A brand-new fintech company which I was introduced to previously this year. Can You Use Credit Card To Top Up Currensea…
It has won a few awards over recent months for what it does (using you an affordable method to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is a good idea.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits between you and your existing bank account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You just invest as you would on a typical debit card and the money is drawn from your current account– just without the typical 3% fee.
Oh, and is free to apply for, which likewise assists.
There are also some interesting travel benefits if you pick a paid strategy, but the totally free strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is a business design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and free of charge or cheaper than the competition
include a growing number of features which your existing customers do not truly need or want
add costs, constraints or charges to the function that made individuals get your item in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this process and will hopefully stay there. Monzo, curve and revolut are already in Phase 3 …
is simple 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? Can You Use Credit Card To Top Up Currensea
It is a totally free direct debit card to use abroad and which immediately charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) earn 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 need a card, unless you desire complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which offer benefits and charge 0% FX costs are few and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ alternatives 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 do not have a credit card offering 0% FX fees and do not want to impact 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 each month without any fees and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who requires an easy, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I stated previously, an extremely simple process. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, worldwide).
Your current account bank automatically confirms that you have adequate cash in your account and authorises the transaction.
The transaction 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 fees if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automatic spend notice via the app, if you choose to install it.
The cash is drawn from your bank account a few days later on.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, 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 on:.
However converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is just about to happen (frequently in a various language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion fees occurring in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Thankfully recently a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other great cards assures huge savings (85%) and a terrific app.
But I think the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street checking account.
What this means is you can spend cash you have in your existing current account with less worry about running out of money and the additional action. That does not imply it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the excellent, the bad, the ugly and the alternatives, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Vital Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make revenue from our Vital Plan 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 quantity on all our plans, complete information can be found on our prices plans.
Membership fees.
We charge an annual subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription fee also removes all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Whenever you spend with your card we get a little % of the transaction, referred to as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Can You Use Credit Card To Top Up Currensea