A new fintech company which I was presented to earlier this year. How Do You Top Up Your Currensea Card…
It has won a few awards over recent months for what it does (using you a low-priced way to spend abroad) however what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is a good thing.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. You simply invest as you would on a regular debit card and the money is taken from your existing account– simply without the usual 3% fee.
Oh, and is complimentary to apply for, which also assists.
There are also some fascinating travel advantages if you pick a paid plan, however the free strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is a business model 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 a growing number of functions which your existing consumers do not really want or require
include charges, charges or limitations to the feature that made people get your product in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this process and will ideally stay there. Revolut, curve and monzo are currently in Phase 3 …
is basic 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 Do You Top Up Your Currensea Card
It is a complimentary 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 don’t (yet …) make any airline miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% forex fees, then you do not need a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which provide benefits and charge 0% FX costs are few and far in between. The only ‘points and miles’ options which provide a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX charges and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to utilize abroad
you want a product which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month without any fees and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little charge beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who needs an easy, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated previously, a really basic process. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, worldwide).
Your current account bank instantly verifies that you have adequate money in your account and authorises the transaction.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. includes a 0.5% cost if you have the complimentary card. There are no fees if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automated invest notice through the app, if you pick to install it.
The money is taken from your bank account a couple of days later on.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the journal, I decided to splash out and buy 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which shows �,� 4.33 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a few days later:.
However converting pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight burglary that is just about to take place (often in a different language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion charges occurring in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Thankfully recently a handful of great travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards promises big cost savings (85%) and a fantastic app.
I think the finest bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this implies is you can invest cash you have in your existing bank account with less worry about lacking cash and the extra action. However that does not indicate it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the good, the bad, the awful 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 Vital Plan of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make income from our Necessary Strategy whilst remaining much cheaper than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the free quantity on all our plans, complete details can be discovered on our prices plans.
Membership costs.
We charge a yearly membership cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership fee also gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Every time you spend with your card we receive a small % of the deal, called interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be credited you. How Do You Top Up Your Currensea Card