A brand-new fintech business which I was presented to earlier this year. Currensea Card Problems Helpdesk…
It has won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (providing you an inexpensive way to spend 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. You merely spend as you would on a typical debit card and the money is taken from your current account– simply without the typical 3% fee.
Oh, and is totally free to apply for, which likewise helps.
There are also some interesting travel benefits if you choose a paid plan, but the totally free plan works fine. You can use here.
There is an organization design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and free of charge or cheaper than the competition
include a growing number of functions which your existing clients don’t really want or require
add costs, restrictions or charges to the feature that made individuals get your item in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this process and will hopefully stay there. Revolut, curve and monzo are currently in Stage 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Card Problems Helpdesk
It is a complimentary direct debit card to use abroad and which automatically recharges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% forex charges, then you don’t require a card, unless you want totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
However, credit cards which provide benefits and charge 0% FX fees are few and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ options which use a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards 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 wish to impact your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to use abroad
you want a product which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly without any fees and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little charge beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who needs a basic, easy to understand payment card that will save them money when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I stated previously, an extremely basic procedure. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, internationally).
Your current account bank automatically confirms that you have adequate cash in your account and authorises the transaction.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. includes a 0.5% charge if you have the totally free card. There are no fees if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automated invest notice by means of the app, if you pick to install it.
The cash is drawn from your current account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, I chose to splash out and purchase 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 on:.
Converting pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight burglary that is just about to take place (frequently in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion charges occurring in the background. Do not get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Luckily recently a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards guarantees huge cost savings (85%) and an excellent app.
However I think the best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street savings account.
What this suggests is you can spend cash you have in your existing current account with less stress over lacking cash and the additional action. That does not suggest it is best.
In this Currensea review is the good, the bad, the awful and the alternatives, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Important Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, permitting us to make profits from our Important Strategy whilst remaining much cheaper than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the complimentary amount on all our plans, complete information can be discovered on our prices plans.
Subscription charges.
We charge a yearly membership fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership cost also eliminates all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Every time you spend with your card we get a small % of the transaction, known as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be charged to you. Currensea Card Problems Helpdesk