A new fintech business which I was presented to previously this year. Currensea Card Order For Free…
It has actually won a few awards over recent months for what it does (using you an affordable method to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is an advantage.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. You just invest as you would on a regular debit card and the money is taken from your current account– just without the usual 3% charge.
Oh, and is complimentary to make an application for, which also assists.
There are also some fascinating travel benefits if you select a paid plan, however the free plan works fine. You can use here.
There is a service design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and totally free or less expensive than the competition
add more and more features which your existing clients don’t actually want or need
add charges, limitations or charges to the feature that made people get your product in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this process and will hopefully stay there. Revolut, monzo and curve are currently in Stage 3 …
is easy enough that it passes my ‘Can you describe it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Card Order For Free
It is a totally free direct debit card to use abroad and which automatically recharges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) earn any airline 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 don’t need a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which use benefits and charge 0% FX charges are few and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ options which use a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you do not have a charge card offering 0% FX charges and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to utilize abroad
you want an item which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month with no charges and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small charge beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anybody else in your life who requires an easy, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a very easy 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 current account bank instantly verifies that you have enough cash 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 totally free card, adds a 0.5% fee. There are no fees if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automatic spend notice through 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 journal, I decided to splash out and purchase 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which shows �,� 4.33 scheduled 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 daylight break-in that is practically to happen (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion charges taking place in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
In recent years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards Currensea guarantees big cost savings (85%) and a fantastic app.
But I think the best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this implies is you can spend cash you have in your existing current account with less worry about lacking cash and the additional action. That does not suggest it is best.
In this Currensea evaluation is the good, 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 Essential Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, permitting us to make income from our Necessary Plan whilst staying much cheaper than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the complimentary amount on all our plans, complete information can be found on our rates plans.
Subscription fees.
We charge an annual membership charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership fee also removes all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Each time you spend with your card we get a small % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be charged to you. Currensea Card Order For Free