A new fintech business which I was introduced to previously this year. Is Currensea Good…
It has won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (providing you an affordable way to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is an advantage.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits in between you and your existing bank account. There is nothing to top-up or prepay. You merely invest as you would on a typical debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– just without the usual 3% fee.
Oh, and is totally free to make an application for, which also helps.
There are also some intriguing travel advantages if you choose a paid plan, however the totally free strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is a service design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and for free or cheaper than the competition
add more and more functions which your existing customers don’t truly want or require
include limitations, charges or costs to the feature that made people get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this procedure and will ideally remain there. Monzo, revolut and curve are already in Stage 3 …
is basic 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? Is Currensea Good
It is a complimentary direct debit card to use abroad and which automatically 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 miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% forex costs, then you don’t need a card, unless you want totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Nevertheless, credit cards which provide benefits and charge 0% FX fees are scarce. The only ‘points and miles’ options which use a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX charges in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX fees and do not wish to impact your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to utilize abroad
you desire an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly without any fees and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little fee beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who needs a simple, 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 easy process. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, worldwide).
Your bank account bank automatically verifies that you have sufficient money in your account and authorises the deal.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. If you have the complimentary card, includes a 0.5% charge. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no fees.
You get an automated spend notification through the app, if you choose to install it.
The cash is taken from your bank account a few days later on.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, I chose to sprinkle out and buy 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which shows �,� 4.33 arranged to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later:.
Transforming pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight break-in that is just about to happen (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion charges taking place in the background. Do not get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In current years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards Currensea promises huge cost savings (85%) and a terrific app.
But I think the very best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street savings account.
What this means is you can spend cash you have in your existing bank account with less worry about lacking cash and the extra action. But that does not imply it is best.
In this Currensea review is the excellent, the bad, the unsightly and the options, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Necessary Plan of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make revenue from our Important Strategy whilst staying more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the totally free amount on all our strategies, full information can be found on our prices plans.
Membership costs.
We charge an annual subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership cost likewise gets rid of all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Whenever you spend with your card we receive a small % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Is Currensea Good