A new fintech company which I was introduced to earlier this year. Currensea Card In Mauritius…
It has actually won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (using you an affordable method to spend abroad) however what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good thing.
is, efficiently, 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– simply without the normal 3% fee.
Oh, and is free to look for, which also assists.
There are also some interesting travel advantages if you select a paid plan, however the free strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is a company design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and totally free or more affordable than the competition
add increasingly more features which your existing clients don’t really require or want
add fees, limitations or charges to the function that made individuals get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this procedure and will hopefully stay there. Revolut, monzo and curve are already in Phase 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the bar in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Card In Mauritius
It is a totally free direct debit card to use abroad and which instantly charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) make any airline company miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% foreign exchange fees, then you do not require a card, unless you desire complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which offer rewards and charge 0% FX charges are few and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ options which offer a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards 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 credit card specifically to use abroad
you want an item which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month with no fees and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a small fee beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who requires a simple, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when taking a trip.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a very simple process. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, worldwide).
Your bank account bank immediately confirms 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 on the currency. If you have the complimentary card, adds a 0.5% cost. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no costs.
You get an automated invest alert via the app, if you pick to install it.
The cash is taken from your bank account a few days later.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, I decided to sprinkle out and buy 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:.
Converting pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime robbery that is almost to occur (often in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion charges occurring in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Thankfully over the last few years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards promises huge savings (85%) and a terrific app.
But I think the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this indicates is you can invest cash you have in your existing current account with less worry about running out of cash and the extra action. However that does not imply it is ideal.
In this Currensea evaluation is the good, the bad, the unsightly and the options, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Important Plan of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make income from our Necessary Plan whilst remaining more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the totally free quantity on all our plans, complete details can be discovered on our prices plans.
Membership fees.
We charge a yearly subscription cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription charge likewise gets rid of all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Each time you invest with your card we receive a little % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Currensea Card In Mauritius