A new fintech business which I was introduced to previously this year. Currensea Credit Card Review…
It has won a few awards over recent months for what it does (using 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, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits between you and your existing bank account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You simply spend as you would on a regular debit card and the money is taken from your current account– simply without the typical 3% fee.
Oh, and is complimentary to obtain, which likewise helps.
There are also some intriguing travel benefits if you choose a paid strategy, however the free strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is a service model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and totally free or more affordable than the competition
add more and more functions which your existing clients don’t truly desire or need
include constraints, fees or charges to the function that made people get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this process and will hopefully stay there. Monzo, curve and revolut are currently in Stage 3 …
is simple 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 Credit Card Review
It is a totally free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which instantly charges all purchases to your existing bank 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 want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% forex costs, then you do not need a card, unless you desire complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which provide benefits and charge 0% FX charges are couple of and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ alternatives 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 credit card offering 0% FX charges and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to use abroad
you want a product which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly without any costs and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small cost beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, partner or anybody else in your life who needs an easy, easy to understand payment card that will save them money when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I stated previously, an extremely easy procedure. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, internationally).
Your current account bank instantly verifies that you have enough 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. If you have the free card, adds a 0.5% cost. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no fees.
You get an automatic spend notification via the app, if you choose to install it.
The cash is drawn from your current account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the journal, 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 set up to leave my HSBC account a few days later:.
Transforming pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight break-in that is just about to take place (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion charges occurring in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Fortunately over the last few years a handful of great travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards promises big cost savings (85%) and an excellent app.
I believe the best bit may 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 stress over running out of money and the extra action. That does not imply it is perfect.
In this Currensea evaluation is the great, 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 nominal FX markup on our Vital Plan of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make profits from our Essential Strategy whilst staying more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the free amount on all our plans, complete information can be discovered on our pricing strategies.
Subscription charges.
We charge an annual membership fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription charge likewise removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Every time you spend with your card we receive a little % of the deal, called interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be charged to you. Currensea Credit Card Review