A brand-new fintech business which I was introduced to previously this year. Is There A Maximum Cash Limit On A Currensea Card…
It has won a few awards over recent months for what it does (offering you a low-priced method to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is an advantage.
is, efficiently, 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 simply invest as you would on a typical debit card and the cash is drawn from your bank account– just without the usual 3% fee.
Oh, and is complimentary to look for, which likewise assists.
There are also some fascinating travel advantages if you pick a paid plan, however the totally free plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a service design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and free of charge or less expensive than the competitors
add a growing number of features which your existing customers do not actually need or want
add charges, restrictions or charges to the feature that made people get your product in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will hopefully stay there. Curve, Revolut and Monzo are already in Stage 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Is There A Maximum Cash Limit On A Currensea Card
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which automatically charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) earn any airline miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% forex fees, then you don’t need a card, unless you desire totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Nevertheless, charge card which offer benefits and charge 0% FX fees are rare. The only ‘points and miles’ options which use a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you do not have a charge card offering 0% FX fees and do not want to affect your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to use abroad
you want an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month with no costs and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who needs a simple, easy to understand payment card that will save them money when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated previously, a very basic process. You use 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 enough cash 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 free card, includes a 0.5% fee. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no charges.
You get an automated invest notice via the app, if you choose to install it.
The money is taken from your bank account a few days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, 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 set up to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later:.
Transforming pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime robbery that is just about to take place (frequently in a different language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion costs taking place in the background. Do not get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Thankfully in recent years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other great cards guarantees big savings (85%) and an excellent app.
But I believe the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street savings account.
What this indicates is you can spend money you have in your existing bank account with less fret about lacking money and the additional step. But that does not imply it is best.
In this Currensea review is the good, the bad, the unsightly and the alternatives, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Vital Plan of 0.5% per transaction, permitting us to make profits from our Necessary Strategy whilst staying more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the totally free quantity on all our strategies, full details can be found on our pricing strategies.
Subscription costs.
We charge a yearly subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership fee likewise removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Each time you invest with your card we get a small % of the deal, referred to as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be charged to you. Is There A Maximum Cash Limit On A Currensea Card