A new fintech company which I was introduced to previously this year. Currensea Cash Withdrawal…
It has won a few awards over recent months for what it does (offering you a low-priced method to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is an advantage.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits in between you and your existing current account. There is nothing to top-up or prepay. You merely spend as you would on a normal debit card and the money is drawn from your current account– simply without the usual 3% fee.
Oh, and is free to apply for, which likewise assists.
There are likewise some fascinating travel advantages if you pick a paid plan, however the free strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is a business model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and totally free or cheaper than the competitors
add a growing number of functions which your existing customers do not really need or want
include charges, constraints or fees to the function that made individuals get your item in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this procedure and will ideally remain there. Revolut, monzo and curve are currently in Phase 3 …
is easy 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 Cash Withdrawal
It is a totally free direct debit card to use abroad and which instantly recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) earn any airline miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange fees, then you do not require a card, unless you want totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Nevertheless, credit cards which provide rewards and charge 0% FX fees are few and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ alternatives which provide a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card 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 wish to impact your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to utilize abroad
you desire a product which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month with no 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 conserve them money when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated 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, globally).
Your bank account bank instantly verifies that you have adequate money in your account and authorises the transaction.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. If you have the free card, includes a 0.5% charge. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no charges.
You get an automated invest notice via the app, if you select to install it.
The cash is drawn 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 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 on:.
However transforming pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime robbery that is just about to occur (frequently in a various language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion charges taking place in the background. Do not get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Luckily in recent years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other great cards guarantees huge savings (85%) and a terrific app.
However I believe the very best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street checking account.
What this indicates is you can spend money you have in your existing current account with less fret about running out of money and the extra step. However that does not imply it is perfect.
In this Currensea evaluation is the good, the bad, the ugly and the options, so that you can choose.
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, enabling us to make profits from our Essential Strategy whilst staying more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the totally free amount on all our strategies, full information can be found on our pricing strategies.
Membership 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 deals.
Interchange.
Every time you invest with your card we get a little % of the deal, called interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Currensea Cash Withdrawal