A brand-new fintech business which I was presented to earlier this year. Is Currensea Safe…
It has actually won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (using you a low-cost method to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good thing.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. You merely invest as you would on a typical debit card and the money is taken from your current account– simply without the usual 3% cost.
Oh, and is free to look for, which also assists.
There are also some fascinating travel benefits if you pick a paid strategy, but the complimentary strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is a company design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and free of charge or more affordable than the competitors
add increasingly more functions which your existing clients don’t actually desire or need
add limitations, fees or charges 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 ideally stay there. Curve, Revolut and Monzo are currently in Phase 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you describe it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Is Currensea Safe
It is a free direct debit card to use abroad and which automatically recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) make any airline miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% forex fees, then you don’t need a card, unless you desire free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which provide rewards and charge 0% FX charges are couple of and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ alternatives which provide a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX fees 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 affect your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to use abroad
you want a product which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month without any fees and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a little charge beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who requires a basic, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when taking a trip.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, 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 current account bank automatically validates 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 on the currency. adds a 0.5% charge if you have the totally free card. There are no fees if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automatic spend notification via the app, if you choose to install it.
The cash is taken from your bank account a few days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, I chose to sprinkle out and purchase 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which shows �,� 4.33 set up to leave my HSBC account a few days later:.
Transforming pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight burglary that is just about to occur (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion fees occurring in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Thankfully over the last few years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards promises big cost savings (85%) and a fantastic app.
I believe the finest bit may be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this suggests is you can spend money you have in your existing bank account with less worry about running out of money and the additional step. However that does not suggest it is best.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the awful 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 Necessary Plan of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make revenue from our Vital Plan whilst staying much cheaper 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 strategies, complete information can be discovered on our rates plans.
Subscription charges.
We charge an annual subscription cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership fee also removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest with your card we get a little % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be charged to you. Is Currensea Safe