A brand-new fintech business which I was presented to previously this year. Currensea Card Customer Service Number…
It has won a few awards over current months for what it does (using you an affordable 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. It is a Mastercard which sits in between you and your existing current account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You merely spend as you would on a regular debit card and the money is taken from your bank account– simply without the normal 3% charge.
Oh, and is totally free to obtain, which likewise assists.
There are also some interesting travel advantages if you choose a paid strategy, but the free plan works fine. You can use here.
There is a business model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and for free or less expensive than the competition
add increasingly more features which your existing clients do not actually need or want
include charges, restrictions or costs to the function that made people get your item 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 easy 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 Customer Service Number
It is a free direct debit card to use abroad and which automatically charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make 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 costs, then you do not require a card, unless you desire totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Nevertheless, credit cards which provide rewards and charge 0% FX costs are few and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ choices which offer a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX charges and do not wish to impact your credit report by getting another charge card particularly to utilize abroad
you desire a product which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month with no fees and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little fee beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anybody else in your life who needs a simple, easy to understand payment card that will save them money when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said previously, a very easy procedure. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, worldwide).
Your current account bank automatically validates that you have sufficient 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% charge. There are no costs if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automated invest notice through the app, if you pick to install it.
The cash is taken from your current account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, I chose to sprinkle 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 few days later on:.
But transforming pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is almost to take place (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion fees taking place in the background. Do not get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
In current years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards Currensea promises huge 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 means is you can invest money you have in your existing bank account with less worry about lacking money and the extra step. That does not indicate it is best.
In this Currensea review is the excellent, the bad, the unsightly 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 Essential Plan of 0.5% per transaction, permitting us to make profits from our Necessary Plan whilst remaining much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the free quantity on all our strategies, full details can be discovered on our prices plans.
Subscription fees.
We charge a yearly membership charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership charge also gets rid of all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Each time you invest with your card we get a small % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be credited you. Currensea Card Customer Service Number