A new fintech company which I was presented to earlier this year. Can You Use Currensea Card Anywhere…
It has actually won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (using you a low-cost method to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is an advantage.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. You just spend as you would on a regular debit card and the money is taken from your current account– just without the usual 3% cost.
Oh, and is complimentary to apply for, which also helps.
There are likewise some interesting travel advantages if you choose a paid plan, however the totally free strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is a business model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and totally free or cheaper than the competition
add more and more features which your existing clients do not actually require or desire
include charges, limitations or charges to the feature that made people get your product in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this process and will hopefully remain there. Revolut, monzo and curve are currently in Stage 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Can You Use Currensea Card Anywhere
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 small 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You do not (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% foreign exchange charges, then you don’t require a card, unless you desire totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
However, charge card which offer benefits and charge 0% FX charges are few and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ alternatives which use a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you do not have a credit card offering 0% FX costs and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another charge card particularly to utilize abroad
you want a product which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly with no costs and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little charge beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult children, 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 operate in practice?
It is, as I said previously, an extremely simple process. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, internationally).
Your bank account bank automatically verifies that you have adequate 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 complimentary card, adds a 0.5% fee. 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 money is drawn from your current account a few days later.
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 reveals �,� 4.33 arranged to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later on:.
Transforming pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight burglary that is almost to take place (often in a various language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion costs occurring in the background. Do not get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Fortunately in recent years a handful of great travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards guarantees big savings (85%) and a terrific app.
I believe the best bit might 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 current account with less fret about running out of cash and the additional step. That does not indicate it is best.
In this Currensea evaluation is the excellent, the bad, the awful and the alternatives, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Vital Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make revenue from our Necessary Strategy whilst staying more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the totally free quantity on all our strategies, full information can be found on our pricing strategies.
Membership costs.
We charge a yearly membership fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription charge likewise gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Every time you spend with your card we receive a small % of the transaction, referred to as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Can You Use Currensea Card Anywhere