A brand-new fintech company which I was introduced to previously this year. Currensea Card Espa√±A…
It has won a few awards over recent months for what it does (providing you a low-cost method to spend abroad) however what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is an advantage.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. You merely spend as you would on a regular debit card and the money is taken from your existing account– simply without the normal 3% cost.
Oh, and is totally free to apply for, which likewise helps.
There are also some fascinating travel advantages if you pick a paid plan, however the free plan works fine. You can use here.
There is a business 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 a growing number of features which your existing consumers don’t really desire or require
add limitations, fees or charges to the feature that made people get your product in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this process and will hopefully remain there. Curve, Revolut and Monzo are currently in Stage 3 …
is easy enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Card EspañA
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which automatically charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) earn 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 need a card, unless you desire free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
However, charge card which use benefits and charge 0% FX fees are few and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ choices which offer a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps 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 particularly to use abroad
you want a product which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly without any costs and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who requires 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, a really basic procedure. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, internationally).
Your current account bank immediately confirms that you have sufficient cash in your account and authorises the transaction.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. If you have the free card, adds a 0.5% fee. There are no fees if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automatic invest notice through the app, if you choose to install it.
The cash is taken from your current account a few days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the journal, I chose to splash out and purchase 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 transforming pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight break-in that is almost to occur (often in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion fees occurring in the background. Do not get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In current years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards Currensea assures huge savings (85%) and a terrific app.
But I believe the very best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street savings account.
What this means is you can invest cash you have in your existing bank account with less stress over running out of money and the extra action. That does not suggest it is best.
In this Currensea evaluation is the good, the bad, the awful 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 deal, allowing us to make earnings from our Essential Plan whilst staying more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the totally free amount on all our plans, complete information can be found on our prices plans.
Subscription charges.
We charge a yearly membership charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription cost also gets rid of all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Every time you spend with your card we receive a little % of the transaction, called interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Currensea Card Espa√±A