A brand-new fintech business which I was presented to previously this year. I’ve Lost My Currensea Card…
It has won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (offering you a low-priced way to spend abroad) however what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good thing.
is, successfully, 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 spend as you would on a typical debit card and the cash is taken from your bank account– simply without the normal 3% fee.
Oh, and is totally free to get, which also assists.
There are also some intriguing travel advantages if you choose a paid strategy, however the free 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 one thing well, and totally free or less expensive than the competition
include a growing number of functions which your existing clients do not really require or desire
add restrictions, charges or charges to the feature that made people get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will ideally stay there. Monzo, curve and revolut are currently in Phase 3 …
is easy 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? I’ve Lost My Currensea Card
It is a free direct debit card to use abroad and which immediately charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make 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% forex fees, then you don’t require a card, unless you desire free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
However, charge card which use benefits and charge 0% FX costs are rare. The only ‘points and miles’ choices which offer a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you don’t have a charge card offering 0% FX fees and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to use abroad
you desire a product which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month with no costs and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small fee beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, partner or anybody else in your life who requires a basic, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated previously, a really simple process. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, globally).
Your bank account bank automatically confirms that you have sufficient 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. includes a 0.5% fee if you have the complimentary card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no costs.
You get an automatic invest alert through the app, if you choose to install it.
The cash is drawn from your bank account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the journal, I decided to splash out and purchase 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which reveals �,� 4.33 arranged to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later on:.
However transforming pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight burglary that is almost to take place (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion costs taking place in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Thankfully in recent years a handful of great travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards promises huge savings (85%) and a fantastic app.
But I believe the very best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this implies is you can invest money you have in your existing bank account with less worry about running out of cash and the extra action. However that does not suggest it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the good, the bad, the awful 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 Important Plan of 0.5% per transaction, allowing us to make earnings from our Necessary Strategy whilst remaining much cheaper than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the free amount on all our strategies, complete details can be found on our prices plans.
Membership fees.
We charge an annual subscription fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership cost also gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Each time you spend with your card we get a small % of the deal, called interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be credited you. I’ve Lost My Currensea Card