A brand-new fintech business which I was introduced to earlier this year. Limita Alimentare Card Currensea…
It has actually won a few awards over recent months for what it does (using you an affordable method to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is easy 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 invest as you would on a typical debit card and the money is drawn from your current account– simply without the normal 3% cost.
Oh, and is complimentary to request, which likewise assists.
There are also some intriguing travel advantages if you choose a paid plan, but the totally free strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is an organization model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and free of charge or cheaper than the competition
include more and more features which your existing customers don’t actually require or desire
add restrictions, costs or charges to the feature that made people get your item in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this procedure and will ideally stay there. Revolut, monzo and curve are currently in Phase 3 …
is easy enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the bar in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Limita Alimentare Card Currensea
It is a free direct debit card to use abroad and which instantly charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) make any airline miles or points for using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% foreign exchange charges, then you do not require a card, unless you desire free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which offer benefits and charge 0% FX charges are couple of and far in between. The only ‘points and miles’ options which offer a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you don’t have a charge card offering 0% FX costs and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to use abroad
you desire an item which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month with no fees and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little charge beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who requires an easy, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, an extremely simple procedure. 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 bank account bank instantly confirms that you have adequate money 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% cost if you have the complimentary card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no fees.
You get an automatic spend notification through the app, if you pick to install it.
The cash is drawn from your current account a few days later.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the journal, I chose to sprinkle out and buy 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:.
However transforming pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime burglary that is just about to happen (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion fees taking place in the background. Do not get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Fortunately over the last few years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other great cards assures big savings (85%) and a great app.
I think the best bit may be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this indicates is you can spend cash you have in your existing bank account with less stress over running out of cash and the extra step. That does not indicate it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the unsightly and the options, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Vital Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make profits from our Important Strategy 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 plans, complete information can be found on our prices plans.
Subscription costs.
We charge an annual membership cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership charge also gets rid of all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Every time you spend with your card we get a little % of the transaction, called interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Limita Alimentare Card Currensea