A new fintech company which I was presented to previously this year. Can I Make Contracts With Currensea Card…
It has actually won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (providing you a low-cost method to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is an advantage.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. You simply invest as you would on a normal debit card and the money is taken from your current account– just without the normal 3% fee.
Oh, and is totally free to apply for, which likewise helps.
There are also some interesting travel advantages if you choose a paid strategy, however the complimentary strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is an organization model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and for free or more affordable than the competition
add a growing number of functions which your existing clients don’t actually desire or require
add charges, restrictions or fees to the function that made people get your product in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this process and will hopefully remain there. Curve, Revolut and Monzo are already in Stage 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Can I Make Contracts With Currensea Card
It is a free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which automatically charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) make any airline miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% forex costs, then you don’t require a card, unless you want complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which provide rewards and charge 0% FX fees are few and far in between. The only ‘points and miles’ choices which offer a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you don’t have a charge card offering 0% FX charges and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to use abroad
you want a product which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month without any costs and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, partner or anybody else in your life who requires an easy, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, an extremely easy process. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, worldwide).
Your bank account bank instantly confirms that you have adequate money in your account and authorises the deal.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. If you have the free card, adds a 0.5% charge. There are no fees if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automatic spend notification by means of the app, if you pick to install it.
The money is drawn from your current account a few days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the journal, I chose to splash out and purchase 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which shows �,� 4.33 arranged to leave my HSBC account a few days later on:.
Transforming pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is almost to take place (frequently in a different language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion charges occurring in the background. Do not get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In recent years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards Currensea promises big savings (85%) and an excellent app.
However I think the very best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street savings account.
What this means is you can invest money you have in your existing bank account with less worry about running out of money and the extra step. That does not mean it is best.
In this Currensea evaluation is the good, the bad, the ugly and the options, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Vital Plan of 0.5% per deal, enabling us to make profits from our Vital Strategy whilst remaining more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the complimentary amount on all our plans, full information can be discovered on our pricing strategies.
Subscription charges.
We charge a yearly subscription cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription fee also eliminates all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest with your card we get a little % of the transaction, called interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Can I Make Contracts With Currensea Card