A new fintech business which I was presented to previously this year. How Does The Currensea Card Work…
It has actually won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (using you a low-priced method to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good idea.
is, successfully, 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– simply without the normal 3% charge.
Oh, and is complimentary to look for, which likewise assists.
There are likewise some fascinating travel benefits if you pick a paid plan, however the complimentary plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a company design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and free of charge or cheaper than the competition
include increasingly more features which your existing clients do not really require or want
add charges, fees or restrictions to the function that made people get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this process and will hopefully remain there. Revolut, curve and monzo are already in Stage 3 …
is simple 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? How Does The Currensea Card Work
It is a totally free direct debit card to use abroad and which automatically charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You do not (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% foreign exchange fees, then you do not require a card, unless you want totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which offer benefits and charge 0% FX fees are couple of and far in between. The only ‘points and miles’ alternatives which provide a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you do not have a charge card offering 0% FX costs and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another charge card particularly to utilize abroad
you desire a product which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month without any costs and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a small fee 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 conserve them cash when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, an extremely simple process. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, internationally).
Your current account bank automatically validates that you have enough money in your account and authorises the transaction.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. adds a 0.5% cost if you have the totally free card. There are no fees if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automatic spend alert through the app, if you select to install it.
The cash is taken from your current account a few days later on.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, I decided to sprinkle out and purchase 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which reveals �,� 4.33 set up to leave my HSBC account a few days later:.
But converting pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime robbery that is practically to happen (often in a various language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion costs taking place in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Luckily in recent years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards assures huge cost savings (85%) and a terrific app.
I think the finest bit may be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this suggests is you can spend money you have in your existing bank account with less worry about lacking cash and the additional step. However that does not mean it is best.
In this Currensea evaluation is the excellent, the bad, the unsightly and the alternatives, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Essential Plan of 0.5% per deal, allowing us to make revenue from our Necessary Strategy whilst staying more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the free amount on all our strategies, complete information can be found on our pricing plans.
Subscription fees.
We charge an annual subscription fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription cost likewise gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you spend with your card we receive a small % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. How Does The Currensea Card Work