A new fintech business which I was presented to earlier this year. Currensea Card Sidemen…
It has won a few awards over recent months for what it does (providing you a low-priced way to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good idea.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. You merely spend as you would on a typical debit card and the money is taken from your present account– just without the usual 3% cost.
Oh, and is complimentary to request, which likewise assists.
There are likewise some interesting travel benefits if you pick a paid plan, however the complimentary plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a business model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and for free or less expensive than the competition
add increasingly more functions which your existing consumers don’t actually desire or need
include charges, fees or restrictions to the function that made individuals get your product in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will hopefully stay there. Revolut, monzo and curve are currently in Stage 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Card Sidemen
It is a totally free direct debit card to use abroad and which immediately recharges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline miles or points for using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange charges, then you don’t require a card, unless you desire complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which use benefits and charge 0% FX charges are few and far in between. The only ‘points and miles’ alternatives which provide a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX costs and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to use abroad
you desire a product 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 charge beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who needs a basic, easy to understand payment card that will save them money when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a really simple procedure. You utilize 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 instantly validates that you have adequate 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. adds a 0.5% cost if you have the complimentary card. There are no fees if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automated invest notification through the app, if you choose to install it.
The money is drawn from your current account a few days later on.
Here is an example. With no 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 reveals �,� 4.33 arranged to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later:.
Converting pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is almost to occur (frequently in a various language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion costs happening in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In recent years a handful of great travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards Currensea promises huge savings (85%) and a great app.
I believe the best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this indicates is you can invest cash you have in your existing current account with less stress over lacking cash and the additional action. That does not mean it is ideal.
In this Currensea evaluation is the excellent, the bad, the ugly 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 Important Plan of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make income from our Vital Plan whilst staying more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the totally free amount on all our strategies, full details can be found on our pricing plans.
Membership fees.
We charge an annual membership fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership cost also gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest with your card we receive a small % of the deal, referred to as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be credited you. Currensea Card Sidemen