A new fintech company which I was introduced to previously this year. Activate Currensea Junior Card…
It has won a few awards over recent months for what it does (offering you an inexpensive method to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is a good thing.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. You simply spend as you would on a typical debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– simply without the usual 3% fee.
Oh, and is complimentary to apply for, which also helps.
There are likewise some intriguing travel benefits if you choose a paid strategy, but the complimentary strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is a service model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and for free or less expensive than the competition
add a growing number of functions which your existing customers do not truly require or want
include limitations, charges or charges 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 hopefully remain there. Curve, monzo and revolut are already in Phase 3 …
is basic 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? Activate Currensea Junior Card
It is a free direct debit card to use abroad and which instantly charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) earn any airline company miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% forex costs, then you do not require a card, unless you want totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which use benefits and charge 0% FX costs are couple of and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ options which provide a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS possibly 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 specifically to utilize abroad
you want an item which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly with no costs and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who needs a basic, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, a really easy procedure. 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 instantly validates that you have sufficient money in your account and authorises the transaction.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. If you have the free card, adds a 0.5% fee. There are no charges if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automated invest notification via the app, if you choose to install it.
The money 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 buy 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 few days later:.
But transforming pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is practically to happen (frequently in a various language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion charges occurring in the background. Do not get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
In current years a handful of great travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards Currensea guarantees big savings (85%) and an excellent 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 spend cash you have in your existing bank account with less worry about running out of money and the additional step. That does not indicate it is best.
In this Currensea evaluation is the great, the bad, the ugly 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 deal, allowing us to make income from our Necessary Strategy whilst staying much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the totally free amount on all our plans, full information can be discovered on our prices plans.
Subscription charges.
We charge a yearly subscription cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership cost likewise 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 straight from the merchant and will not be charged to you. Activate Currensea Junior Card