A new fintech company which I was presented to earlier this year. Currensea Card Discounts…
It has won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (providing you an inexpensive way to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is an advantage.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. You simply invest as you would on a typical debit card and the money is taken from your current account– simply without the typical 3% cost.
Oh, and is free to obtain, which also assists.
There are likewise some interesting travel advantages if you choose a paid plan, however the complimentary strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is an organization design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and for free or less expensive than the competition
add more and more functions which your existing clients don’t truly desire or require
add charges, charges or restrictions to the feature that made individuals get your product in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this process and will hopefully remain there. Curve, monzo and revolut are already in Stage 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Card Discounts
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately recharges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% forex charges, then you don’t require 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 in between. The only ‘miles and points’ alternatives which provide a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you do not have a charge card offering 0% FX costs and do not wish to impact your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to use abroad
you want a product which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month with no costs and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who requires a simple, easy to understand payment card that will save them money when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a really basic process. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, globally).
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 on the currency. If you have the totally free card, adds a 0.5% cost. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no costs.
You get an automated invest notification through the app, if you choose to install it.
The money is taken from your current account a couple of days later on.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the journal, I decided to sprinkle out and buy 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:.
Transforming pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime robbery that is just about to take place (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion charges 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 terrific travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards Currensea assures big cost savings (85%) and a great app.
However I believe the very best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street savings account.
What this implies is you can spend cash you have in your existing bank account with less stress over running out of cash and the additional step. That does not suggest it is perfect.
In this Currensea evaluation is the good, the bad, the ugly and the alternatives, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Essential Plan of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make profits from our Essential Strategy 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 amount on all our strategies, complete information can be discovered on our prices strategies.
Membership fees.
We charge an annual subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership charge also eliminates all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Every time you invest with your card we receive a little % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be charged to you. Currensea Card Discounts