A new fintech company which I was introduced to previously this year. Currensea Card In Australia…
It has won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (using you a low-cost method to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is a good idea.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. You just invest as you would on a typical debit card and the money is taken from your current account– just without the usual 3% fee.
Oh, and is totally free to make an application for, which likewise assists.
There are likewise some interesting travel benefits if you select a paid plan, however the free plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is an organization model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and free of charge or more affordable than the competition
add increasingly more functions which your existing clients don’t actually require or want
add costs, charges or constraints 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 ideally remain there. Curve, Revolut and Monzo are currently in Stage 3 …
is simple 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 In Australia
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 little 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange costs, then you do not need a card, unless you desire free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which provide benefits and charge 0% FX fees are few and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ alternatives which use a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS potentially 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 credit card particularly to utilize abroad
you desire an item which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month with no costs and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small cost beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who requires an easy, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when taking a trip.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said previously, a really easy procedure. 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 current account bank instantly confirms that you have adequate money 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% cost if you have the free card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no charges.
You get an automatic invest notice through the app, if you pick to install it.
The money is drawn from your current account a few days later on.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, 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 arranged to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later:.
But converting pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is just about to occur (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion fees happening in the background. Do not get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In recent years a handful of great travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other great cards Currensea guarantees huge cost savings (85%) and a terrific app.
However I believe the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this suggests is you can invest money you have in your existing bank account with less stress over running out of cash and the extra action. However that does not imply it is best.
In this Currensea review is the good, the bad, the ugly and the alternatives, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Important Plan of 0.5% per deal, enabling us to make income from our Essential Plan whilst remaining much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the free quantity on all our strategies, full details can be found on our rates plans.
Membership fees.
We charge a yearly membership cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership charge likewise removes all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Each time you invest with your card we get a small % of the transaction, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Currensea Card In Australia