A new fintech company which I was introduced to earlier this year. Currensea Card Not Showing In App…
It has actually won a few awards over current months for what it does (using you a low-priced method to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is an advantage.
is, effectively, 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 invest as you would on a regular debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– simply without the usual 3% charge.
Oh, and is totally free to look for, which also assists.
There are likewise some interesting travel benefits if you choose a paid strategy, but the free plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a company design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and free of charge or less expensive than the competitors
include a growing number of features which your existing consumers do not truly desire or need
add charges, constraints 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 process and will hopefully remain there. Revolut, monzo and curve are already in Phase 3 …
is simple 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 Not Showing In App
It is a totally free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% forex charges, then you do not require a card, unless you want totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which use rewards and charge 0% FX fees are couple of and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ choices which provide a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you don’t have a charge card offering 0% FX charges and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to use abroad
you want a product which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month without any costs and only 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 anybody else in your life who needs a basic, easy to understand payment card that will save them money when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said previously, an extremely simple process. 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 immediately 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 upon the currency. adds a 0.5% fee if you have the complimentary card. There are no fees if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automatic spend notification via the app, if you choose to install it.
The money is drawn from your current account a couple of 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 shows �,� 4.33 set up to leave my HSBC account a few days later on:.
However converting pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is just about to happen (typically in a various language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion charges happening in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Fortunately in the last few years a handful of great travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other great cards promises huge savings (85%) and an excellent app.
I think the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this implies is you can invest money you have in your existing current account with less worry about lacking money and the additional action. That does not mean it is ideal.
In this Currensea evaluation is the great, the bad, the ugly 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 transaction, allowing us to make profits from our Necessary Strategy whilst remaining more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the complimentary quantity on all our plans, complete details can be found on our pricing strategies.
Subscription costs.
We charge an annual subscription fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription charge also eliminates all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you spend with your card we get a little % of the deal, called interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Currensea Card Not Showing In App