A new fintech business which I was introduced to previously this year. Currensea Top Up With Someone Else’s Card…
It has won a few awards over recent 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 an advantage.
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 simply spend as you would on a typical debit card and the cash is drawn from your bank account– simply without the normal 3% cost.
Oh, and is free to obtain, which also helps.
There are likewise some intriguing travel advantages if you pick a paid plan, however the free plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a service model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and for free or cheaper than the competitors
include increasingly more functions which your existing consumers don’t actually want or need
include charges, restrictions or charges 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 procedure and will ideally stay there. Revolut, monzo and curve are currently in Stage 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Top Up With Someone Else’s Card
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which automatically recharges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) make any airline miles or points for using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% foreign exchange costs, then you do not need a card, unless you desire totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Nevertheless, charge card which offer benefits and charge 0% FX fees are few and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ choices which provide a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you do not have a credit card offering 0% FX charges and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another charge card particularly to use abroad
you want a product which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month without any fees and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a small charge beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who needs a simple, easy to understand payment card that will save them money when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, a really basic procedure. You use 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 confirms 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 on the currency. If you have the complimentary card, adds a 0.5% fee. 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 select to install it.
The cash is drawn from your current account a few days later on.
Here is an example. With no 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 shows �,� 4.33 set up to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later:.
But transforming pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is practically to take place (often in a various language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion fees occurring in the background. Do not get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Fortunately recently a handful of terrific travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards promises huge savings (85%) and a terrific app.
I believe the finest bit may be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this means is you can spend money you have in your existing current account with less stress over lacking cash and the additional action. That does not indicate it is best.
In this Currensea evaluation is the good, the bad, the awful and the alternatives, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Important Strategy of 0.5% per deal, allowing us to make income from our Necessary Strategy whilst staying more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the free amount on all our strategies, full details can be found on our rates plans.
Membership costs.
We charge an annual membership charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription charge likewise eliminates all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Each time you spend with your card we get a small % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Currensea Top Up With Someone Else’s Card