A new fintech business which I was introduced to previously this year. Currensea Pay Credit Card…
It has actually won a few awards over current months for what it does (using you an affordable method to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is basic 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 merely invest as you would on a normal debit card and the money is drawn from your bank account– just without the typical 3% fee.
Oh, and is complimentary to make an application for, which also helps.
There are likewise some interesting travel benefits if you select a paid strategy, but the complimentary 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 one thing well, and free of charge or cheaper than the competitors
include more and more functions which your existing customers don’t really require or want
include charges, constraints or costs to the function that made individuals get your item in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this process and will ideally remain there. Revolut, monzo and curve are currently in Phase 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Pay Credit Card
It is a totally free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) earn any airline company miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% foreign exchange fees, then you don’t require a card, unless you want totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Nevertheless, charge card which use rewards and charge 0% FX costs are few and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ alternatives which use a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX charges in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX fees and do not want to affect your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to use abroad
you desire an item which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month without any costs and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who needs a simple, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a very simple procedure. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, internationally).
Your current account bank immediately confirms that you have adequate 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. adds a 0.5% charge if you have the free card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no charges.
You get an automated spend notice through 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. With no 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:.
Transforming pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is practically to happen (often in a various language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion costs occurring in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Thankfully in the last few years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards promises huge cost savings (85%) and a terrific app.
I think the finest bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this indicates is you can spend cash you have in your existing current account with less stress over lacking cash and the extra step. That does not indicate it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the excellent, the bad, the unsightly and the options, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Necessary Plan of 0.5% per deal, allowing us to make income from our Vital Plan whilst remaining much cheaper than other prepaid 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 plans.
Subscription costs.
We charge an annual membership charge 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 get a little % of the transaction, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be credited you. Currensea Pay Credit Card