A new fintech business which I was presented to earlier this year. Glow Card Currensea…
It has actually won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (offering you an inexpensive 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. You merely spend as you would on a typical debit card and the cash is taken from your existing account– simply without the normal 3% charge.
Oh, and is totally free to get, which also helps.
There are also some fascinating travel advantages if you pick a paid plan, but the totally free strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is a company 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 competition
include increasingly more features which your existing consumers do not really require or want
include fees, charges or restrictions 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 procedure and will hopefully remain there. Monzo, revolut and curve are already in Phase 3 …
is simple 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? Glow Card Currensea
It is a complimentary direct debit card to use abroad and which automatically charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) make any airline 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 need a card, unless you desire complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Nevertheless, credit cards which offer benefits 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 credit cards which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you do not have a charge card offering 0% FX costs and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to use abroad
you want a product which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month without any charges and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small fee beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who needs a basic, easy to understand payment card that will save them money when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said previously, a very easy 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 current account bank automatically verifies 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. includes a 0.5% fee if you have the complimentary card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no costs.
You get an automated invest notice through 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 diary, I chose to splash 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 few days later:.
Converting pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight break-in that is practically to take place (frequently in a different 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 anyhow.
Thankfully in recent years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards promises huge savings (85%) and a terrific app.
But I believe the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street checking account.
What this indicates is you can spend money you have in your existing current account with less stress over lacking money and the extra action. That does not imply it is perfect.
In this Currensea evaluation is the excellent, the bad, the ugly and the options, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Necessary Plan of 0.5% per transaction, allowing us to make profits from our Necessary Strategy whilst staying much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the complimentary quantity on all our strategies, complete details can be discovered on our prices strategies.
Subscription costs.
We charge a yearly membership fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership charge likewise gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Each time you spend with your card we get a little % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Glow Card Currensea