A new fintech business which I was presented to previously this year. Contact Currensea…
It has won a few awards over recent months for what it does (using you an inexpensive method to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is a good idea.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. You simply spend as you would on a regular debit card and the cash is taken from your existing account– just without the normal 3% fee.
Oh, and is free to request, which also assists.
There are likewise some interesting travel benefits if you pick a paid plan, however the totally free strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is a business design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and for free or less expensive than the competitors
include more and more functions which your existing customers don’t actually require or want
add constraints, charges or charges to the function that made people get your product in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will hopefully remain there. Revolut, curve and monzo are currently in Stage 3 …
is easy 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? Contact Currensea
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which instantly charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) earn any airline miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% forex charges, then you don’t need a card, unless you want complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which provide rewards and charge 0% FX fees are couple of and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ alternatives which offer a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX costs and do not wish to impact your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to use abroad
you desire a product which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month without any costs and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who requires a simple, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a very simple process. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, globally).
Your current account bank instantly verifies that you have enough cash 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 totally 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 through the app, if you select to install it.
The money is drawn from your bank account a few days later.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, I chose to sprinkle out and buy 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which reveals �,� 4.33 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later:.
Transforming pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight burglary that is practically to occur (frequently in a different language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion fees happening in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Luckily in recent years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards assures huge savings (85%) and an excellent app.
I think the best bit may be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this implies is you can invest money you have in your existing bank account with less fret about lacking money and the additional action. However that does not indicate it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the unsightly 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 Important Plan of 0.5% per deal, allowing us to make income from our Necessary Plan whilst remaining more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the free quantity on all our strategies, complete details can be discovered on our rates strategies.
Subscription charges.
We charge a yearly subscription fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription cost likewise removes all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Each time you spend with your card we receive a small % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Contact Currensea