A brand-new fintech company which I was introduced to earlier this year. Currensea Review…
It has won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (providing you a low-priced method to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is an advantage.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. You just spend as you would on a typical debit card and the cash is taken from your present account– simply without the usual 3% charge.
Oh, and is free to get, which also assists.
There are likewise some intriguing travel advantages if you pick a paid strategy, but the complimentary plan works fine. You can use here.
There is a service design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and free of charge or more affordable than the competitors
add a growing number of features which your existing consumers don’t truly desire or require
add limitations, charges or fees to the feature that made people get your product in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this process and will hopefully stay there. Revolut, curve and monzo are already in Stage 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the bar in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Review
It is a 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 …) make any airline company miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% forex fees, then you do not require a card, unless you want totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
However, charge card which provide benefits and charge 0% FX charges are few and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ alternatives which use a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX charges and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to use abroad
you want a product which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month without any charges and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who requires an easy, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated previously, a very simple 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 bank account bank automatically validates that you have enough money in your account and authorises the deal.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. If you have the totally free card, adds a 0.5% charge. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no costs.
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 few days later on.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, I chose to sprinkle out and purchase 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which reveals �,� 4.33 arranged to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later on:.
Transforming pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is just about to occur (frequently in a various language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion costs occurring in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
In recent years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards Currensea assures huge cost savings (85%) and a terrific app.
I think the best bit may be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this suggests is you can spend cash you have in your existing bank account with less stress over running out of cash and the extra step. But that does not mean it is best.
In this Currensea evaluation is the great, the bad, the awful and the alternatives, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Essential Plan of 0.5% per transaction, permitting us to make profits from our Important Strategy whilst staying more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the totally free amount on all our plans, complete information can be found on our prices strategies.
Subscription charges.
We charge a yearly subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription cost also gets rid of all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest 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 Review