At a glance
Revolut is an app-based account with a balance, a card and an identity check, able to send and receive money. The CashtoCode eVoucher is a prepaid 20-digit PIN with no account behind it, used once at one merchant and deposit-only. In Ireland the choice usually comes down to whether you want an ongoing account in the transaction at all, since Revolut is already in most Irish pockets.
- Revolut is genuinely dominant in Ireland — for most readers the honest question is not whether to get it but whether to use it here.
- Ireland remains comparatively cash-heavy: 49 % of in-person payments were cash in 2024, against 52 % across the euro area.
- Revolut sends and receives. The eVoucher is deposit only, which is the single biggest practical difference.
- An account means an identity check and a stored payment history. A voucher means neither, because there is nothing to store it in.
- Both keep your main bank card away from the merchant — but only the voucher keeps the merchant off a statement.
- 49 % of Irish point-of-sale payments were cash in 2024 Around 54 % in 2022. By value about 44 %. In-person payments only, not online. ECB SPACE 2024
- 52 % euro-area average for the same measure Ireland sits slightly below the euro-area average, not above it. ECB SPACE 2024
- €0 What CashtoCode charges you Full face value credited at the merchant. Some crypto-focused resellers add 1–5 %. CashtoCode Help
- 20 Digits in the eVoucher PIN Alphanumeric, single use, delivered by email. No account, no login. CashtoCode Help
Ireland is a market with two payment cultures running at once, and any honest comparison has to acknowledge both.
App-based banking is unusually dominant here — Revolut in particular is in a share of Irish pockets that has no real parallel elsewhere in the euro area. At the same time, cash still settles close to half of all in-person payments.
Those two facts pull in opposite directions, and which one describes you decides this comparison.
CashtoCode vs Revolut: two different kinds of thing
Revolut is an account. A balance, a card, an identity check, a payment history and a support channel tied to who you are. It moves money in both directions, which is the property that matters most in practice.
The CashtoCode eVoucher is a code. A 20-digit alphanumeric PIN bought from an authorised online reseller, delivered by email, valid once, deposit only. There is no account with us — no login, no profile, no stored history — because a code that carries its own value has nowhere it needs to be kept.
The one thing they genuinely share is that neither puts your main bank card in front of the merchant. Beyond that they are opposites, and the comparison is really a question about whether you want an account in the transaction at all.
The comparison, honestly
| CashtoCode eVoucher | Revolut | |
|---|---|---|
| Setup before first payment | Buy a code | Open an account, verify identity |
| Identity check with the provider | None on our side | Required by financial regulation |
| Stored balance | None | Yes |
| History held by the provider | None | Yes |
| Deposits | Yes | Yes |
| Payouts | No | Normally yes |
| Merchant named on your statement | Not if the code was bought with cash | Yes |
| Fees to you | None from us | See your plan’s current terms |
The row people should read twice is payouts. A deposit-only method is perfectly fine as long as you know how the money comes back — and disastrous as a surprise after the fact, because Irish operators routinely require a receiving method to be verified before releasing anything, and that takes longer than the deposit did.
The fees row is deliberately unfilled. Revolut publishes its own schedule, it differs by plan and it changes; quoting a number we have not checked against the current terms would defeat the purpose of a sourced page. Our own costs are on the eVoucher fees page, and they are simple: nothing from us, full face value credited, with one documented exception where a crypto-focused reseller adds 1–5 %.
What the Irish cash numbers actually say
Around 49 % of Irish in-person payments were settled in cash in 2024, down from roughly 54 % in 2022. By value the share was about 44 %.
Two points of care with that figure.
It counts in-person payments only. Online payments are measured separately, so this is not a statement about e-commerce.
Ireland is slightly below the euro-area average, not above it. The euro area came in at 52 % on the same measure. Ireland’s reputation as unusually cash-attached is not what this particular dataset shows — what is unusual here is the app-based side, not the cash side.
And do not place either number next to the UK’s widely quoted 8 %. That counts every payment in the British economy, business payments included, which is a different question with a different denominator.
Which one to use
Use the account if you want deposits and withdrawals through one route, if you are content to verify your identity to get it, and if you already have the app — which, in Ireland, you probably do. That is not a grudging concession; two-way movement is a real advantage and no privacy argument replaces it.
Use the voucher for a one-off deposit where you would rather the account stayed out of it entirely. Nothing to open, nothing stored on our side, and the merchant sees a code and an amount. Full detail of the product is on the what is the CashtoCode eVoucher page.
