What is a rolling reserve?
A rolling reserve provides financial security for both you and Revolut. It protects against unforeseen financial risks after transactions are made, such as customer chargebacks, fraud, refunds, and other potential liabilities.
Like a safety net, a rolling reserve ensures funds are available to resolve any disputes or cover unexpected financial obligations that may happen after a transaction is completed.
We implement a rolling reserve by withholding a specific percentage of each transaction you process for a predetermined period. After this holding period, the reserved funds are released to you on a rolling basis.
How does it work?
Each day, a portion of your sales is held back for a set period. After this period, the funds are released back to you. Here's an example of a 35% rolling reserve for 14 days: if a customer makes a €100 card payment, €35 is held back for 14 days, and €65 is available immediately.
- The settlement delay is included in the total number of days. For example, if the settlement delay is 24 hours, it should be added to the rolling reserve days, resulting in a total release period of 15 days
- The term ‘rolling’ means that this process happens continuously for every transaction
- Revolut Merchant acquiring fees aren't included in the example above. The actual disbursement will show applicable fees
- You can check your reserved amount anytime on the 'Merchant' page by using the payouts widget
Who is affected?
We apply rolling reserves more frequently for businesses that present elevated risks to card schemes, such as those operating in industries with strict compliance requirements, or those that commonly experience high dispute rates.
Businesses with lengthy fulfilment times — where customers wait extended periods for goods or services — also often face rolling reserve requirements, as this increases the likelihood of chargebacks.
Companies processing transactions with high average order values, or those that are newly incorporated and lack a substantial financial history, are also considered higher risk and are therefore more likely to have a rolling reserve applied to their Merchant accounts.
When can I reappeal it?
We can reassess a rolling reserve once a business demonstrates a consistent and positive track record over an extended period. This requires building a substantial history of reliable transaction processing, aligning with projected volumes, and maintaining a solid chargeback performance.
Our review period is directly tied to the business's fulfilment cycle. In industries with prolonged fulfilment times, such as travel, we generally need a minimum of six months to carry out our review.
This is to give enough time for completion of a significant number of transactions and to confirm a sustained pattern of minimal chargeback risk, so we can get a clearer picture of the business's long-term stability.