A new fintech company which I was introduced to earlier this year. Is Currensea Card Protected…
It has won a few awards over current months for what it does (providing you an affordable method to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is a good idea.
is, successfully, 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 regular debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– just without the typical 3% charge.
Oh, and is totally free to look for, which likewise helps.
There are also some fascinating travel benefits if you choose a paid plan, however the complimentary strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is a business design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and for free or more affordable than the competition
include increasingly more functions which your existing customers don’t really require or want
add charges, charges or constraints to the feature that made individuals get your product in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this procedure and will hopefully remain there. Revolut, monzo and curve are already in Phase 3 …
is easy enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Is Currensea Card Protected
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which instantly recharges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) earn any airline company miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange charges, then you do not require a card, unless you want complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
However, credit cards which provide rewards and charge 0% FX charges are scarce. The only ‘miles and points’ choices which use a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX costs and do not wish to affect 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 per month with no costs and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a small fee beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anybody else in your life who requires a basic, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated previously, 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, worldwide).
Your current account bank automatically validates 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. adds a 0.5% fee if you have the complimentary card. There are no fees if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automatic invest notification via the app, if you select to install it.
The cash is drawn from your bank account a couple of days later on.
Here is an example. Without any 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 reveals �,� 4.33 set up to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later on:.
Converting pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime burglary that is just about to happen (frequently in a various language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion charges happening in the background. Do not get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Fortunately recently a handful of great travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards assures huge cost savings (85%) and an excellent app.
I believe 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 money you have in your existing bank account with less worry about lacking cash and the additional action. That does not mean it is best.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the unsightly 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 Vital Strategy of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make earnings from our Essential Strategy whilst remaining much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the complimentary quantity on all our plans, complete information can be found on our pricing strategies.
Membership charges.
We charge an annual membership fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership fee also removes all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Each time you spend with your card we receive a little % of the deal, called interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be credited you. Is Currensea Card Protected