A new fintech business which I was presented to previously this year. How To Get Currensea Credit Card…
It has won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (using you an inexpensive method to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good idea.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits between you and your existing current account. There is nothing to top-up or prepay. You merely invest as you would on a normal debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– simply without the normal 3% charge.
Oh, and is complimentary to obtain, which likewise helps.
There are also some intriguing travel advantages if you pick a paid plan, however the free plan works fine. You can use here.
There is a service model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and totally free or cheaper than the competition
include increasingly more features which your existing clients don’t actually need or desire
include fees, constraints or charges to the function that made people get your product in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this process and will hopefully remain there. Revolut, monzo and curve are already in Stage 3 …
is easy enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? How To Get Currensea Credit Card
It is a totally free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which automatically charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) earn any airline miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange costs, then you do not require a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Nevertheless, credit cards which offer rewards and charge 0% FX charges are few and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ options which offer a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you don’t have a charge card offering 0% FX charges and do not wish to impact your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to utilize abroad
you want an item which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly without any costs and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who requires a simple, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when taking a trip.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a really easy procedure. You utilize 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 verifies that you have adequate cash in your account and authorises the deal.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. adds a 0.5% fee if you have the complimentary card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no charges.
You get an automatic spend alert through the app, if you select to install it.
The money is drawn from your bank account a few days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the journal, I decided to splash out and purchase 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 couple of days later:.
Transforming pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is practically to occur (frequently in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion charges happening in the background. Do not get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In recent years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other great cards Currensea promises huge savings (85%) and an excellent app.
I think the finest bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this indicates is you can spend money you have in your existing bank account with less worry about lacking money and the extra step. That does not imply it is ideal.
In this Currensea evaluation is the great, the bad, the awful 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 deal, allowing us to make profits from our Essential Strategy whilst remaining more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the complimentary quantity on all our plans, full details can be discovered on our rates plans.
Membership costs.
We charge an annual membership fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription cost also removes all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Each time you spend with your card we receive a little % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be credited you. How To Get Currensea Credit Card