A brand-new fintech business which I was presented to previously this year. Currensea Card Open Account…
It has won a few awards over current months for what it does (offering 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, successfully, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits in between you and your existing bank account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You just invest as you would on a regular debit card and the money is drawn from your current account– simply without the usual 3% charge.
Oh, and is totally free to apply for, which also assists.
There are also some intriguing travel benefits if you pick a paid plan, however the complimentary strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is a service model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and free of charge or more affordable than the competitors
include increasingly more features which your existing customers don’t actually require or desire
include constraints, costs or charges to the function that made people get your item in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will ideally stay there. Monzo, curve and revolut are currently in Phase 3 …
is basic 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 Open Account
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% charge.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) make any airline miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange fees, then you do not need a card, unless you desire totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Nevertheless, credit cards which offer benefits and charge 0% FX fees are rare. The only ‘miles and points’ options which provide a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you do not have a charge 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 an item which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month with no costs and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little charge beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anybody else in your life who needs an easy, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said previously, an extremely easy process. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, internationally).
Your bank account bank automatically confirms that you have enough money in your account and authorises the deal.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. includes a 0.5% fee if you have the complimentary card. There are no charges if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automatic spend notice via the app, if you select to install it.
The money is taken from your current account a few days later on.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, I chose to splash 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:.
But transforming pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime burglary that is almost to happen (frequently in a different language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion charges occurring in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Luckily over the last few years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other great cards guarantees big savings (85%) and a great app.
However I believe the best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street savings account.
What this suggests is you can spend cash you have in your existing current account with less stress over running out of cash and the additional step. That does not suggest it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the excellent, the bad, the ugly 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 Important Strategy of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make income from our Necessary Plan whilst remaining more affordable than other prepaid 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 prices plans.
Membership fees.
We charge a yearly subscription cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription cost likewise eliminates all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Every time you spend with your card we receive a little % of the deal, referred to as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Currensea Card Open Account