A brand-new fintech business which I was introduced to earlier this year. Benefits Of A Currensea Card…
It has actually won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (using you an inexpensive way 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 in between you and your existing current account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You simply spend as you would on a regular debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– just without the typical 3% fee.
Oh, and is totally free to get, which also helps.
There are also some fascinating travel advantages if you choose a paid strategy, but the complimentary plan works fine. You can use here.
There is an organization model 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
add a growing number of functions which your existing consumers do not really want or need
include charges, limitations or charges to the function that made people get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this process and will hopefully stay there. Revolut, curve and monzo are already in Phase 3 …
is basic 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? Benefits Of A Currensea Card
It is a totally free direct debit card to use abroad and which instantly recharges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) earn any airline company miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange fees, then you do not require a card, unless you desire complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which provide rewards and charge 0% FX fees are few and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ options which use a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps 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 specifically to use abroad
you want a product which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month with no costs and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a small cost beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who requires a simple, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said previously, an extremely 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, worldwide).
Your bank account bank immediately verifies that you have enough money in your account and authorises the deal.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. adds a 0.5% charge if you have the free card. There are no charges if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automatic invest alert by means of the app, if you pick to install it.
The cash is drawn from your current account a couple of 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 few days later:.
Converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime robbery that is practically to take place (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion charges taking place in the background. Do not get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Fortunately in the last few years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards guarantees huge savings (85%) and a great app.
But I believe the very best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street savings account.
What this implies is you can spend cash you have in your existing current account with less fret about running out of money and the additional action. But that does not imply it is ideal.
In this Currensea review is the good, the bad, the unsightly and the options, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Essential Plan of 0.5% per transaction, permitting us to make earnings from our Essential Strategy whilst staying much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the complimentary amount on all our plans, complete information can be discovered on our prices plans.
Subscription charges.
We charge an annual membership cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership fee likewise removes all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Every time you spend with your card we get a small % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Benefits Of A Currensea Card