A new fintech business which I was introduced to earlier this year. How Currensea Cash Card Works…
It has won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (using you a low-priced way to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good idea.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. You just invest as you would on a normal debit card and the money is taken from your present account– simply without the typical 3% charge.
Oh, and is totally free to apply for, which likewise helps.
There are also some interesting travel benefits if you select a paid strategy, but the complimentary strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is a company model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and for free or cheaper than the competitors
add a growing number of features which your existing customers don’t truly require or desire
include charges, limitations or charges to the function that made individuals get your item in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will ideally remain there. Monzo, revolut and curve are already in Phase 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you describe it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? How Currensea Cash Card Works
It is a 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% cost.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) make any airline miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% forex charges, then you don’t require a card, unless you want totally free 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’ alternatives which offer a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX charges in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX costs and do not wish to impact 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 per month without any costs and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little charge beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who requires a simple, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, a very simple procedure. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, globally).
Your current account bank immediately validates 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 upon the currency. If you have the complimentary card, includes a 0.5% fee. There are no costs if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automatic spend alert via the app, if you pick to install it.
The cash is drawn from your current account a couple of days later on.
Here is an example. Without any 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 arranged to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later on:.
However converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime robbery that is almost to occur (often in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion fees occurring in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Thankfully in the last few years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards guarantees huge savings (85%) and a great app.
However I think the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street savings account.
What this implies is you can spend cash you have in your existing current account with less worry about lacking cash and the extra action. That does not imply it is perfect.
In this Currensea evaluation is the great, the bad, the unsightly and the options, so that you can decide.
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, allowing us to make revenue from our Necessary Plan whilst staying more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the totally free amount on all our plans, full details can be discovered on our prices plans.
Subscription fees.
We charge an annual subscription cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription charge also gets rid of all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Whenever you spend with your card we receive a little % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be charged to you. How Currensea Cash Card Works