A brand-new fintech company which I was presented to earlier this year. Currensea Cost For Physical Card…
It has won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (using you a low-priced method to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good idea.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits between you and your existing bank account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You simply invest as you would on a regular debit card and the cash is drawn from your bank account– simply without the usual 3% fee.
Oh, and is complimentary to get, which likewise helps.
There are also some fascinating travel advantages if you choose a paid plan, but 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 competition
include increasingly more features which your existing consumers don’t actually want or require
add charges, costs or limitations to the feature that made people get your product in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this process and will ideally remain there. Revolut, monzo and curve are currently 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 Cost For Physical Card
It is a free direct debit card to use abroad and which immediately charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% cost.
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 credit card offering 0% forex charges, then you do not need a card, unless you desire totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
However, credit cards which offer rewards and charge 0% FX charges are rare. The only ‘points and miles’ options which provide a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX charges in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you do not have a charge card offering 0% FX costs and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another charge card particularly to use abroad
you desire an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month with no charges and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a little fee beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anybody else in your life who requires a simple, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated previously, a really basic 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 current account bank instantly confirms that you have sufficient 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% charge if you have the complimentary card. There are no fees if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automated spend notification by means of the app, if you select to install it.
The money is taken from your bank account a few days later.
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:.
Converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is almost to occur (typically in a various language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion fees happening in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Luckily over the last few years a handful of great travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards guarantees big cost savings (85%) and a terrific app.
I think the finest bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this suggests is you can invest money you have in your existing current account with less worry about running out of money and the additional action. That does not imply it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the great, 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 nominal FX markup on our Vital Plan of 0.5% per deal, enabling us to make income from our Essential Plan whilst remaining much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the complimentary amount on all our strategies, full information can be found on our prices strategies.
Membership fees.
We charge a yearly membership cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription charge also eliminates all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Each time you invest with your card we get a little % of the deal, referred to as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Currensea Cost For Physical Card