A new fintech company which I was presented to earlier this year. Currensea Card Standard…
It has actually won a few awards over current months for what it does (offering you an affordable way to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is a good thing.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. You simply spend as you would on a typical debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– simply without the usual 3% fee.
Oh, and is free to apply for, which likewise assists.
There are likewise some intriguing travel benefits if you pick a paid strategy, however the totally free plan works fine. You can use here.
There is a service design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and for free or less expensive than the competitors
add more and more features which your existing clients do not really require or desire
add fees, restrictions or charges to the function that made individuals get your item in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will hopefully remain there. Curve, monzo and revolut are already in Phase 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Card Standard
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which instantly charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline company miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% forex costs, then you don’t need a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which provide rewards and charge 0% FX fees are few and far in between. The only ‘miles and points’ options which provide a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you do not have a credit card offering 0% FX charges and do not want to affect your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to use abroad
you desire an item which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month without any charges and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anybody else in your life who needs a basic, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a really basic process. You utilize 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 instantly verifies 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 on the currency. adds a 0.5% fee if you have the free card. There are no charges if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automated spend notice by means of the app, if you choose to install it.
The money is drawn from your current account a few days later.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the journal, I decided to splash out and buy 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which shows �,� 4.33 arranged to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later on:.
Transforming pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is almost to happen (often in a various language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion costs taking place in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Fortunately over the last few years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards promises big cost savings (85%) and an excellent app.
However I think the very best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street savings account.
What this suggests is you can invest cash you have in your existing current account with less stress over running out of cash and the additional action. But that does not suggest it is best.
In this Currensea evaluation is the excellent, the bad, the ugly and the options, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Essential Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, permitting us to make income from our Necessary Plan whilst remaining more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the free quantity on all our plans, complete details can be found on our prices plans.
Membership charges.
We charge a yearly membership cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership fee likewise gets rid of all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Every time you spend with your card we receive a small % of the deal, referred to as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be credited you. Currensea Card Standard