A new fintech business which I was presented to earlier this year. Currensea Card Direct Debit…
It has actually won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (providing you an inexpensive method to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is a good thing.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. You simply spend as you would on a regular debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– simply without the typical 3% cost.
Oh, and is free to apply for, which also helps.
There are also some intriguing travel benefits if you choose a paid plan, however the free plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a company design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and for free or less expensive than the competition
include more and more features which your existing consumers do not truly want or require
add restrictions, charges or charges to the feature that made people get your item in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this process and will ideally remain there. Curve, monzo and revolut are currently in Phase 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you describe it to your mate in the bar in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Card Direct Debit
It is a free direct debit card to use abroad and which instantly recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% forex costs, then you don’t need a card, unless you desire complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Nevertheless, credit cards which provide rewards and charge 0% FX fees are rare. The only ‘points and miles’ options which use a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card 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 affect your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to utilize abroad
you desire an item which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month with no costs and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a small cost beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, partner or anybody else in your life who needs an easy, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a very 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 validates that you have enough 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. includes a 0.5% fee if you have the free card. There are no costs if you have one of their paid cards.
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 decided to splash 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:.
Transforming pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime robbery that is almost to take place (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion fees happening in the background. Do not get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
In current years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards Currensea assures huge savings (85%) and a fantastic app.
However I believe the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this implies is you can invest money you have in your existing current account with less fret about running out of money and the additional step. That does not mean it is ideal.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the unsightly and the alternatives, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Essential Strategy of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make earnings from our Vital Plan whilst remaining much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the complimentary amount on all our strategies, complete details can be discovered on our pricing plans.
Subscription fees.
We charge an annual membership charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership charge also gets rid of all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest with your card we receive a little % of the transaction, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be charged to you. Currensea Card Direct Debit