A new fintech business which I was presented to earlier this year. Which Countries Can You Use The Currensea Card…
It has won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (offering you a low-cost method to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good thing.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. You merely spend as you would on a normal debit card and the cash is taken from your existing account– just without the usual 3% charge.
Oh, and is complimentary to apply for, which likewise helps.
There are also some interesting travel advantages if you choose a paid strategy, however the totally free strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is a service design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and for free or cheaper than the competitors
include a growing number of functions which your existing clients do not truly need or desire
include charges, limitations or costs to the function that made individuals get your item in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this process and will hopefully stay there. Monzo, revolut and curve are currently in Stage 3 …
is basic 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? Which Countries Can You Use The Currensea Card
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which instantly recharges 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 using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange fees, then you don’t require a card, unless you want totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
However, charge card which provide rewards and charge 0% FX fees are few and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ options which offer a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX charges in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you do not have a charge card offering 0% FX costs and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another charge card particularly to use abroad
you want a product which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month without any costs and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a small charge beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who requires an easy, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated previously, a really basic procedure. 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 current account bank instantly confirms that you have sufficient money in your account and authorises the deal.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. If you have the free card, adds a 0.5% cost. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no costs.
You get an automated spend alert by means of the app, if you choose to install it.
The money is drawn from your current account a few days later on.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, I chose to sprinkle 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 few days later on:.
Converting pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is just about to occur (typically in a different 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.
Luckily recently a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other great cards promises big savings (85%) and a great app.
But I think the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street savings account.
What this implies is you can invest cash you have in your existing current account with less fret about running out of cash and the extra step. That does not suggest it is best.
In this Currensea review is the great, 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 Vital Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, allowing us to make income from our Essential Strategy whilst remaining much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the free amount on all our plans, full details can be found on our prices plans.
Subscription fees.
We charge a yearly membership charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription cost also eliminates all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest with your card we get a little % of the deal, referred to as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be charged to you. Which Countries Can You Use The Currensea Card