A brand-new fintech company which I was introduced to previously this year. How Long Does A Currensea Card Take To Arrive…
It has won a few awards over current months for what it does (offering you an inexpensive method to spend abroad) however what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is a good thing.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. You merely spend as you would on a regular debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– just without the typical 3% fee.
Oh, and is totally free to get, which also assists.
There are also some interesting travel benefits if you select a paid strategy, but the complimentary plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a service design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and totally free or cheaper than the competitors
add more and more features which your existing customers don’t truly desire or require
include charges, fees or restrictions to the function that made individuals get your item in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will ideally stay there. Revolut, monzo and curve are already in Stage 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the bar in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? How Long Does A Currensea Card Take To Arrive
It is a totally free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make 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 fees, then you do not require a card, unless you desire complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which use benefits and charge 0% FX fees are couple of and far in between. The only ‘points and miles’ options which use a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you do not have a charge card offering 0% FX charges and do not want to affect your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to use abroad
you want a product which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month with no fees and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little fee beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who requires a simple, easy to understand payment card that will save them money when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a really simple procedure. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, worldwide).
Your current account bank automatically validates that you have sufficient 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. If you have the complimentary card, includes a 0.5% fee. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no fees.
You get an automated spend notification through the app, if you pick to install it.
The money is taken from your bank account a few days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the journal, I decided to splash 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 couple of days later on:.
Converting pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is just about to occur (frequently in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion costs taking place in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Luckily recently a handful of great travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards promises 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 means is you can spend money you have in your existing current account with less stress over running out of cash and the additional action. However that does not mean it is best.
In this Currensea review is the good, 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 Essential Plan of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make earnings from our Important 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 complimentary quantity on all our strategies, full details can be found on our prices plans.
Subscription fees.
We charge an annual subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership cost likewise eliminates all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Whenever you spend with your card we receive a little % of the deal, referred to as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be credited you. How Long Does A Currensea Card Take To Arrive