A brand-new fintech business which I was introduced to earlier this year. Can I Use My Currensea Card For Amazon…
It has won a few awards over current months for what it does (providing you a low-cost 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 between you and your existing bank account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You just invest as you would on a typical debit card and the money is taken from your current account– just without the typical 3% cost.
Oh, and is totally free to request, which likewise assists.
There are also some interesting travel advantages if you choose a paid strategy, but the totally free plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is an organization design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and for free or cheaper than the competition
add more and more functions which your existing consumers don’t really desire or require
add costs, charges or limitations to the function that made individuals get your product in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this procedure and will hopefully stay there. Monzo, curve and revolut are already in Phase 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 My Currensea Card For Amazon
It is a totally free direct debit card to use abroad and which instantly recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% foreign exchange charges, then you don’t require a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Nevertheless, credit cards which offer benefits and charge 0% FX charges are few and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ choices which use a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX charges in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you do not have a charge card offering 0% FX charges and do not wish to impact your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to use abroad
you desire a product which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month with no charges and only 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 requires a basic, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said previously, a very simple procedure. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, globally).
Your bank account bank instantly validates that you have sufficient cash in your account and authorises the transaction.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. If you have the complimentary card, adds a 0.5% charge. There are no costs if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automatic invest notice by means of the app, if you select to install it.
The money is taken from your current account a couple of days later on.
Here is an example. Without any 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 reveals �,� 4.33 arranged to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later on:.
But transforming pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is practically to take place (frequently in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion fees taking place in the background. Do not get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
In current years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards Currensea assures huge savings (85%) and a great app.
But I think the best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this means is you can spend money you have in your existing bank account with less worry about lacking cash and the additional step. That does not mean it is perfect.
In this Currensea evaluation is the excellent, the bad, the unsightly 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 revenue from our Important Strategy whilst staying more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the free amount on all our plans, complete details can be discovered on our pricing strategies.
Membership fees.
We charge an annual membership fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership cost also eliminates all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Every time you invest with your card we receive a little % of the transaction, called interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be charged to you. Can I Use My Currensea Card For Amazon