A new fintech business which I was introduced to earlier this year. Currensea Card Debit…
It has actually won a few awards over recent months for what it does (providing you an inexpensive way to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good idea.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. You just invest as you would on a normal debit card and the money is taken from your present account– simply without the normal 3% fee.
Oh, and is totally free to apply for, which likewise assists.
There are also some interesting travel benefits if you pick a paid plan, but the complimentary plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a service design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and free of charge or cheaper than the competitors
add more and more functions which your existing customers don’t really desire or need
add charges, restrictions or charges to the function that made people get your item in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this process and will hopefully stay there. Curve, monzo and revolut are currently in Stage 3 …
is easy enough that it passes my ‘Can you describe it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Card Debit
It is a complimentary direct debit card to use abroad and which immediately recharges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% fee.
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% foreign exchange fees, then you don’t need a card, unless you want totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
However, credit cards which offer benefits and charge 0% FX fees are rare. The only ‘miles and points’ alternatives 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 charge card offering 0% FX charges and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to utilize abroad
you desire an item which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month with no fees and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who requires a basic, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a very basic process. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, worldwide).
Your current account bank instantly confirms that you have sufficient money in your account and authorises the transaction.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. adds a 0.5% charge if you have the complimentary card. There are no fees if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automated invest notification by means of the app, if you pick to install it.
The money is drawn from your bank account a few days later.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, I decided to sprinkle out and buy 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which shows �,� 4.33 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a few days later on:.
But converting pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime burglary that is almost to take place (frequently in a various language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion charges happening in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In current years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards Currensea assures big savings (85%) and an excellent app.
I think the finest bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this implies is you can invest money you have in your existing bank account with less fret about running out of cash and the additional step. That does not imply it is ideal.
In this Currensea evaluation is the good, the bad, the awful and the alternatives, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Vital Strategy of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make income from our Essential Plan whilst remaining much cheaper than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the free quantity on all our strategies, full details can be discovered on our pricing strategies.
Subscription fees.
We charge an annual membership fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription charge likewise eliminates all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest with your card we get a little % of the transaction, called interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be credited you. Currensea Card Debit