A new fintech business which I was introduced to earlier this year. How Can I Use Currensea Card…
It has won a few awards over recent months for what it does (using you a low-cost method to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is a good idea.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. You simply invest as you would on a typical debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– simply without the normal 3% fee.
Oh, and is complimentary to apply for, which likewise assists.
There are also some interesting travel advantages if you choose 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 for free or more affordable than the competitors
include more and more features which your existing consumers don’t actually need or want
add constraints, fees or charges to the feature that made people get your product in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this process and will hopefully remain there. Revolut, curve and monzo are currently in Phase 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the bar in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? How Can I Use Currensea Card
It is a free direct debit card to use abroad and which immediately charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) make any airline miles or points for using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% forex charges, then you do not require a card, unless you want complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Nevertheless, credit cards which offer rewards and charge 0% FX costs are few and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ options which use a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX charges 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 affect your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to use abroad
you desire a product which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month with no costs and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who needs an easy, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when taking a trip.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, a very simple 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 instantly confirms that you have enough cash in your account and authorises the transaction.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. If you have the complimentary card, adds a 0.5% fee. There are no costs if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automated spend alert by means of the app, if you pick to install it.
The money is taken from your current account a few days later on.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, I decided to splash out and buy 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which reveals �,� 4.33 arranged to leave my HSBC account a few days later on:.
But transforming pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is just about to occur (frequently in a various language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion costs happening in the background. Do not get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In current years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards Currensea promises huge cost savings (85%) and an excellent app.
I think the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this indicates is you can spend cash you have in your existing current account with less worry about lacking cash and the additional action. However that does not suggest it is best.
In this Currensea evaluation is the great, the bad, the unsightly 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 Essential Strategy of 0.5% per deal, enabling us to make income from our Important Plan 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 quantity on all our plans, complete information can be discovered on our rates plans.
Membership charges.
We charge a yearly membership fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription cost likewise removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Every time you invest with your card we get a small % of the deal, called interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be charged to you. How Can I Use Currensea Card