A new fintech company which I was introduced to earlier this year. Currensea Card Declined In France…
It has actually won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (using you a low-priced way to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good idea.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. You just invest as you would on a typical debit card and the cash is taken from your existing account– just without the normal 3% charge.
Oh, and is complimentary to get, which also helps.
There are also some intriguing travel benefits if you pick a paid plan, but the complimentary plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a business design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and for free or cheaper than the competition
include more and more functions which your existing customers do not truly require or desire
include fees, charges or constraints to the feature that made people get your item in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will ideally stay there. Curve, monzo and revolut are already in Phase 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the bar in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Card Declined In France
It is a free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline miles or points for using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange costs, then you do not require a card, unless you desire free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
However, credit cards which use rewards and charge 0% FX fees are few and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ choices which provide a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX fees and do not want to affect your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to use abroad
you want an item which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month without any charges and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a little fee beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who needs an easy, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, an extremely simple process. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, worldwide).
Your current account bank immediately verifies that you have adequate money in your account and authorises the transaction.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. includes a 0.5% cost if you have the free card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no charges.
You get an automatic spend alert through the app, if you select to install it.
The cash is taken from your current account a few days later on.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the journal, I chose to sprinkle out and buy 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which reveals �,� 4.33 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a few days later on:.
Transforming pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is practically to occur (frequently in a different language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion charges occurring in the background. Do not get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Thankfully recently a handful of terrific travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards promises big cost savings (85%) and a great app.
I believe the best bit may be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this suggests is you can invest cash you have in your existing bank account with less fret about lacking money and the extra step. But that does not suggest it is best.
In this Currensea evaluation is the excellent, the bad, the ugly and the alternatives, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Essential Plan of 0.5% per transaction, allowing us to make earnings from our Essential Plan whilst remaining much cheaper than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the totally free amount on all our plans, complete information can be discovered on our rates plans.
Subscription fees.
We charge a yearly subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership cost likewise gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Every time you spend with your card we receive a small % of the transaction, referred to as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be charged to you. Currensea Card Declined In France