A new fintech business which I was presented to previously this year. Currensea Card Available Countries…
It has actually won a few awards over current months for what it does (providing you a low-priced way to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good idea.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. You just invest as you would on a regular debit card and the money is taken from your present account– just without the typical 3% charge.
Oh, and is totally free to apply for, which also helps.
There are also some fascinating travel advantages if you pick a paid plan, but the complimentary plan works fine. You can use here.
There is a service model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and totally free or more affordable than the competitors
add a growing number of functions which your existing consumers do not really require or want
add fees, limitations or charges to the feature that made individuals get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this process and will ideally remain there. Curve, Revolut and Monzo are currently in Phase 3 …
is basic 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 Available Countries
It is a totally free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which instantly charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) earn any airline miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange costs, then you don’t need a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which provide benefits and charge 0% FX fees are few and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ options which provide a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you do not have a credit card offering 0% FX charges and do not want to affect your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to utilize abroad
you desire a product which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month without any fees and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small cost beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anybody 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 stated previously, a very easy process. 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 instantly validates that you have enough cash in your account and authorises the transaction.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. adds a 0.5% cost if you have the totally free card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no costs.
You get an automatic spend notice via the app, if you pick to install it.
The cash is taken from your bank 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 reveals �,� 4.33 set up to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later:.
Converting pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime burglary that is practically to happen (often in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion fees happening in the background. Do not get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Fortunately in the last few years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other great cards guarantees big savings (85%) and an excellent app.
But I believe the very best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this suggests is you can spend money you have in your existing current account with less worry about lacking money and the extra step. That does not mean it is ideal.
In this Currensea evaluation is the great, the bad, the ugly 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 Necessary Plan of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make income from our Important Strategy whilst staying more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the free quantity on all our strategies, full information can be found on our pricing strategies.
Subscription fees.
We charge an annual membership cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription charge also eliminates all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Each time 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. Currensea Card Available Countries