A new fintech business which I was presented to previously this year. Currensea Card Phone Payment…
It has won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (providing you a low-cost way to invest abroad) however 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 money is taken from your current account– simply without the normal 3% fee.
Oh, and is totally free to apply for, which likewise helps.
There are also some intriguing travel benefits if you select a paid plan, but the totally free plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a service model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and totally free or less expensive than the competition
add more and more features which your existing clients don’t really require or desire
include costs, charges or limitations to the function that made people get your item in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this process and will hopefully remain there. Curve, monzo 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 Phone Payment
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) make any airline miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% forex costs, then you do not need a card, unless you want totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which offer benefits and charge 0% FX charges are few and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ alternatives which offer a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you don’t have a charge card offering 0% FX fees and do not want to affect your credit report by getting another charge card particularly to utilize abroad
you want an item which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month without any costs and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little charge beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who needs a basic, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when taking a trip.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, an extremely 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, worldwide).
Your bank account bank automatically validates that you have sufficient 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 totally free card, adds a 0.5% charge. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no fees.
You get an automatic invest alert through the app, if you choose to install it.
The money is drawn from your bank account a few days later on.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, I decided to splash out and buy 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which reveals �,� 4.33 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later on:.
But transforming pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is practically to occur (often in a various language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion charges occurring in the background. Do not get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In recent years a handful of great travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards Currensea assures huge savings (85%) and a fantastic app.
I think the finest bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this implies is you can spend cash you have in your existing bank account with less worry about lacking money and the extra action. That does not suggest it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the good, the bad, the unsightly and the alternatives, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Essential Plan of 0.5% per transaction, permitting us to make profits from our Necessary Plan whilst staying much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the free amount on all our strategies, complete details can be discovered on our prices strategies.
Membership charges.
We charge a yearly subscription cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership charge likewise removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Every time you spend with your card we receive a little % of the deal, referred to as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be credited you. Currensea Card Phone Payment