A brand-new fintech business which I was presented to earlier this year. Free Card Currensea…
It has actually won a few awards over recent months for what it does (offering you an affordable method to spend abroad) however what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good idea.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. You simply invest as you would on a typical debit card and the money is taken from your present account– just without the usual 3% fee.
Oh, and is complimentary to look for, which likewise helps.
There are likewise some interesting travel advantages if you select a paid strategy, but the totally free plan works fine. You can use here.
There is a company model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and totally free or more affordable than the competitors
add increasingly more features which your existing clients do not actually require or desire
include costs, charges or restrictions to the function that made people get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will hopefully stay there. Monzo, revolut and curve are currently in Phase 3 …
is simple 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? Free Card Currensea
It is a free direct debit card to use abroad and which automatically charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline 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 need a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Nevertheless, credit cards which provide rewards and charge 0% FX costs are rare. The only ‘points and miles’ alternatives which offer a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you don’t have a charge card offering 0% FX costs and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to utilize abroad
you desire a product which permits 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 small cost beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, 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 said earlier, an extremely simple procedure. 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 current account bank instantly confirms that you have sufficient money in your account and authorises the deal.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. adds a 0.5% fee if you have the totally free card. There are no costs if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automated invest notification by means of the app, if you pick to install it.
The money is drawn from your bank account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, 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 arranged to leave my HSBC account a few days later on:.
Converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime burglary that is almost to occur (often in a various language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion charges taking place in the background. Do not get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Thankfully in the last few years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other great cards assures huge savings (85%) and a terrific app.
However I think the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this implies is you can spend money you have in your existing bank account with less worry about lacking money and the extra step. However that does not imply it is perfect.
In this Currensea evaluation is the excellent, the bad, the awful and the options, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Important Plan of 0.5% per transaction, allowing us to make income from our Essential Plan whilst staying much cheaper than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the totally free quantity on all our strategies, full information can be discovered on our prices strategies.
Membership costs.
We charge a yearly subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription cost likewise gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Each time you spend with your card we receive a little % of the transaction, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be charged to you. Free Card Currensea