A new fintech business which I was introduced to earlier this year. Card Authorisation Request Currensea…
It has won a few awards over recent months for what it does (using you an affordable method to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is an advantage.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits in between you and your existing current account. There is nothing to top-up or prepay. You simply invest as you would on a typical debit card and the cash is drawn from your bank account– simply without the usual 3% fee.
Oh, and is totally free to request, which also assists.
There are likewise some fascinating travel benefits if you select a paid strategy, but the totally free strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is a service design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and totally free or more affordable than the competitors
add more and more features which your existing consumers do not truly desire or require
include charges, constraints or fees to the function that made people get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this process and will hopefully stay there. Curve, monzo and revolut are currently in Phase 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Card Authorisation Request Currensea
It is a complimentary direct debit card to use abroad and which immediately recharges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) make any airline company miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% foreign exchange costs, then you don’t need a card, unless you want totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which provide benefits and charge 0% FX fees are couple of and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ choices which offer a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you do not have a charge card offering 0% FX costs and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to use abroad
you desire an item which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month with no charges and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a small fee beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who requires a basic, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I stated previously, a very easy procedure. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, worldwide).
Your bank account bank instantly confirms 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. includes a 0.5% cost if you have the complimentary card. There are no charges if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automated spend notification via the app, if you choose to install it.
The cash is drawn from your bank account a couple of days later on.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, I decided to sprinkle 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 couple of days later on:.
But transforming pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is practically to happen (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion costs happening in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Fortunately over the last few years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards assures huge cost savings (85%) and a great app.
However I think the 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 current account with less stress over lacking money and the extra step. But that does not indicate it is ideal.
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 nominal FX markup on our Necessary Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make income from our Essential Plan whilst staying more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the totally free quantity on all our strategies, full information can be discovered on our pricing strategies.
Subscription fees.
We charge a yearly membership fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription fee also removes all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Every time you spend with your card we receive a small % of the transaction, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be charged to you. Card Authorisation Request Currensea