A new fintech company which I was presented to previously this year. Can I Send Dollars To Burundi With Currensea Card…
It has won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (using you an inexpensive way to spend abroad) however what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is a good idea.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits in between you and your existing current account. There is nothing to top-up or prepay. You merely spend as you would on a typical debit card and the money is taken from your bank account– just without the typical 3% fee.
Oh, and is free to apply for, which likewise assists.
There are also some intriguing travel advantages if you select a paid strategy, but the totally free strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is a service model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and for free or more affordable than the competition
add more and more functions which your existing clients don’t truly desire or need
include costs, constraints or charges to the feature 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 hopefully stay there. Monzo, curve and revolut are currently in Phase 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you describe it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Can I Send Dollars To Burundi With Currensea Card
It is a free direct debit card to use abroad and which instantly charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange costs, then you do not need a card, unless you desire totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which provide rewards and charge 0% FX costs are couple of and far in between. The only ‘points and miles’ options which provide a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you do not have a credit card offering 0% FX fees and do not wish to impact your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to utilize abroad
you desire a product which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly with no costs and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a little charge beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anybody else in your life who needs an easy, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said previously, an extremely easy procedure. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, internationally).
Your current account bank automatically verifies that you have adequate cash in your account and authorises the transaction.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. includes a 0.5% charge if you have the totally free card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no costs.
You get an automated invest alert via the app, if you select to install it.
The cash is drawn from your bank account a couple of days later on.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, I chose to sprinkle out and buy 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 on:.
But converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is practically to occur (often in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion costs occurring in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Thankfully in the last few years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards promises big savings (85%) and a great app.
However I think the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street savings account.
What this implies is you can invest money you have in your existing current account with less stress over lacking cash and the extra step. That does not suggest it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the good, the bad, the awful and the alternatives, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Essential Plan of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make income from our Necessary Plan whilst remaining more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the complimentary quantity on all our strategies, full details can be found on our pricing strategies.
Subscription fees.
We charge an annual subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership charge also gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest with your card we get a little % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Can I Send Dollars To Burundi With Currensea Card