A new fintech company which I was presented to previously this year. Currensea Card Exchange Rates Today…
It has actually won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (offering you a low-cost way to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good idea.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. You merely invest as you would on a normal debit card and the cash is taken from your existing account– just without the usual 3% charge.
Oh, and is complimentary to request, which also helps.
There are also some fascinating travel advantages if you select a paid plan, however the free strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is a business design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and for free or less expensive than the competitors
add increasingly more features which your existing clients do not actually desire or need
include charges, limitations or fees to the function that made people get your item in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this procedure and will hopefully remain there. Curve, Revolut and Monzo are currently in Phase 3 …
is easy 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 Exchange Rates Today
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) make any airline company miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% foreign exchange charges, then you don’t require a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
However, charge card which use rewards and charge 0% FX fees are scarce. The only ‘miles and points’ alternatives which use a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX charges in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you do not have a charge card offering 0% FX charges and do not wish to impact your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to use abroad
you want a product which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month without any fees and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little fee beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who requires a simple, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when taking a trip.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I stated previously, a very 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, worldwide).
Your bank account bank instantly validates that you have adequate 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. includes a 0.5% fee if you have the free card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no fees.
You get an automatic spend alert via the app, if you select to install it.
The cash is drawn from your current account a couple of days later on.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, I chose to sprinkle out and purchase 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which shows �,� 4.33 arranged to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later on:.
But transforming pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is practically to happen (often in a various language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion charges taking place in the background. Do not get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Fortunately in the last few years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards promises big savings (85%) and a fantastic app.
However I think 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 money you have in your existing current account with less worry about lacking cash and the additional action. That does not mean it is ideal.
In this Currensea evaluation is the great, the bad, the awful and the options, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Necessary Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make income from our Important Plan whilst remaining more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the totally free quantity on all our strategies, complete details can be found on our rates strategies.
Membership charges.
We charge an annual subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription fee also gets rid of all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Whenever you spend with your card we receive a little % of the transaction, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Currensea Card Exchange Rates Today