A new fintech company which I was presented to previously this year. Does Currensea Card Come For Free…
It has won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (providing you an affordable method to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good thing.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. You merely invest as you would on a regular debit card and the cash is taken from your existing account– just without the usual 3% fee.
Oh, and is complimentary to obtain, which also helps.
There are likewise some intriguing travel advantages if you select a paid plan, however 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 actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and free of charge or cheaper than the competition
include a growing number of functions which your existing clients don’t actually desire or require
include charges, fees or constraints to the function that made individuals get your item in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this procedure and will ideally stay there. Monzo, revolut and curve are currently in Stage 3 …
is easy 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? Does Currensea Card Come For Free
It is a totally free direct debit card to use 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 …) earn any airline company miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% forex costs, then you don’t require a card, unless you want complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which provide benefits and charge 0% FX fees are couple of and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ alternatives 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 credit card offering 0% FX costs and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to use abroad
you desire an item which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month without any fees and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small fee beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who requires a basic, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, 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, worldwide).
Your bank account bank instantly validates that you have adequate 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 complimentary card. There are no charges if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automated spend alert via the app, if you pick to install it.
The cash is taken from your current account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the journal, I decided to sprinkle out and purchase 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 expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight burglary that is just about to happen (often in a various language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion charges happening in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Thankfully in recent years a handful of great travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other great cards assures huge cost savings (85%) and a great app.
I believe the best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this suggests is you can invest cash you have in your existing bank account with less stress over lacking money and the extra step. That does not suggest it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the awful 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 deal, enabling us to make revenue from our Necessary Plan whilst staying much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the free amount on all our plans, complete details can be found on our rates strategies.
Membership charges.
We charge an annual subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership cost also gets rid of all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Whenever you spend with your card we get a little % of the deal, called interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Does Currensea Card Come For Free