A new fintech company which I was introduced to earlier this year. Can I Get Paid In Currensea Card…
It has actually won a few awards over current months for what it does (offering you an inexpensive way to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is an advantage.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits in between you and your existing current account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You merely spend as you would on a regular debit card and the money is drawn from your bank account– simply without the usual 3% cost.
Oh, and is complimentary to get, which also assists.
There are also some intriguing travel benefits if you select a paid plan, but the totally free plan works fine. You can use here.
There is a company design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and totally free or cheaper than the competition
include increasingly more functions which your existing customers don’t actually need or want
include limitations, costs or charges to the function that made people get your item in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this process and will ideally stay there. Revolut, monzo and curve are currently in Phase 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Can I Get Paid In Currensea Card
It is a free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately recharges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline company miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange costs, then you don’t need a card, unless you want complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which offer benefits and charge 0% FX costs are couple of and far in between. The only ‘points and miles’ choices which provide a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you do not have a charge card offering 0% FX costs and do not wish to impact your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to utilize abroad
you desire a product which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month with no charges and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a little charge beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who needs a basic, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, a really easy procedure. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, worldwide).
Your bank account bank instantly verifies that you have sufficient cash in your account and authorises the deal.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. If you have the totally free card, includes a 0.5% fee. There are no costs if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automated invest notification via the app, if you choose to install it.
The cash is drawn from your current account a few days later on.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, I chose to sprinkle out and purchase 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which reveals �,� 4.33 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a few days later:.
Converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime burglary that is almost to take place (typically in a various language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion fees happening in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Fortunately in recent years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards guarantees huge savings (85%) and a terrific app.
I think the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this suggests is you can invest money you have in your existing bank account with less stress over lacking cash and the extra action. However that does not suggest it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the good, the bad, the ugly and the alternatives, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Vital Strategy of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make revenue from our Vital Plan whilst staying much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the free amount on all our plans, complete details can be found on our prices plans.
Subscription fees.
We charge a yearly subscription fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership fee also removes all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Whenever you spend with your card we get a small % of the deal, referred to as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be credited you. Can I Get Paid In Currensea Card