A new fintech business which I was presented to previously this year. Currensea Card Bangladesh…
It has won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (offering you a low-priced way to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good thing.
is, effectively, 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– simply without the normal 3% fee.
Oh, and is totally free to look for, which also assists.
There are likewise some fascinating travel advantages if you choose a paid strategy, however the totally free plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a service design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and for free or more affordable than the competition
add a growing number of functions which your existing clients do not truly want or require
add charges, 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 procedure and will ideally remain there. Curve, Revolut and Monzo are currently in Stage 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 Bangladesh
It is a totally free 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 miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% forex charges, then you do not require a card, unless you desire free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which provide rewards and charge 0% FX charges are few and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ options which use a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX charges in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you do not have a credit card offering 0% FX fees and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to utilize abroad
you desire a product which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month without any charges and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a small fee beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anyone 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 stated earlier, a really easy process. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, internationally).
Your bank account bank immediately 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 upon the currency. If you have the free card, adds a 0.5% fee. There are no charges if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automatic spend notification via the app, if you choose to install it.
The money is taken from your current account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, I decided to sprinkle out and purchase 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which shows �,� 4.33 arranged to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later on:.
However transforming pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is just about to take place (often in a various language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion costs happening in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Thankfully over the last few years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other great cards guarantees big cost savings (85%) and a great app.
I think the best bit may be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this suggests is you can spend cash you have in your existing current account with less stress over lacking money and the extra step. That does not mean it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the good, the bad, the awful and the alternatives, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Necessary Strategy of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make profits from our Essential Plan whilst remaining much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the totally free quantity on all our strategies, full details can be discovered on our pricing plans.
Subscription charges.
We charge an annual membership fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership fee also removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest with your card we get a little % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be credited you. Currensea Card Bangladesh