A new fintech business which I was presented to earlier this year. Currensea Vs Post Office…
It has won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (providing you an inexpensive way to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is a good idea.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. You merely invest as you would on a typical debit card and the cash is taken from your existing account– simply without the usual 3% fee.
Oh, and is free to get, which also assists.
There are likewise some intriguing travel benefits if you pick a paid strategy, however the free plan works fine. You can use here.
There is an organization model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and for free or more affordable than the competitors
include more and more functions which your existing clients don’t actually need or desire
include restrictions, fees or charges to the feature that made individuals get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this process and will ideally remain there. Revolut, monzo and curve are already in Phase 3 …
is basic 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 Vs Post Office
It is a free direct debit card to use abroad and which instantly recharges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% charge.
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% forex costs, then you do not need a card, unless you want totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
However, charge card which offer rewards and charge 0% FX charges are few and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ choices which offer a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you do not have a credit card offering 0% FX charges and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to utilize abroad
you want a product which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month without any fees and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a small charge beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who requires a basic, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, a really simple procedure. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, globally).
Your bank account bank instantly validates that you have sufficient money in your account and authorises the transaction.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. If you have the complimentary card, adds a 0.5% cost. There are no charges if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automatic spend alert by means of the app, if you choose to install it.
The money is drawn from your bank account a few days later on.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the journal, 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 set up to leave my HSBC account a few days later on:.
However converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime burglary that is just about to occur (frequently in a various language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion charges taking place in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Thankfully in recent years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other great cards assures big cost savings (85%) and a great app.
But I think the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this means is you can spend cash you have in your existing bank account with less stress over running out of money and the additional step. That does not imply it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the good, 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 small FX markup on our Important Strategy of 0.5% per deal, allowing us to make revenue from our Vital 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 discovered on our prices strategies.
Subscription charges.
We charge an annual membership fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription fee likewise gets rid of all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest with your card we receive a small % of the transaction, known as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Currensea Vs Post Office