A brand-new fintech company which I was presented to previously this year. Currensea Vs Debit Card…
It has won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (offering you a low-cost way to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is a good thing.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits between you and your existing current account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You simply invest as you would on a typical debit card and the money is taken from your current account– simply without the typical 3% cost.
Oh, and is complimentary to request, which likewise helps.
There are also some interesting travel advantages if you select a paid strategy, but the complimentary strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is a company design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and totally free or more affordable than the competitors
add a growing number of features which your existing customers do not actually require or desire
include charges, limitations or charges to the feature that made individuals get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this procedure and will ideally remain there. Revolut, monzo and curve are already in Phase 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Vs Debit Card
It is a free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which instantly recharges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) earn 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 fees, then you do not need a card, unless you want complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
However, charge card which provide rewards and charge 0% FX costs are rare. The only ‘points and miles’ choices which provide a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX costs and do not wish to impact your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to use abroad
you desire an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month with no fees and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a small fee beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who needs an easy, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when travelling.
How does work 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 regional currency (any currency, globally).
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. includes a 0.5% fee if you have the free card. There are no charges if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automatic spend notification through the app, if you select to install it.
The cash is taken from your current account a few days later on.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, I chose to sprinkle out and buy 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:.
But transforming pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime burglary that is almost to happen (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion fees happening in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Thankfully over the last few years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards promises big cost savings (85%) and an excellent app.
But I think the very best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street savings account.
What this suggests is you can invest money you have in your existing bank account with less worry about lacking money and the extra step. But that does not mean it is best.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the ugly and the alternatives, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Essential Strategy of 0.5% per deal, enabling us to make profits from our Important Plan whilst staying much cheaper than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the complimentary amount on all our plans, complete information can be discovered on our pricing strategies.
Subscription costs.
We charge a yearly subscription fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership cost also gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Every time you spend with your card we receive a little % of the deal, referred to as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Currensea Vs Debit Card