A brand-new fintech company which I was presented to earlier this year. Freeze Currensea Card…
It has actually won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (providing you an inexpensive method to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is a good idea.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits between you and your existing bank account. There is nothing to top-up or prepay. You merely spend as you would on a typical debit card and the money is taken from your current account– simply without the normal 3% cost.
Oh, and is free to make an application for, which also assists.
There are likewise some intriguing travel benefits if you choose a paid strategy, however the complimentary plan works fine. You can use here.
There is a business design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and free of charge or less expensive than the competitors
add more and more functions which your existing clients don’t actually require or want
include charges, costs or limitations to the feature that made people get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this procedure and will hopefully stay there. Curve, monzo and revolut are currently in Phase 3 …
is easy 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? Freeze Currensea Card
It is a totally free direct debit card to use abroad and which automatically charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) earn 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% foreign exchange costs, then you don’t need a card, unless you desire totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which offer benefits and charge 0% FX fees are few and far in between. The only ‘miles and points’ choices which use a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you do not have a credit card offering 0% FX fees and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to utilize abroad
you want a product which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly without any costs and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anybody else in your life who requires a simple, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a really 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, worldwide).
Your current account bank automatically confirms 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. includes a 0.5% fee if you have the complimentary card. There are no charges if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automated invest notification by means of the app, if you pick to install it.
The cash is drawn from your current account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the journal, 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:.
Transforming pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is practically to happen (often in a various language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion fees happening in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In recent years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other great cards Currensea guarantees huge cost savings (85%) and a great app.
But I think the very best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street checking account.
What this implies is you can spend money you have in your existing current account with less worry about running out of money and the extra step. However that does not indicate it is ideal.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the ugly and the options, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Essential Plan of 0.5% per transaction, allowing us to make profits 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 free amount on all our strategies, full details can be found on our pricing strategies.
Subscription fees.
We charge a yearly membership cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership charge also removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest with your card we receive a little % of the transaction, called interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be charged to you. Freeze Currensea Card