A brand-new fintech business which I was introduced to previously this year. How Much Can I Spend On Currensea Card…
It has won a few awards over recent 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, effectively, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits between you and your existing bank account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You simply spend as you would on a normal debit card and the money is drawn from your bank account– just without the typical 3% charge.
Oh, and is complimentary to request, which also assists.
There are also some intriguing travel advantages if you pick a paid strategy, however the free strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is an organization 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 less expensive than the competitors
include increasingly more features which your existing clients do not actually require or want
add charges, limitations or costs to the feature that made people get your item in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will ideally stay there. Revolut, curve and monzo are currently in Phase 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? How Much Can I Spend On Currensea Card
It is a totally free direct debit card to use abroad and which immediately charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) earn any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% forex fees, then you don’t require a card, unless you want complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which provide benefits and charge 0% FX charges are few and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ alternatives which offer a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS possibly 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 credit card specifically to utilize abroad
you want a product which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly without any fees and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small cost beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who requires a basic, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a really basic procedure. 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 instantly verifies that you have enough cash in your account and authorises the deal.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. includes a 0.5% cost if you have the totally free card. There are no costs if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automatic spend notice via the app, if you choose to install it.
The cash is taken from your current account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, 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 set up to leave my HSBC account a few days later on:.
Converting pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime robbery that is almost to occur (often in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion charges taking place in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Luckily over the last few years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards guarantees big savings (85%) and a great app.
However I think 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 cash you have in your existing current account with less worry about running out of money and the additional step. But that does not mean it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the excellent, the bad, the awful 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 Necessary Plan of 0.5% per transaction, allowing us to make earnings from our Necessary Plan whilst remaining much cheaper than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the complimentary quantity on all our strategies, full information can be found on our prices strategies.
Membership costs.
We charge an annual subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription charge likewise removes all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest with your card we receive a little % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be charged to you. How Much Can I Spend On Currensea Card