A new fintech company which I was introduced to previously this year. Currensea Card Travel…
It has won a few awards over recent months for what it does (providing you a low-cost way to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is an advantage.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits in between you and your existing current account. There is nothing to top-up or prepay. You merely invest as you would on a typical debit card and the money is drawn from your bank account– simply without the normal 3% cost.
Oh, and is complimentary to apply for, which likewise assists.
There are likewise some interesting travel advantages if you pick a paid strategy, but the totally free plan works fine. You can use here.
There is an organization model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and totally free or more affordable than the competition
add increasingly more features which your existing clients don’t really desire or need
add charges, charges or limitations to the function that made people get your item in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this procedure and will hopefully stay there. Revolut, curve and monzo 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 Travel
It is a free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately recharges 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 wish to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange costs, then you don’t need a card, unless you desire totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
However, credit cards which provide rewards and charge 0% FX charges are scarce. The only ‘points and miles’ alternatives which provide a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you don’t have a charge card offering 0% FX fees and do not want to affect your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to utilize abroad
you desire an item which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly without any charges and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a little fee beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, partner or anybody else in your life who needs a simple, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, a really 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 immediately verifies that you have enough money 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 free card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no fees.
You get an automatic spend notice by means of the app, if you select to install it.
The money is taken from your bank account a couple of days later on.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the journal, I chose to splash out and buy 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:.
However converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime burglary that is almost to take place (typically in a various language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion charges occurring in the background. Do not get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
In current years a handful of great travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other great cards Currensea promises huge cost savings (85%) and a terrific app.
I think the finest bit may be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this means is you can spend money you have in your existing current account with less fret about lacking money and the additional step. However that does not suggest it is ideal.
In this Currensea evaluation is the great, the bad, the unsightly and the options, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Essential Strategy of 0.5% per deal, allowing us to make income from our Vital 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 amount on all our strategies, full details can be discovered on our pricing strategies.
Membership charges.
We charge an annual membership fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription fee also eliminates all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Each time you invest with your card we receive a small % of the transaction, referred to as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Currensea Card Travel