A brand-new fintech company which I was presented to previously this year. Can You Use A Currensea Card In Copenhagen…
It has actually won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (providing you a low-cost way to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is a good thing.
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 cash is drawn from your bank account– just without the normal 3% fee.
Oh, and is complimentary to apply for, which likewise assists.
There are also some fascinating travel benefits if you pick a paid plan, however the free plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a company model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and totally free or more affordable than the competitors
add increasingly more features which your existing clients do not really want or need
add limitations, charges or fees to the function 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 stay there. Revolut, monzo and curve are currently in Stage 3 …
is easy enough that it passes my ‘Can you describe it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Can You Use A Currensea Card In Copenhagen
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% cost.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) earn 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 don’t require a card, unless you desire totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Nevertheless, charge card which offer rewards and charge 0% FX costs are few and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ options which offer a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX charges and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to utilize abroad
you want a product which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month with no charges and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who needs a basic, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said previously, a really basic procedure. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, globally).
Your current account bank automatically verifies that you have enough cash 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, adds a 0.5% cost. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no charges.
You get an automated spend notification through the app, if you choose to install it.
The cash is drawn from your current account a couple of days later on.
Here is an example. With no 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 shows �,� 4.33 set up to leave my HSBC account a few days later:.
Transforming pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight break-in that is practically to take place (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion charges happening in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
In recent years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other great cards Currensea promises big savings (85%) and a terrific app.
I think the finest bit may be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this suggests is you can invest money you have in your existing current account with less worry about running out of money and the additional action. That does not mean it is ideal.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the ugly and the options, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Necessary Plan of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make income from our Essential Strategy whilst remaining much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the complimentary amount on all our plans, full details can be discovered 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 subscription cost likewise gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Every time you invest with your card we get a small % of the transaction, referred to as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Can You Use A Currensea Card In Copenhagen