Use both if it suits — a voucher going in, an account coming out. That combination is common, sensible, and closer to how people actually behave than any either-or table suggests.
One last practical note. If you buy the voucher with a card, you have put a purchase on your statement — not naming the merchant where you redeem it, but visible nonetheless. Buying with cash is what keeps the chain clean, and it is the step people skip when they are optimising for convenience rather than for the thing they said they wanted.
Two Irish details worth having
SEPA instant changed the baseline. Euro transfers between Irish accounts now typically settle in seconds rather than the next business day, which removed much of the historical reason to hold a separate balance somewhere just to move money quickly. If speed was your reason for reaching past your main bank, it may no longer be one.
An app account and a bank account are not the same legal thing. Deposit protection, the resolution regime and the complaint route can all differ depending on the institution holding your money and where it is authorised. That difference does not matter much for a balance you spend within a week, and matters a great deal for one you leave sitting. It is worth a look at the provider’s own terms rather than an assumption either way.
A habit that saves a lot of frustration: decide the withdrawal route at the same time as the deposit route. It takes half a minute while you are already on the operator’s banking page, and it is the single most common thing people leave until the money is already in. Our how to buy a CashtoCode eVoucher page covers what each reseller accepts, which is the other half of that planning.
Figure 1
Cash at the till: Ireland against the euro area
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Ireland | 49 % |
| Euro area | 52 % |
Frequently asked questions
Is Revolut a fair comparison for a prepaid voucher?
Only up to a point, and it is worth saying so. Revolut is an account: a balance, a card, an identity check and a payment history, able to move money both ways. A voucher is a single-use code with none of that. They overlap on one property — neither puts your main bank card in front of the merchant — and diverge on nearly everything else.
Which one can pay winnings back out?
Revolut, in the normal case. An account can receive as well as send, which is why Irish operators commonly offer it as a withdrawal route. The eVoucher is deposit only. If you expect a payout, set that method up before depositing; operators frequently require the receiving method to be verified first.
Which gives away less about me?
The voucher, at both ends. An account provider holding customer funds is legally required to verify who you are and to keep records, so an account necessarily holds your documents, balance and history. We hold none of that, and the merchant receives only a code and an amount. Your operator still knows you, because it must verify you itself.
Is Ireland really more cash-heavy than the rest of Europe?
Slightly less, in fact, which surprises people. Around 49 % of Irish in-person payments were cash in 2024 against a euro-area average of 52 %. Both are far higher than the widely quoted UK figure of 8 %, but that UK number counts all payments in the economy including business payments, so it is not a comparable measure.
Why are Revolut's fees not listed here?
Because Revolut publishes its own schedule, it varies by plan, and it changes. Repeating a figure we have not verified against the current terms would undermine the reason to read a sourced comparison at all. Check the plan you actually hold — that is the number that will apply.
Can I buy an eVoucher using Revolut?
That depends on the reseller. Reseller checkouts commonly accept cards, PayPal, bank transfers and SEPA, e-wallets and major cryptocurrencies, so a card issued by an app-based account will often work. Note the consequence though: paying that way puts the purchase on your account statement, which is the thing a cash purchase avoids.
Which is faster to start using?
If you already have the app, Revolut, easily. If you do not, the voucher is faster, because there is nothing to open — you buy a code and type it. The comparison is really about what you already hold rather than about the products themselves.
Sources
- European Central Bank: Study on the payment attitudes of consumers in the euro area (SPACE) 2024 (2024) — Irish and euro-area cash shares at the point of sale, Charts 5 and 22. In-person payments only.
- CashtoCode: What is the CashtoCode eVoucher? (2026)
- Revolut: Revolut official site (2026) — The authoritative source for Revolut's current fees, plan differences and limits. No figures from it are reproduced here.
Cite this page
Liam Rooney (2026) „CashtoCode vs Revolut: Paying Online in Ireland". CashtoCode. https://cashtocode.com/ir/help/cashtocode-vs-revolut
Related reading
Decide by what you already hold
If the app is on your phone and you want two-way movement, use it. If you want the account out of the transaction, the voucher does that in one step.
Where the eVoucher worksMany merchants that accept prepaid vouchers are gambling operators. Gambling can be addictive — treat it as entertainment, set deposit and time limits, and never deposit money you cannot afford to lose. In Ireland, free and confidential support is available from Gambling Care and the Problem Gambling Ireland helpline. 18+
