A brand-new fintech business which I was introduced to previously this year. Currensea Card Customer Support…
It has won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (providing you an affordable method to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good thing.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. You merely invest as you would on a typical debit card and the cash is taken from your present account– just without the usual 3% cost.
Oh, and is complimentary to make an application for, which also helps.
There are also some intriguing travel benefits if you choose a paid strategy, but the complimentary plan works fine. You can use here.
There is a service model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and totally free or less expensive than the competitors
add a growing number of functions which your existing consumers do not really want or require
add charges, restrictions or charges to the function that made individuals get your product in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will ideally remain there. Monzo, revolut and curve are already in Stage 3 …
is basic 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? Currensea Card Customer Support
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which instantly recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) make any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% forex charges, then you don’t require a card, unless you desire complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which provide rewards and charge 0% FX charges are few and far in between. The only ‘points and miles’ alternatives which offer a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX charges in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you don’t have a charge card offering 0% FX fees and do not wish to impact your credit report by getting another charge 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 just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small charge beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who requires a basic, 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 simple procedure. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, globally).
Your current account bank immediately confirms that you have enough cash in your account and authorises the deal.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. If you have the complimentary card, includes a 0.5% cost. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no costs.
You get an automated invest notice through the app, if you pick to install it.
The money is drawn from your bank account a few days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, I decided to splash out and buy 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which shows �,� 4.33 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a few days later:.
However converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is just about to happen (frequently in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion costs taking place in the background. Do not get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In recent years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards Currensea promises huge savings (85%) and an excellent app.
I believe the finest bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this means is you can spend cash you have in your existing bank account with less worry about lacking money and the extra step. That does not mean it is perfect.
In this Currensea evaluation is the good, the bad, the awful and the options, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Vital Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, permitting us to make profits from our Essential Plan whilst staying more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the complimentary amount on all our strategies, full details can be found on our rates strategies.
Membership fees.
We charge a yearly membership cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership charge likewise gets rid of all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Each time you spend with your card we get a small % of the transaction, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Currensea Card Customer Support