A new fintech business which I was presented to earlier this year. How To Use Currensea Digital Card…
It has won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (using you an affordable method to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is an advantage.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits in between you and your existing current account. There is nothing to top-up or prepay. You simply invest as you would on a typical debit card and the money is drawn from your current account– just without the usual 3% cost.
Oh, and is free to make an application for, which likewise assists.
There are also some interesting travel advantages if you select a paid strategy, but the totally free plan works fine. You can use here.
There is a company model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and totally free or cheaper than the competition
add a growing number of features which your existing clients don’t actually want or need
include fees, restrictions or charges to the feature that made people get your product in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this procedure and will hopefully stay there. Curve, Revolut and Monzo are already in Phase 3 …
is simple 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 Use Currensea Digital Card
It is a free 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 …) earn any airline miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% foreign exchange costs, then you don’t need a card, unless you want totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
However, credit cards which provide benefits and charge 0% FX costs are rare. The only ‘miles and points’ alternatives which provide a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX charges in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX fees and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to use abroad
you desire an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month without any costs and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small charge beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anybody else in your life who needs an easy, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a very easy procedure. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, globally).
Your current account bank instantly validates that you have adequate money in your account and authorises the deal.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. If you have the free card, includes a 0.5% charge. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no charges.
You get an automated spend notice through the app, if you choose to install it.
The money is taken from your current account a couple of days later on.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the journal, I chose to splash out and buy 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which reveals �,� 4.33 arranged to leave my HSBC account a few days later on:.
But converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime burglary that is almost to occur (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion fees occurring in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
In current years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards Currensea assures huge cost savings (85%) and a great app.
But I believe the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this indicates is you can spend cash you have in your existing bank account with less worry about running out of money and the additional action. That does not suggest it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the ugly and the alternatives, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Essential Plan of 0.5% per transaction, allowing us to make profits from our Essential Strategy whilst staying more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the complimentary amount on all our strategies, complete information can be found on our rates strategies.
Membership charges.
We charge an annual membership charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership fee likewise removes all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Whenever you spend with your card we get a little % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be credited you. How To Use Currensea Digital Card