A new fintech company which I was presented to previously this year. Currensea Card For 11 Year Old Account…
It has won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (offering you a low-priced method to spend abroad) however what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good thing.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits in between you and your existing bank account. There is nothing to top-up or prepay. You simply invest as you would on a typical debit card and the cash is drawn from your current account– just without the normal 3% fee.
Oh, and is complimentary to look for, which also helps.
There are also some interesting travel benefits if you select a paid strategy, however the complimentary plan works fine. You can use here.
There is a business model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and totally free or cheaper than the competition
include more and more functions which your existing customers don’t truly want or need
include fees, constraints or charges to the function that made individuals get your item in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this process and will hopefully stay there. Monzo, revolut and curve are already in Phase 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 For 11 Year Old Account
It is a totally free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) make any airline miles or points for using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% foreign exchange fees, then you do not need a card, unless you desire free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which offer rewards and charge 0% FX costs are few and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ options which offer a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you do not have a charge card offering 0% FX costs and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to use abroad
you desire an item which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month without any charges and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a small fee beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who needs a basic, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a really basic process. 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 instantly confirms that you have sufficient money in your account and authorises the deal.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. adds a 0.5% charge if you have the free card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no fees.
You get an automatic invest alert via the app, if you select to install it.
The money is drawn from your bank account a few days later on.
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 set up to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later:.
But converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime robbery that is just about to happen (often in a different language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion charges occurring in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Luckily in the last few years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other great cards assures big savings (85%) and a fantastic app.
But I think the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street checking account.
What this suggests is you can invest cash you have in your existing current account with less stress over running out of money and the extra step. However that does not mean it is perfect.
In this Currensea evaluation is the excellent, the bad, the ugly and the alternatives, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Necessary Plan of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make earnings from our Important Strategy whilst remaining much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the free amount on all our plans, full details can be discovered on our prices strategies.
Subscription costs.
We charge a yearly membership fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription fee also removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Each time you invest with your card we get a little % of the transaction, referred to as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be credited you. Currensea Card For 11 Year Old Account