A new fintech company which I was introduced to previously this year. Currensea Card Design…
It has won a few awards over recent months for what it does (offering you a low-priced method to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good idea.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits between you and your existing current account. There is nothing to top-up or prepay. You just spend as you would on a typical debit card and the money is drawn from your bank account– simply without the usual 3% fee.
Oh, and is totally free to obtain, which likewise helps.
There are also some intriguing travel advantages if you pick a paid plan, however the free 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 competition
add a growing number of functions which your existing clients do not truly require or desire
include constraints, fees or charges to the feature that made individuals get your item in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will hopefully remain 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 pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Card Design
It is a free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which instantly recharges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline company miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% foreign exchange fees, then you don’t require a card, unless you want complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which use rewards and charge 0% FX charges are couple of and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ choices which offer a partial option 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 credit card offering 0% FX fees and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another charge card particularly to use abroad
you want an item which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month without any fees and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who requires a basic, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when taking a trip.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I stated previously, a really simple procedure. 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 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. If you have the complimentary card, adds a 0.5% cost. There are no fees if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automatic invest notification via the app, if you select to install it.
The money is drawn from your bank account a couple of days later on.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, I chose to sprinkle out and purchase 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 couple of days later:.
But converting pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime robbery that is practically to take place (frequently in a different language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion fees happening in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Fortunately in the last few years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards guarantees big cost savings (85%) and a fantastic app.
However I think the very best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street savings account.
What this implies is you can invest cash you have in your existing bank account with less stress over lacking cash and the additional step. That does not imply it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the good, the bad, the awful and the options, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Essential Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make revenue from our Necessary Plan whilst remaining more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the free quantity on all our strategies, complete details can be found on our prices strategies.
Membership charges.
We charge an annual membership charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership fee also removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Each time you spend with your card we get a small % of the deal, called interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Currensea Card Design