A brand-new fintech company which I was introduced to previously this year. Currensea Online Card…
It has actually won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (using you an inexpensive method to spend abroad) however 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 current account. There is nothing to top-up or prepay. You just spend as you would on a regular debit card and the cash is drawn from your bank account– just without the normal 3% fee.
Oh, and is complimentary to request, which also assists.
There are likewise some interesting travel benefits if you select a paid plan, however the totally free strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is a business model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and free of charge or cheaper than the competition
include more and more features which your existing customers don’t really desire or need
add limitations, charges or charges to the function that made individuals get your product in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this process and will hopefully stay there. Revolut, curve and monzo are already in Stage 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you describe it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Online Card
It is a free direct debit card to use abroad and which instantly recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) make any airline miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% forex charges, then you do not require a card, unless you desire free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which use rewards and charge 0% FX charges are couple of and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ options which offer a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you don’t have a charge card offering 0% FX costs and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to utilize abroad
you desire an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly with no costs and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a small charge beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who requires a simple, easy to understand payment card that will save them money when taking a trip.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a very basic procedure. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, internationally).
Your current account bank immediately verifies that you have enough cash in your account and authorises the deal.
The transaction 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. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no costs.
You get an automated spend notification through the app, if you choose to install it.
The money is taken from your bank account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, I decided to splash out and buy 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which shows �,� 4.33 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a few days later:.
Transforming pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime robbery that is almost to happen (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion costs taking place in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
In recent years a handful of great travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards Currensea assures big savings (85%) and an excellent app.
However I believe the very best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street savings account.
What this means is you can spend money you have in your existing current account with less worry about running out of money and the additional step. But that does not suggest it is best.
In this Currensea review is the excellent, the bad, the unsightly and the alternatives, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Essential Plan of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make profits from our Important Plan whilst staying much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the complimentary amount on all our strategies, full information can be discovered on our pricing strategies.
Membership fees.
We charge an annual subscription fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership charge likewise removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Every time you spend with your card we get a small % of the deal, called interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Currensea Online Card