A new fintech business which I was introduced to earlier this year. Which Countries Can I Use Currensea Card…
It has won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (providing you an inexpensive method to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good idea.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. You just spend as you would on a typical debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– simply without the typical 3% charge.
Oh, and is complimentary to apply for, which likewise helps.
There are likewise some intriguing travel advantages if you choose a paid strategy, however the complimentary plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a company design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and free of charge or cheaper than the competitors
add increasingly more functions which your existing clients do not really desire or require
include fees, charges or limitations to the function that made people get your item in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this process and will hopefully remain there. Curve, Revolut and Monzo are already in Phase 3 …
is easy enough that it passes my ‘Can you describe it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Which Countries Can I Use Currensea Card
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which instantly charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You don’t (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% forex charges, then you don’t need a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which provide benefits and charge 0% FX fees are few and far in between. The only ‘miles and points’ choices which offer a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you don’t have a charge card offering 0% FX fees and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to use abroad
you want a product which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly with no fees and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small fee beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who needs a basic, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a really basic 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 current account bank automatically validates that you have adequate money in your account and authorises the transaction.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. includes a 0.5% charge if you have the complimentary card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no fees.
You get an automatic invest notice through the app, if you choose to install it.
The money 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 sprinkle out and purchase 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which reveals �,� 4.33 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later:.
However converting pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is practically to occur (frequently in a various language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion fees occurring in the background. Do not get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
In current years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards Currensea assures huge cost savings (85%) and a great app.
But I think the very best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street checking account.
What this indicates is you can spend cash you have in your existing bank account with less worry about running out of money and the extra action. That does not suggest it is perfect.
In this Currensea evaluation is the good, the bad, the awful and the alternatives, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Important Strategy of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make revenue 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 usage over the free amount on all our plans, full information can be found on our pricing plans.
Membership fees.
We charge an annual subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription cost likewise removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Each time you spend with your card we get a little % of the deal, referred to as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Which Countries Can I Use Currensea Card