A brand-new fintech business which I was introduced to previously this year. Currensea Found Lost Card…
It has actually won a few awards over current months for what it does (providing you an affordable method to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is an advantage.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. You merely spend as you would on a normal debit card and the money is taken from your current account– simply without the normal 3% fee.
Oh, and is complimentary to obtain, which also helps.
There are also some fascinating travel advantages if you select a paid strategy, but the free strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is a business design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and free of charge or cheaper than the competitors
add more and more features which your existing customers don’t really need or desire
include fees, charges or limitations to the function that made people get your item in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this process and will ideally remain there. Monzo, revolut and curve are already in Stage 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the bar in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Found Lost Card
It is a totally 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% fee.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) make any airline miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% foreign exchange costs, then you don’t need a card, unless you want complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Nevertheless, charge card which provide rewards and charge 0% FX fees are rare. The only ‘miles and points’ choices which use a partial option 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 fees and do not wish to impact your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to use abroad
you want a product which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month without any fees and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a small cost beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who needs a simple, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when taking a trip.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I stated previously, a really basic process. You utilize 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 verifies that you have adequate money in your account and authorises the deal.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. adds a 0.5% fee if you have the complimentary card. There are no fees if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automated spend notice through the app, if you select to install it.
The cash is drawn from your bank account a few days later.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the journal, I decided to splash out and purchase 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which shows �,� 4.33 set up to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later:.
Converting pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight burglary that is practically to happen (frequently in a various language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion charges taking place in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Fortunately recently a handful of excellent travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other great cards guarantees huge cost savings (85%) and an excellent app.
I think the finest bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this means is you can invest money you have in your existing current account with less worry about running out of money and the additional step. However that does not mean it is perfect.
In this Currensea evaluation is the great, the bad, the ugly and the alternatives, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Vital Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, permitting us to make income from our Necessary Strategy whilst remaining more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the totally free quantity on all our strategies, full details can be discovered on our prices strategies.
Subscription fees.
We charge an annual membership charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership cost likewise gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Each time you invest with your card we receive a little % of the deal, called interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be charged to you. Currensea Found Lost Card