A new fintech business which I was presented to earlier this year. Currensea Card Shares…
It has won a few awards over current months for what it does (providing you a low-priced way to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good idea.
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 invest as you would on a typical debit card and the cash is drawn from your current account– simply without the usual 3% charge.
Oh, and is free to make an application for, which likewise helps.
There are likewise some intriguing travel advantages if you select a paid plan, however the totally free strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is a company model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and for free or cheaper than the competitors
include more and more functions which your existing clients don’t really want or require
add limitations, fees or charges 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 ideally remain there. Monzo, curve and revolut are already in Phase 3 …
is easy 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 Shares
It is a complimentary direct debit card to use abroad and which automatically recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) earn any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% forex fees, then you do not require a card, unless you desire free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Nevertheless, credit cards which use rewards and charge 0% FX costs are few and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ options which provide a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you do not have a charge card offering 0% FX costs and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to use abroad
you want an item which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month without any fees and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small fee beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who needs a basic, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a very easy process. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local 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 charges if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automated spend notice via the app, if you select to install it.
The money is drawn from your bank account a few days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the journal, I chose 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 on:.
But converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight burglary that is just about to occur (typically in a various language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion fees occurring in the background. Do not get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In current years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards Currensea assures huge savings (85%) and an excellent app.
I believe the finest bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this indicates is you can invest money you have in your existing bank account with less stress over lacking money and the extra action. However that does not indicate it is best.
In this Currensea evaluation is the good, 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 small FX markup on our Vital Strategy of 0.5% per deal, enabling us to make income from our Necessary Strategy whilst staying much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the complimentary amount on all our plans, complete details can be found on our prices plans.
Subscription costs.
We charge an annual membership cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription cost also gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you spend with your card we get a small % of the transaction, referred to as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Currensea Card Shares