A new fintech business which I was introduced to earlier this year. Currensea Card Android Pay…
It has won a few awards over recent months for what it does (using you a low-cost method to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good thing.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. You just invest as you would on a regular debit card and the money is taken from your current account– just without the usual 3% cost.
Oh, and is free to get, which also assists.
There are also some intriguing travel benefits if you choose a paid plan, but the complimentary plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a service model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and totally free or less expensive than the competitors
add increasingly more functions which your existing consumers don’t actually desire or require
include charges, fees or constraints to the feature 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. Monzo, curve and revolut are currently in Phase 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you describe it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Card Android Pay
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 little 0.5% cost.
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 charge card offering 0% foreign exchange fees, then you don’t need a card, unless you want totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which provide benefits and charge 0% FX costs are few and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ options which use a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX fees 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 affect your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to utilize abroad
you want a product which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly with no fees and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small charge beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who needs a simple, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when taking a trip.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, an extremely 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, internationally).
Your current account bank immediately validates that you have enough cash in your account and authorises the deal.
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% charge. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no costs.
You get an automatic invest notification by means of the app, if you select to install it.
The cash is drawn from your current account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, I chose to splash out and purchase 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 on:.
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 various language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion costs taking place in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
In recent years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards Currensea promises big cost savings (85%) and a great app.
I believe the best bit may be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this indicates is you can invest money you have in your existing bank account with less stress over running out of cash and the additional action. That does not mean it is perfect.
In this Currensea evaluation is the great, 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 nominal FX markup on our Necessary Plan of 0.5% per deal, allowing us to make revenue from our Vital Plan whilst remaining 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 plans, full details can be found on our pricing strategies.
Subscription fees.
We charge a yearly subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription cost likewise removes all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Every time you spend with your card we get a little % of the deal, referred to as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Currensea Card Android Pay