A new fintech company which I was presented to earlier this year. Currensea Review Martin Lewis…
It has actually won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (using you a low-cost way to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good idea.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. You merely spend as you would on a regular debit card and the cash is taken from your existing account– simply without the typical 3% fee.
Oh, and is totally free to look for, which likewise helps.
There are also some interesting travel benefits if you pick a paid strategy, however the totally free strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is a company model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and totally free or more affordable than the competition
include more and more functions which your existing clients don’t truly desire or need
add restrictions, fees or charges to the function that made individuals get your item in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this process and will ideally remain there. Monzo, revolut and curve are already in Phase 3 …
is easy enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Review Martin Lewis
It is a free direct debit card to use abroad and which immediately charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) earn any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% forex fees, then you don’t require a card, unless you desire complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which offer benefits and charge 0% FX charges are few and far in between. The only ‘miles and points’ options which offer a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX charges in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you do not have a charge card offering 0% FX charges and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another charge card particularly to utilize abroad
you desire a product which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month with no charges and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a little fee beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who requires an easy, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said previously, a really basic process. 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 automatically validates 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. includes a 0.5% fee if you have the free card. There are no charges if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automated spend notice by means of the app, if you select to install it.
The cash is taken from your bank account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the journal, I chose to sprinkle 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 couple of days later:.
Transforming pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime burglary that is just about to occur (frequently in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion costs taking place in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In current years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards Currensea assures huge savings (85%) and an excellent app.
But I think the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street checking account.
What this implies is you can invest cash you have in your existing current account with less worry about lacking money and the additional step. That does not indicate it is ideal.
In this Currensea evaluation is the excellent, the bad, the unsightly and the options, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Important Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, allowing us to make income from our Important Plan whilst remaining much cheaper than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the complimentary quantity on all our plans, complete details can be found on our rates strategies.
Membership costs.
We charge a yearly membership fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership cost likewise removes all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Every time you invest with your card we receive a little % of the deal, referred to as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Currensea Review Martin Lewis