A brand-new fintech company which I was presented to earlier this year. Currensea Card Dubai…
It has won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (offering you an affordable way to spend abroad) however what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good thing.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. You merely spend as you would on a regular debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– simply without the normal 3% fee.
Oh, and is free to look for, which also helps.
There are also some interesting travel benefits if you pick a paid plan, however the totally free strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is a business design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and for free or cheaper than the competition
include increasingly more functions which your existing consumers do not truly need or desire
include restrictions, charges or charges to the function that made people get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will ideally remain there. Revolut, curve and monzo are already in Phase 3 …
is simple 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 Dubai
It is a totally free direct debit card to use abroad and which immediately recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) earn any airline miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange fees, then you do not need a card, unless you want complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Nevertheless, credit cards which provide rewards and charge 0% FX costs are rare. The only ‘miles and points’ options which use a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you do not have a charge card offering 0% FX charges and do not want to affect your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to use abroad
you desire an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly with no charges and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small cost beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who requires a basic, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when taking a trip.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, an extremely easy process. 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 bank account bank automatically validates 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 on the currency. adds a 0.5% cost if you have the totally free card. There are no costs if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automatic spend notice through the app, if you pick to install it.
The money is drawn from your bank account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, 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 arranged to leave my HSBC account a few days later:.
But transforming pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime robbery that is just about to occur (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion fees taking place in the background. Do not get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Fortunately in the last few years a handful of great travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards guarantees big cost savings (85%) and an excellent app.
However I think the best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street checking account.
What this means is you can spend money you have in your existing current account with less fret about lacking cash and the additional action. That does not suggest it is best.
In this Currensea review is the great, 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 small FX markup on our Vital Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make income from our Necessary Plan whilst remaining much cheaper than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the complimentary quantity on all our strategies, complete details can be found on our prices plans.
Subscription fees.
We charge an annual membership charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership cost also eliminates all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Whenever you spend with your card we get a little % of the transaction, referred to as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be credited you. Currensea Card Dubai