A brand-new fintech company which I was introduced to previously this year. Currensea Card Tfl…
It has actually won a few awards over recent months for what it does (providing you a low-cost method to spend abroad) however what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is an advantage.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. You merely invest as you would on a typical debit card and the money is taken from your existing account– just without the normal 3% charge.
Oh, and is free to apply for, which also assists.
There are likewise some intriguing travel advantages if you select a paid strategy, however the free strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is a service design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and for free or less expensive than the competitors
include increasingly more features which your existing clients do not actually need or desire
include fees, charges or restrictions to the function that made individuals get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this process and will ideally stay there. Curve, monzo and revolut are already in Stage 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Card Tfl
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) earn 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 need a card, unless you desire complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
However, credit cards which use benefits and charge 0% FX charges are scarce. The only ‘miles and points’ choices which provide 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 credit card offering 0% FX costs and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to use abroad
you desire an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly without any costs and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little fee beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, partner or anybody else in your life who requires an easy, easy to understand payment card that will save them money when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, a very basic process. 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 bank account bank automatically confirms that you have adequate money in your account and authorises the transaction.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. includes a 0.5% cost if you have the free card. There are no charges if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automated spend notice through the app, if you pick to install it.
The money is taken from your current account a couple of days later on.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, I chose to sprinkle out and buy 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which reveals �,� 4.33 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a few days later:.
However converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight break-in that is almost to take place (typically in a various language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion costs occurring in the background. Do not get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Luckily in the last few years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards guarantees huge cost savings (85%) and a fantastic app.
I think the finest bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this means is you can invest money you have in your existing current account with less fret about running out of cash and the extra action. But that does not imply it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the awful 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, enabling us to make profits from our Vital Strategy whilst remaining much cheaper than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the totally free amount on all our strategies, full information can be found on our rates plans.
Membership fees.
We charge a yearly subscription cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription charge also gets rid of all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Every time you invest with your card we receive a small % of the transaction, called interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Currensea Card Tfl