A new fintech business which I was presented to previously this year. Does The Currensea Card Have Credit Card Protection…
It has won a few awards over recent months for what it does (using you a low-cost way to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good idea.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits in between you and your existing current account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You merely spend as you would on a regular debit card and the cash is taken from your bank account– just without the normal 3% cost.
Oh, and is free to obtain, which also helps.
There are also some interesting travel benefits if you select a paid plan, however the totally free strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is a business design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and totally free or cheaper than the competitors
include a growing number of functions which your existing clients don’t actually want or need
include fees, constraints or charges to the feature that made people get your item in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this process and will hopefully stay there. Revolut, monzo and curve are already in Phase 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? Does The Currensea Card Have Credit Card Protection
It is a complimentary direct debit card to use abroad and which instantly recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) earn any airline company miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% forex charges, then you don’t need a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which use benefits and charge 0% FX charges are couple of and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ options which offer a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you do not have a charge card offering 0% FX costs and do not wish to impact 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 fees and only 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 anyone else in your life who needs a basic, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a very basic procedure. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, worldwide).
Your current account bank automatically verifies that you have adequate cash in your account and authorises the transaction.
The transaction 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% charge. There are no costs if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automatic invest notification by means of the app, if you choose to install it.
The cash is taken from your current account a few days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the journal, I chose to sprinkle out and purchase 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which reveals �,� 4.33 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a few days later:.
However transforming pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime burglary that is almost to take place (often in a different language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion costs occurring in the background. Do not get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Luckily over the last few years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards guarantees huge cost savings (85%) and an excellent app.
But I believe the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street checking account.
What this implies is you can spend money you have in your existing bank account with less worry about running out of money and the additional action. However that does not imply it is ideal.
In this Currensea review is the excellent, the bad, the ugly and the alternatives, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Important Plan of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make profits from our Vital Plan whilst remaining more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the free amount on all our plans, full information can be found on our prices strategies.
Membership costs.
We charge an annual membership fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription charge likewise gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest with your card we receive a small % of the transaction, called interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Does The Currensea Card Have Credit Card Protection