A new fintech business which I was introduced to previously this year. Does Currensea Card Work In Santorini…
It has won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (using 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 merely spend as you would on a normal debit card and the cash is taken from your present account– just without the normal 3% charge.
Oh, and is totally free to apply for, which likewise assists.
There are also some interesting travel benefits if you pick a paid strategy, however the totally free strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is a business design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and for free or less expensive than the competitors
add a growing number of features which your existing customers do not really desire or need
include fees, charges or constraints to the function that made people get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will ideally stay there. Monzo, revolut and curve are already in Stage 3 …
is easy enough that it passes my ‘Can you describe it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Does Currensea Card Work In Santorini
It is a totally free direct debit card to use abroad and which automatically charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline company miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% forex costs, then you don’t require a card, unless you desire free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
However, charge card which offer rewards and charge 0% FX charges are few and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ alternatives which offer a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you do not have a credit card offering 0% FX costs and do not wish to impact your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to utilize abroad
you want a product which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month with no fees and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a small cost beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, 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, an extremely easy process. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, internationally).
Your current account bank immediately verifies that you have adequate cash in your account and authorises the transaction.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. adds a 0.5% cost if you have the totally free card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no fees.
You get an automated invest notification via the app, if you select to install it.
The money is taken from your current 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 reveals �,� 4.33 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a few days later on:.
Converting pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime robbery that is just about to happen (typically in a various language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion charges taking place in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In current years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards Currensea guarantees big savings (85%) and an excellent app.
I believe the finest bit may be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this means is you can invest cash you have in your existing bank account with less worry about lacking cash and the additional action. But that does not suggest it is best.
In this Currensea review is the excellent, the bad, the ugly and the alternatives, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Necessary Plan of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make income from our Vital Plan whilst staying much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the free quantity on all our strategies, complete information can be discovered on our pricing strategies.
Subscription charges.
We charge an annual membership cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership cost also removes all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Every time you spend 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. Does Currensea Card Work In Santorini