A brand-new fintech business which I was presented to previously this year. Currensea Card Online…
It has won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (offering you a low-priced way to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good idea.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. You merely spend as you would on a typical debit card and the money is taken from your existing account– just without the typical 3% charge.
Oh, and is totally free to make an application for, which also helps.
There are also some interesting travel advantages if you pick a paid strategy, but the totally free strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is a company model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and free of charge or more affordable than the competition
include a growing number of functions which your existing clients don’t actually require or want
add constraints, charges or fees to the feature that made individuals get your product in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this procedure and will hopefully remain there. Monzo, revolut and curve are currently in Phase 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 Online
It is a complimentary direct debit card to use abroad and which immediately charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) make any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange charges, then you do not require a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which offer rewards and charge 0% FX fees are couple of and far in between. The only ‘miles and points’ options which provide a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you do not have a credit card offering 0% FX fees and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to use abroad
you desire a product which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month without any charges and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a little fee beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who needs a simple, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated previously, a very easy 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 instantly validates that you have sufficient cash in your account and authorises the deal.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. If you have the complimentary card, includes a 0.5% fee. There are no costs if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automated invest notification via the app, if you pick to install it.
The money is drawn from your bank 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:.
Transforming pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is just about to occur (frequently in a different language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion fees happening in the background. Do not get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Luckily in recent years a handful of great travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards guarantees big cost savings (85%) and a terrific app.
I think the finest bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this implies is you can spend money you have in your existing bank account with less stress over lacking money and the additional action. That does not mean it is best.
In this Currensea evaluation is the good, the bad, the unsightly and the options, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Important Plan of 0.5% per transaction, allowing us to make earnings from our Essential Strategy whilst staying much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the complimentary quantity on all our plans, full information can be found on our pricing strategies.
Membership costs.
We charge a yearly subscription fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership fee also removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Each time you spend with your card we get a little % of the transaction, called interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be credited you. Currensea Card Online