A new fintech company which I was presented to earlier this year. Avantaje Card Currensea…
It has actually won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (using you a low-cost method to spend abroad) however what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is an advantage.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. You just spend as you would on a typical debit card and the money is taken from your present account– just without the usual 3% fee.
Oh, and is free to get, which also helps.
There are also some intriguing travel advantages if you select a paid plan, but the totally free plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a business design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and free of charge or more affordable than the competition
include a growing number of functions which your existing customers don’t actually desire or need
include charges, limitations or fees 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 process and will ideally stay there. Curve, Revolut and Monzo are currently in Stage 3 …
is easy enough that it passes my ‘Can you describe it to your mate in the bar in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Avantaje Card Currensea
It is a complimentary direct debit card to use abroad and which automatically recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) earn any airline miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% foreign exchange charges, then you do not require a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which use benefits and charge 0% FX fees are couple of and far in between. The only ‘points and miles’ choices which offer a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX costs and do not want to affect your credit report by getting another charge card particularly to use abroad
you desire an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month with no charges and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a small fee beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who requires an easy, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when taking a trip.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, an extremely basic procedure. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, worldwide).
Your current account bank immediately verifies that you have enough 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. If you have the totally free card, adds a 0.5% charge. There are no fees if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automated invest notice by means of the app, if you choose to install it.
The money is taken from your bank account a few days later on.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, I chose to splash 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 few days later:.
Transforming pounds was costly.
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 exorbitant currency conversion costs happening in the background. Do not get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Luckily over the last few years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards guarantees huge cost savings (85%) and a fantastic app.
However I believe the very best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street checking account.
What this implies is you can invest cash you have in your existing bank account with less stress over lacking cash and the additional step. That does not suggest it is best.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the unsightly and the alternatives, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Necessary Strategy of 0.5% per deal, allowing us to make revenue from our Essential 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 plans, full information can be found on our prices plans.
Subscription fees.
We charge an annual subscription cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership fee likewise gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest with your card we get a small % of the deal, referred to as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be credited you. Avantaje Card Currensea