A brand-new fintech business which I was presented to earlier this year. Currensea Card Frozen…
It has won a few awards over current months for what it does (offering you a low-priced method to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is an advantage.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. You simply invest as you would on a typical debit card and the cash is taken from your existing account– just without the normal 3% cost.
Oh, and is complimentary to get, which also helps.
There are also some fascinating travel advantages if you select a paid strategy, but the free 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 something well, and totally free or cheaper than the competitors
include increasingly more features which your existing consumers don’t truly need or desire
include charges, restrictions or charges to the feature that made people get your item in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this process and will hopefully remain there. Revolut, monzo and curve are already in Stage 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 Frozen
It is a complimentary direct debit card to use abroad and which automatically recharges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) earn any airline miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% foreign exchange fees, then you do not require a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which offer rewards and charge 0% FX charges are couple of and far in between. The only ‘points and miles’ options which use a partial solution 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 fees and do not want to affect your credit report by getting another charge card particularly to use abroad
you desire a product which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly without any fees and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small fee beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who needs a simple, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated previously, an extremely basic procedure. You utilize 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 automatically confirms that you have enough 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. includes a 0.5% fee if you have the totally free card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no costs.
You get an automated invest notice through the app, if you pick to install it.
The money is taken from your current account a few days later on.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the journal, I chose to sprinkle out and buy 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which reveals �,� 4.33 set up to leave my HSBC account a few days later on:.
But transforming pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight 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. Do not get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Luckily over the last few years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other great cards guarantees big cost savings (85%) and a terrific app.
However I think the very best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this means is you can invest money you have in your existing current account with less stress over running out of money and the extra step. But that does not suggest it is best.
In this Currensea evaluation is the great, the bad, the unsightly 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 Vital Strategy of 0.5% per deal, enabling us to make profits from our Important Plan whilst staying much cheaper than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the totally free quantity on all our plans, complete information can be discovered on our prices strategies.
Subscription fees.
We charge an annual subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership cost also eliminates all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Each time you invest with your card we receive a small % of the transaction, known as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Currensea Card Frozen