A new fintech company which I was introduced to earlier this year. Currensea Card For Under 18…
It has actually won a few awards over current months for what it does (offering you a low-cost method to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good idea.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. You merely invest as you would on a normal debit card and the cash is taken from your present account– just without the usual 3% fee.
Oh, and is free to request, which also helps.
There are also some fascinating travel advantages if you choose a paid strategy, however the totally free strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is an organization model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and free of charge or cheaper than the competition
add more and more functions which your existing clients don’t really want or need
include restrictions, costs or charges to the function that made people get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this process and will ideally remain there. Monzo, revolut and curve are already in Phase 3 …
is easy enough that it passes my ‘Can you describe it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Card For Under 18
It is a totally free direct debit card to use abroad and which instantly recharges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% cost.
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 charges, then you don’t need a card, unless you desire totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which provide rewards and charge 0% FX fees are couple of and far in between. The only ‘points and miles’ alternatives which provide a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX charges in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX costs and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to utilize abroad
you desire an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month with no costs and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a small cost beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who needs an easy, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, an extremely easy procedure. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, globally).
Your bank account bank instantly 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. adds a 0.5% fee if you have the totally free card. There are no fees if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automated invest notification via the app, if you pick to install it.
The money is drawn from your current account a few days later.
Here is an example. Without any 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 set up to leave my HSBC account a few days later on:.
But converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight break-in that is just about to happen (frequently in a different language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion charges occurring in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
In current years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other great cards Currensea assures huge cost savings (85%) and an excellent app.
I think the best bit may be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this implies is you can invest money you have in your existing bank account with less worry about running out of money and the extra step. That does not mean it is ideal.
In this Currensea review is the good, the bad, the awful and the alternatives, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium plans 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 staying more affordable 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, full information can be found on our pricing plans.
Subscription costs.
We charge an annual subscription cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership cost likewise removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest with your card we receive a little % of the transaction, known as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Currensea Card For Under 18