But then my other bank, Lloyds, told me a payment had been made to Revolut of £2,500.” 

Ms Kowalska said that she was aware that Revolut had technical difficulties on Friday and waited until the next morning to check if the issue had been resolved. “I logged on Saturday but my Revolut account was only credited with £500 while £2,500 was taken from my Lloyds account. I had £2,000 missing.”

Lloyds has now refunded £2,000 back to Ms Kowalska, but told her that Revolut could claim the money at any time.

Revolut’s customer service team had been of “limited assistance”, Ms Kowalska said. “I’m absolutely fuming. They do not call their customers and the live chat does not keep a log of your conversation so you do not have any evidence of anything.”  

“I didn’t want this issue to affect the children so I paid for it out of my own pocket,” she added. “Paying through Revolut was the only way to get the money to them quickly. So I had to take a leap of faith and try again – this time it worked.”  

Revolut has been contacted for comment. The digital banking app also reported a “bug” on Wednesday, which changed a number of users’ profile pictures. 

Earlier this year, the City’s watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority, warned e-money firms such as Revolut and Tide they could be misleading consumers by presenting themselves as alternatives to traditional banks. The FCA declined to comment on Revolut’s service failure last week.