A brand-new fintech company which I was introduced to earlier this year. Does Currensea Charge For Card Payments…
It has actually won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (providing you a low-priced way to spend 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 just invest as you would on a typical debit card and the cash is taken from your present account– just without the typical 3% cost.
Oh, and is totally free to get, which likewise assists.
There are also some interesting travel advantages if you choose a paid strategy, but the complimentary plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a company 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 competition
add more and more features which your existing consumers do not really require or want
include limitations, charges or charges 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 process and will ideally remain there. Monzo, curve and revolut are currently in Phase 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you describe it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Does Currensea Charge For Card Payments
It is a totally free direct debit card to use abroad and which instantly charges all purchases to your existing current 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 credit card offering 0% foreign exchange fees, then you don’t need a card, unless you want totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which offer rewards and charge 0% FX costs are few and far in between. The only ‘points and miles’ choices which use a partial service 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 credit card offering 0% FX costs and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to use abroad
you want an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month with no charges and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a small cost beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who requires a basic, easy to understand payment card that will save them money when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said previously, an extremely easy process. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, globally).
Your bank account bank immediately confirms 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 upon the currency. If you have the free card, includes a 0.5% fee. There are no costs if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automatic invest alert via the app, if you choose to install it.
The money is taken from your bank account a few days later on.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, I decided to sprinkle out and buy 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which shows �,� 4.33 arranged to leave my HSBC account a few days later:.
But transforming pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime robbery that is just about to happen (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion costs taking place in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Thankfully in the last few years a handful of great travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other great cards assures big cost savings (85%) and an excellent app.
But I believe the very best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street savings account.
What this indicates is you can spend cash you have in your existing current account with less fret about running out of money and the additional step. However that does not indicate it is best.
In this Currensea evaluation is the great, the bad, the awful 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 Vital Plan of 0.5% per transaction, allowing us to make income from our Vital Strategy whilst remaining much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the complimentary amount on all our plans, full details can be found on our rates strategies.
Membership costs.
We charge an annual subscription cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription charge also removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Every time you spend with your card we receive a little % of the transaction, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Does Currensea Charge For Card Payments