A brand-new fintech company which I was introduced to earlier this year. Can I Use Currensea Card In Australia…
It has actually won a few awards over current months for what it does (providing you an inexpensive way to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is an advantage.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits between you and your existing current account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You simply spend as you would on a typical debit card and the money is taken from your current account– just without the normal 3% cost.
Oh, and is complimentary to obtain, which also helps.
There are likewise some interesting travel benefits if you pick a paid plan, but the complimentary strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is a service design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and free of charge or cheaper than the competitors
include more and more functions which your existing clients don’t actually require or desire
add charges, costs or limitations to the feature that made people get your product in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this process and will hopefully remain there. Revolut, monzo and curve are currently in Stage 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the bar in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Can I Use Currensea Card In Australia
It is a complimentary direct debit card to use abroad and which immediately charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) earn any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% forex costs, then you do not need a card, unless you desire complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Nevertheless, credit cards which provide rewards and charge 0% FX charges are rare. The only ‘points and miles’ choices which offer a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you do not have a charge card offering 0% FX fees and do not wish to impact your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to use abroad
you desire an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly with no fees and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small cost beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, partner or anybody else in your life who needs a basic, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a very basic procedure. 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 current account bank instantly validates that you have sufficient money in your account and authorises the deal.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. includes a 0.5% fee if you have the complimentary card. There are no costs if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automated invest notification through the app, if you select to install it.
The money is taken from your current account a few days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, 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 couple of days later:.
Transforming pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is almost to occur (frequently 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.
In recent years a handful of great travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards Currensea guarantees big savings (85%) and a terrific app.
But I think the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street checking account.
What this means is you can spend money you have in your existing current account with less worry about lacking cash and the extra action. But that does not indicate it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the ugly and the alternatives, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Necessary Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, permitting us to make earnings from our Essential Plan whilst staying more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the complimentary quantity on all our plans, complete details can be found on our rates strategies.
Subscription costs.
We charge a yearly subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription fee likewise gets rid of all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Every time you invest with your card we receive a little % of the transaction, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be credited you. Can I Use Currensea Card In Australia