A new fintech business which I was presented to earlier this year. Can I Withdraw Foreign Currency Using Currensea Card…
It has actually won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (offering you an affordable way to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good thing.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. You just invest as you would on a regular debit card and the cash is taken from your existing account– simply without the typical 3% cost.
Oh, and is totally free to look for, which likewise helps.
There are likewise some interesting travel benefits if you pick a paid plan, but the totally free plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a business design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and for free or cheaper than the competitors
add increasingly more features which your existing clients don’t really need or want
include charges, fees or restrictions to the feature that made people get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will hopefully stay there. Curve, Revolut and Monzo are currently in Phase 3 …
is simple 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 Withdraw Foreign Currency Using Currensea Card
It is a totally free direct debit card to use abroad and which immediately charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline miles or points for using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% forex fees, then you do not need a card, unless you desire complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which provide benefits and charge 0% FX fees are few and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ choices which provide a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you don’t have a charge card offering 0% FX charges and do not want to affect your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to utilize abroad
you want a product which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month without any costs and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a small charge beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who needs a basic, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, an extremely easy process. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, internationally).
Your bank account bank automatically confirms that you have enough 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. includes a 0.5% fee if you have the totally free card. There are no costs if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automated spend notice through the app, if you choose to install it.
The money is taken from your current account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the journal, I decided to sprinkle out and purchase 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which shows �,� 4.33 set up 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 daylight robbery that is almost to take place (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion costs occurring in the background. Do not get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Fortunately in the last few years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards assures huge savings (85%) and a fantastic app.
However I believe the very best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street checking account.
What this suggests is you can invest money you have in your existing current account with less stress over running out of cash and the extra action. That does not imply it is best.
In this Currensea evaluation is the good, the bad, the unsightly 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 Necessary Strategy of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make profits from our Necessary Plan whilst remaining much cheaper than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the free amount on all our strategies, complete details can be found on our rates strategies.
Membership fees.
We charge an annual membership charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership charge likewise gets rid of all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Every time you invest with your card we receive a small % of the transaction, referred to as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be charged to you. Can I Withdraw Foreign Currency Using Currensea Card