A new fintech company which I was introduced to earlier this year. Currensea Card France…
It has won a few awards over recent months for what it does (providing you an affordable method to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is a good thing.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. You merely invest as you would on a normal debit card and the money is taken from your present account– just without the usual 3% cost.
Oh, and is free to get, which also helps.
There are likewise some interesting travel advantages if you select a paid plan, however the complimentary plan works fine. You can apply 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 for free or more affordable than the competition
include more and more features which your existing consumers don’t really want or require
add costs, limitations or charges to the function that made people get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this procedure and will hopefully stay there. Monzo, revolut and curve are already in Phase 3 …
is basic 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 France
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which instantly charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) earn any airline company miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange fees, then you don’t need a card, unless you want totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which use rewards and charge 0% FX costs are few and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ alternatives which provide a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX charges and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another charge card particularly to utilize abroad
you desire a product which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month without any charges and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small cost beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who needs an easy, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated previously, an extremely easy process. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, globally).
Your bank account bank automatically validates that you have sufficient money in your account and authorises the transaction.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. If you have the complimentary card, adds a 0.5% charge. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no charges.
You get an automatic invest notification through the app, if you choose 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 decided to sprinkle out and purchase 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which reveals �,� 4.33 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a few days later on:.
Transforming pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is practically to happen (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion fees happening in the background. Do not get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Fortunately in the last few years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards promises huge savings (85%) and a fantastic app.
I believe the finest bit may be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this implies is you can invest cash you have in your existing bank account with less stress over running out of money and the extra step. That does not imply it is ideal.
In this Currensea evaluation is the excellent, the bad, the unsightly and the options, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Vital Strategy of 0.5% per deal, enabling us to make profits from our Essential Strategy whilst staying more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the complimentary quantity on all our strategies, complete information can be found on our prices strategies.
Subscription fees.
We charge a yearly membership charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership charge likewise eliminates all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Each time you spend with your card we get a little % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Currensea Card France