A new fintech company which I was introduced to earlier this year. Do I Need A Physical Currensea Card To Use Abroad…
It has won a few awards over current months for what it does (offering you an inexpensive way to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is an advantage.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits in between you and your existing bank account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You simply spend as you would on a typical debit card and the cash is drawn from your current account– simply without the usual 3% cost.
Oh, and is totally free to make an application for, which also helps.
There are also some fascinating travel advantages if you select a paid strategy, but the free strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is a service design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and totally free or more affordable than the competitors
include more and more features which your existing consumers don’t actually want or need
include costs, limitations or charges to the function that made individuals get your item in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this process and will ideally stay there. Revolut, monzo and curve are currently 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? Do I Need A Physical Currensea Card To Use Abroad
It is a totally free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which instantly charges 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 charge card offering 0% foreign exchange charges, then you don’t need a card, unless you want complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Nevertheless, charge card which use benefits and charge 0% FX charges are rare. The only ‘miles and points’ options which use a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you don’t have a charge card offering 0% FX fees and do not wish to impact your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to use abroad
you want an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month without any fees and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a small cost beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who requires a simple, 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 process. 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 current account bank automatically validates 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 upon the currency. If you have the complimentary card, includes a 0.5% fee. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no charges.
You get an automated invest notice by means of the app, if you pick to install it.
The money is drawn from your bank account a couple of days later on.
Here is an example. With no 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 shows �,� 4.33 set up to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later:.
Converting pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight burglary that is almost to occur (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion charges occurring in the background. Do not get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
In recent years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards Currensea assures big savings (85%) and an excellent app.
However I believe the very best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank 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. That does not imply it is perfect.
In this Currensea evaluation is the good, the bad, the awful and the options, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Important Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make income from our Essential Plan whilst remaining more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the free quantity on all our strategies, full information can be discovered on our rates plans.
Subscription fees.
We charge an annual membership fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership charge also gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Every time you spend with your card we receive a little % of the transaction, referred to as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be credited you. Do I Need A Physical Currensea Card To Use Abroad