A new fintech business which I was presented to earlier this year. How To Top Up Card On Currensea…
It has won a few awards over recent months for what it does (offering you an affordable way to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is a good thing.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. You simply spend as you would on a typical debit card and the money is taken from your present account– simply without the usual 3% fee.
Oh, and is free to request, which also assists.
There are also some interesting travel benefits if you pick a paid plan, but the complimentary plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a business design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and totally free or more affordable than the competitors
include a growing number of functions which your existing clients do not truly need or want
include charges, limitations or fees 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 stay there. Curve, Revolut and Monzo are already 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 Top Up Card On Currensea
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) make any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% forex charges, then you do not need a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which use benefits and charge 0% FX fees are couple of and far in between. The only ‘points and miles’ alternatives which offer a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you do not have a charge card offering 0% FX costs and do not want to affect your credit report by getting another charge card particularly to utilize abroad
you desire an item which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month without any fees and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who needs a basic, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said previously, a really basic procedure. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, globally).
Your current account bank automatically confirms that you have enough cash in your account and authorises the transaction.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. If you have the complimentary card, adds a 0.5% fee. 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 choose to install it.
The cash is drawn from your bank account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the journal, I decided to sprinkle out and buy 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which shows �,� 4.33 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a few days later on:.
But transforming pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime burglary that is almost to take place (often in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion costs occurring in the background. Do not get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Fortunately in recent years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards promises big savings (85%) and an excellent app.
I think the finest bit may 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 bank account with less worry about running out of money and the additional step. That does not mean it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the excellent, the bad, the ugly and the alternatives, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Necessary Strategy of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make income from our Vital Strategy whilst staying more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the complimentary amount on all our plans, full details can be found on our prices plans.
Membership 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.
Each time you invest with your card we get a small % of the deal, called interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be credited you. How To Top Up Card On Currensea