A new fintech company which I was introduced to earlier this year. Currensea Card Uk Abroad…
It has won a few awards over recent months for what it does (offering you an inexpensive 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 between you and your existing current account. There is nothing to top-up or prepay. You simply invest as you would on a normal debit card and the cash is drawn from your current account– just without the typical 3% cost.
Oh, and is free to get, which likewise helps.
There are also some intriguing travel advantages if you choose a paid strategy, but the free strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is a company design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and for free or cheaper than the competitors
include more and more functions which your existing clients don’t actually want or need
include charges, constraints or fees to the function that made individuals get your item in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will ideally remain there. Monzo, revolut and curve are currently in Stage 3 …
is easy enough that it passes my ‘Can you describe it to your mate in the bar in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Card Uk Abroad
It is a free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) earn any airline miles or points for using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange costs, then you don’t require a card, unless you desire complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which offer benefits and charge 0% FX costs are couple of and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ options which use a partial solution 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 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 per month without any fees and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a small cost beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who needs 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 really easy process. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, worldwide).
Your bank account bank automatically 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. If you have the free card, includes a 0.5% charge. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no charges.
You get an automatic spend notice through the app, if you select to install it.
The cash is taken from your bank account a couple of days later on.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, I decided 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 on:.
But transforming pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is just about to happen (frequently in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion charges occurring in the background. Do not get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In current years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards Currensea assures huge cost savings (85%) and a great app.
I believe the finest bit may be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this means is you can invest cash you have in your existing current account with less stress over lacking money and the extra step. However that does not indicate it is ideal.
In this Currensea evaluation is the great, the bad, the unsightly and the options, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Necessary Strategy of 0.5% per deal, allowing us to make revenue from our Vital Plan whilst staying more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the totally free amount on all our strategies, full information can be found on our pricing strategies.
Subscription charges.
We charge an annual subscription cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription cost also gets rid of all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Each time you spend with your card we receive a little % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be credited you. Currensea Card Uk Abroad