A brand-new fintech company which I was presented to earlier this year. Currensea Card Malaysia…
It has actually won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (offering you a low-priced method to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is an advantage.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits in between you and your existing bank account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You simply spend as you would on a typical debit card and the cash is taken from your bank account– just without the typical 3% fee.
Oh, and is complimentary to apply for, which likewise helps.
There are also some fascinating travel benefits if you select a paid strategy, but the complimentary strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is an organization model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and totally free or less expensive than the competitors
add increasingly more functions which your existing customers do not truly require or want
include fees, limitations or charges to the function that made people get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will ideally stay there. Monzo, curve and revolut are already in Stage 3 …
is easy enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the bar in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Card Malaysia
It is a totally free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which instantly charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% fee.
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 charge card offering 0% foreign exchange costs, then you don’t require a card, unless you desire totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Nevertheless, credit cards which use rewards and charge 0% FX costs are rare. The only ‘points and miles’ choices which offer a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX charges in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you don’t have a charge card offering 0% FX fees and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to utilize abroad
you desire an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month with no charges and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who requires an easy, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when taking a trip.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I stated previously, a very simple procedure. You use 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 immediately validates that you have adequate money 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% charge. There are no fees if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automatic invest notification via the app, if you select to install it.
The money is taken from your bank account a few days later.
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 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a few days later on:.
But converting pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime robbery that is just about to occur (often in a different language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion charges taking place in the background. Do not get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Luckily in the last few years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other great cards promises big savings (85%) and a fantastic app.
I think the finest bit may be what no other card does: connects 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 lacking cash and the additional step. But that does not mean it is ideal.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the ugly and the alternatives, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Necessary Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, allowing us to make income from our Important 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 complimentary amount on all our plans, complete details can be found on our pricing plans.
Membership costs.
We charge a yearly membership cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription charge likewise gets rid of all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest with your card we get a small % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be charged to you. Currensea Card Malaysia