A brand-new fintech company which I was presented to previously this year. Can You Share A Currensea Card…
It has won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (offering you a low-cost way to spend abroad) however what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is an advantage.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. You merely invest as you would on a regular debit card and the cash is taken from your present account– just without the normal 3% fee.
Oh, and is totally free to obtain, which likewise assists.
There are also some intriguing travel advantages if you select a paid strategy, but the free strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is a service model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and totally free or more affordable than the competition
include a growing number of functions which your existing consumers do not actually require or desire
include costs, charges or limitations to the function that made people get your item in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will ideally stay there. Revolut, curve and monzo are currently in Stage 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the bar in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Can You Share A Currensea Card
It is a totally free direct debit card to use abroad and which instantly charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline company miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% forex fees, then you do not need a card, unless you desire free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
However, charge card which provide benefits and charge 0% FX charges are few and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ alternatives which provide a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you do not have a credit card offering 0% FX charges and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another charge card particularly to use abroad
you want a product which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly with no fees and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a small fee beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who needs a basic, easy to understand payment card that will save them money when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a really 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, worldwide).
Your bank account bank automatically confirms that you have enough money in your account and authorises the deal.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. If you have the totally free card, includes a 0.5% fee. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no fees.
You get an automated invest notice through the app, if you pick to install it.
The cash is taken from your bank account a few days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, I decided to splash out and purchase 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 couple of days later on:.
Converting pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime burglary that is just about to happen (often in a various language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion costs taking place in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In recent years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards Currensea assures huge cost savings (85%) and a fantastic app.
I believe the best bit may be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this suggests is you can invest cash you have in your existing bank account with less worry about running out of money and the additional action. But that does not mean it is ideal.
In this Currensea review is the excellent, the bad, the ugly and the alternatives, 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 transaction, allowing us to make earnings from our Essential Plan whilst staying much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the complimentary amount on all our strategies, full details can be found on our pricing plans.
Membership costs.
We charge a yearly membership cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription charge likewise removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you spend with your card we get a little % of the transaction, referred to as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be charged to you. Can You Share A Currensea Card