A brand-new fintech company which I was introduced to previously this year. Currensea Card Joint Account…
It has won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (using you an inexpensive method to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good thing.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits between you and your existing current account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You just spend as you would on a normal debit card and the cash is drawn from your bank account– simply without the typical 3% cost.
Oh, and is complimentary to request, which likewise helps.
There are likewise some intriguing travel benefits if you choose a paid strategy, but the totally free strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is an organization model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and for free or more affordable than the competition
add more and more features which your existing clients don’t actually require or desire
include charges, charges or restrictions to the feature that made individuals get your item in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will ideally remain 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 club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Card Joint Account
It is a free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which automatically charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% foreign exchange fees, then you do not need a card, unless you desire free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
However, credit cards which provide rewards and charge 0% FX fees are few and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ options which use a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX charges and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to utilize abroad
you want a product which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month with no costs and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a little charge beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who requires 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, a really 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 instantly verifies that you have enough cash in your account and authorises the deal.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. If you have the complimentary card, includes a 0.5% cost. There are no costs if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automated spend notification through the app, if you choose to install it.
The money is drawn from your current account a few days later on.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, I decided to splash 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:.
But transforming pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime burglary that is practically to occur (often in a different language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion fees taking place in the background. Do not get me started. Anyway 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 terrific cards Currensea guarantees huge cost savings (85%) and an excellent 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 cash you have in your existing bank account with less worry about running out of cash and the additional action. However that does not indicate it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the excellent, the bad, the unsightly and the alternatives, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Necessary Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, permitting us to make income from our Necessary Plan whilst remaining more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the totally free amount on all our strategies, full information can be found on our prices plans.
Subscription charges.
We charge a yearly membership cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription fee likewise eliminates all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Every time you invest with your card we receive a little % of the transaction, called interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Currensea Card Joint Account