A new fintech company which I was presented to earlier this year. What Is Currensea Card…
It has won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (using you an inexpensive method to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good thing.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits between you and your existing current account. There is nothing to top-up or prepay. You simply spend as you would on a typical debit card and the money is drawn from your current account– simply without the typical 3% charge.
Oh, and is free to make an application for, which also helps.
There are likewise some interesting travel advantages if you pick a paid strategy, but the totally free strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is a business design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and free of charge or less expensive than the competition
include a growing number of functions which your existing consumers don’t truly require or desire
add charges, costs or restrictions to the function that made individuals get your item in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this process and will ideally stay there. Curve, Revolut and Monzo are currently in Stage 3 …
is simple 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? What Is Currensea Card
It is a totally free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which instantly charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% forex charges, then you don’t require a card, unless you desire free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
However, charge card which provide rewards and charge 0% FX fees are few and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ options which provide a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you do not have a credit card offering 0% FX costs and do not want to affect your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to use abroad
you want an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly with no fees and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small cost beyond �,� 500).
you want a product 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 conserve them cash when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, an extremely simple process. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, globally).
Your bank account bank automatically validates that you have adequate 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. 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 automatic invest notification through the app, if you choose to install it.
The cash is drawn from your bank account a few days later on.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, I decided to splash 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 couple of days later on:.
Converting pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is almost to occur (often in a various language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion costs taking place in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In recent years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards Currensea guarantees big savings (85%) and a terrific app.
I think the best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this means is you can invest money you have in your existing current account with less fret about lacking cash and the extra step. That does not suggest it is ideal.
In this Currensea evaluation is the good, the bad, the unsightly and the alternatives, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Important Strategy of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make profits from our Vital Strategy whilst remaining more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the totally free quantity on all our strategies, full information can be discovered on our rates strategies.
Membership fees.
We charge an annual subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription charge also eliminates all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Whenever you spend with your card we get a little % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. What Is Currensea Card