A brand-new fintech business which I was introduced to previously this year. Is Currensea Any Good…
It has won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (using you a low-priced way to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is an advantage.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits between you and your existing current account. There is nothing to top-up or prepay. You just invest as you would on a regular debit card and the money is taken from your bank account– just without the typical 3% fee.
Oh, and is totally free to apply for, which also assists.
There are likewise some interesting travel benefits if you pick a paid plan, however the complimentary plan works fine. You can use here.
There is a service model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and totally free or more affordable than the competition
include a growing number of features which your existing consumers do not really want or need
include charges, fees or limitations to the feature that made people get your item in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this process and will ideally remain there. Curve, monzo and revolut are already in Stage 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Is Currensea Any Good
It is a free direct debit card to use abroad and which instantly charges all purchases to your existing current 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% forex fees, then you do not need a card, unless you want totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Nevertheless, credit cards which provide rewards and charge 0% FX charges are rare. The only ‘miles and points’ choices which use a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX charges in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you do not have a credit card offering 0% FX fees and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to use abroad
you desire a product which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month without any fees and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anyone 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 stated earlier, an extremely 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 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% cost. There are no charges if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automated invest notification by means of the app, if you select to install it.
The money is drawn from your bank account a few days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, 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 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later on:.
But converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime robbery that is practically to take place (frequently in a different language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion costs happening in the background. Do not get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Thankfully over the last few years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other great cards guarantees huge savings (85%) and a fantastic app.
However I believe the very best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street checking account.
What this implies is you can invest money you have in your existing current account with less worry about lacking money and the additional step. However that does not mean it is ideal.
In this Currensea evaluation is the great, the bad, the ugly and the options, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Essential Plan of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make income from our Necessary Plan whilst staying much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the totally free amount on all our plans, complete details can be discovered on our rates strategies.
Subscription charges.
We charge an annual subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription charge also eliminates all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Each time you invest with your card we receive a small % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be charged to you. Is Currensea Any Good