A new fintech company which I was presented to earlier this year. Currensea Fees…
It has actually won a few awards over current months for what it does (using you an affordable way to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is an advantage.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. You just spend as you would on a typical debit card and the money is taken from your present account– simply without the normal 3% charge.
Oh, and is totally free to look for, which also helps.
There are also some interesting travel advantages if you pick a paid plan, but the complimentary strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is a business design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and for free or cheaper than the competitors
include increasingly more features which your existing clients do not truly want or need
include costs, limitations or charges to the function that made individuals get your product in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this process and will hopefully stay there. Revolut, curve and monzo are already in Phase 3 …
is easy enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Fees
It is a totally free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish 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 checking out now.
Nevertheless, charge card which provide rewards and charge 0% FX fees are few and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ options which offer a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you do not have a credit card offering 0% FX charges and do not want to affect your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to use abroad
you desire a product which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month without any fees and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a little fee beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who needs an easy, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when taking a trip.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, a very easy procedure. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, globally).
Your current account bank instantly verifies that you have adequate cash in your account and authorises the deal.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. includes a 0.5% fee if you have the totally free card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no costs.
You get an automatic invest notification by means of the app, if you pick to install it.
The money is taken from your bank account a couple of days later.
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 shows �,� 4.33 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a few days later:.
Converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is almost to happen (often in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion fees happening in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In recent years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards Currensea promises big savings (85%) and a fantastic app.
I think the finest bit may be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this indicates is you can spend cash you have in your existing current account with less fret about lacking money and the additional step. But that does not indicate it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the awful and the alternatives, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Vital Strategy of 0.5% per deal, allowing us to make profits from our Important Strategy whilst staying more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the totally free quantity on all our plans, full details can be discovered on our prices strategies.
Subscription charges.
We charge a yearly membership charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription fee likewise removes all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Each time you invest with your card we get a small % of the transaction, known as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Currensea Fees