A brand-new fintech business which I was introduced to previously this year. How To Deposit Cash Into Currensea Card…
It has actually won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (providing you a low-priced way to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good thing.
is, effectively, 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 just spend as you would on a regular debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– just without the usual 3% cost.
Oh, and is complimentary to make an application for, which also assists.
There are also some fascinating travel advantages if you pick a paid strategy, however the complimentary plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is an organization model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and for free or cheaper than the competition
include a growing number of functions which your existing consumers do not actually want or require
include constraints, charges or charges to the function that made people get your item in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this process and will hopefully stay there. Revolut, curve and monzo are currently in Phase 3 …
is easy enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the bar in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? How To Deposit Cash Into Currensea Card
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which automatically charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange charges, then you don’t require a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which provide rewards and charge 0% FX charges are few and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ choices which use a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you don’t have a charge card offering 0% FX charges and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to use abroad
you desire an item which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month without any costs and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small cost beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who requires a basic, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a really easy process. You use 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 immediately confirms that you have adequate 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. If you have the free card, adds a 0.5% fee. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no fees.
You get an automatic invest notification by means of the app, if you select to install it.
The money is taken from your bank account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, I decided to splash 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:.
However converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is practically to take place (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion fees occurring in the background. Do not get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Fortunately over the last few years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards guarantees huge savings (85%) and an excellent app.
However I believe the best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street checking account.
What this suggests is you can invest cash you have in your existing current account with less fret about running out of money and the additional step. That does not suggest it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the excellent, the bad, the awful and the options, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Important Strategy of 0.5% per deal, allowing us to make profits from our Essential Strategy whilst staying much cheaper than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the free amount on all our plans, complete details can be found on our pricing strategies.
Membership fees.
We charge a yearly subscription fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription charge also removes all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Every time you invest with your card we receive a little % of the transaction, called interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be credited you. How To Deposit Cash Into Currensea Card