A new fintech business which I was introduced to previously this year. Currensea Extra Card…
It has actually won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (providing you an inexpensive way to spend abroad) however what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good thing.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits in between you and your existing current account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You simply spend as you would on a normal debit card and the money is taken from your current account– just without the typical 3% fee.
Oh, and is free to request, which also helps.
There are also some intriguing travel benefits if you select a paid strategy, however the totally free strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is an organization model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have 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 consumers don’t truly want or require
include charges, costs or constraints to the feature that made people get your item in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will hopefully remain there. Revolut, monzo and curve are already in Stage 3 …
is simple 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 Extra Card
It is a free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) earn any airline miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% forex charges, then you don’t need a card, unless you want complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
However, credit cards which use rewards and charge 0% FX fees are few and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ options which provide a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX charges in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you do not have a charge card offering 0% FX charges and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to utilize abroad
you want an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month with no costs and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small charge beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who needs a simple, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when travelling.
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 local currency (any currency, globally).
Your bank account bank automatically validates that you have enough money in your account and authorises the transaction.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. If you have the complimentary card, includes a 0.5% cost. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no charges.
You get an automatic spend alert by means of the app, if you pick to install it.
The cash is taken from your current account a couple of 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 scheduled 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 robbery that is practically to occur (typically in a various language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion fees taking place in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Luckily in recent years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards promises big cost savings (85%) and a fantastic app.
I believe the best bit may be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this implies is you can spend cash you have in your existing current account with less fret about lacking cash and the extra step. However that does not imply it is best.
In this Currensea evaluation is the good, the bad, the unsightly and the options, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Important Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, allowing us to make earnings from our Necessary Plan whilst staying more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the free amount on all our strategies, complete information can be discovered on our rates strategies.
Subscription costs.
We charge an annual subscription fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership fee likewise removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you spend with your card we receive a small % of the deal, referred to as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be credited you. Currensea Extra Card