A new fintech business which I was presented to previously this year. Currensea Card What Is It…
It has won a few awards over current months for what it does (using you a low-priced way to spend abroad) however what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is an advantage.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. You simply invest as you would on a typical debit card and the money is taken from your existing account– just without the usual 3% fee.
Oh, and is complimentary to get, which also assists.
There are also some fascinating travel advantages if you pick 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 free of charge or less expensive than the competitors
include more and more features which your existing customers don’t really require or desire
add costs, charges or limitations to the function that made people get your item in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this process and will ideally stay there. Curve, monzo and revolut are already in Phase 3 …
is basic 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 What Is It
It is a totally free direct debit card to use abroad and which automatically recharges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% foreign exchange fees, then you do not require a card, unless you want totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which use rewards and charge 0% FX fees are couple of and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ options which use a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX costs and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to use abroad
you desire an item which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly without any charges and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small fee 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 cash when taking a trip.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a very 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, internationally).
Your bank account bank instantly confirms that you have sufficient cash in your account and authorises the deal.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. includes a 0.5% charge if you have the free card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no charges.
You get an automated spend notice via the app, if you select to install it.
The money is taken from your current account a couple of days later on.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, I chose to splash out and purchase 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which shows �,� 4.33 set up to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later on:.
However transforming pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime robbery that is just about to take place (frequently in a different language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion charges occurring in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Luckily in recent years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards guarantees big cost 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 bank account.
What this implies is you can invest money you have in your existing bank account with less stress over running out of cash and the extra step. However that does not imply it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the unsightly and the options, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Essential Plan of 0.5% per transaction, allowing us to make income from our Necessary Strategy whilst staying more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the free amount on all our strategies, complete details can be found on our prices plans.
Membership charges.
We charge a yearly subscription fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership charge likewise gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest with your card we receive a small % of the deal, called interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Currensea Card What Is It