A brand-new fintech business which I was presented to previously this year. Is Currensea A Credit Card Or Debit Card…
It has won a few awards over recent months for what it does (providing you a low-cost method to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good thing.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits between you and your existing current account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You just invest as you would on a normal debit card and the money is drawn from your current account– simply without the usual 3% fee.
Oh, and is free to look for, which also helps.
There are also some fascinating travel benefits if you choose a paid strategy, but the complimentary strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is a company design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and totally free or cheaper than the competition
add increasingly more features which your existing consumers do not really need or want
add charges, limitations or charges to the function that made people get your item in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this process and will hopefully stay there. Revolut, curve and monzo are currently in Stage 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Is Currensea A Credit Card Or Debit Card
It is a complimentary direct debit card to use abroad and which instantly recharges 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 credit card offering 0% forex charges, then you don’t require a card, unless you desire totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
However, credit cards which provide benefits and charge 0% FX costs are scarce. The only ‘points and miles’ alternatives which use a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX fees and do not wish 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 monthly with no charges and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a small cost beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who requires a simple, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said previously, a really basic process. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, worldwide).
Your bank account bank immediately verifies that you have sufficient 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. adds 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 automatic invest notification by means of the app, if you choose to install it.
The money is taken from your current account a couple of days later on.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, I decided to sprinkle out and purchase 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which reveals �,� 4.33 set up to leave my HSBC account a few days later on:.
Transforming pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime burglary that is practically to occur (often in a various language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion costs occurring in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Luckily in the last few years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards promises big 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 checking account.
What this indicates is you can spend cash you have in your existing current account with less stress over lacking cash and the extra action. That does not suggest it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the ugly 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 Important Plan of 0.5% per deal, enabling us to make revenue from our Vital 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 amount on all our strategies, full information can be found on our rates strategies.
Subscription costs.
We charge a yearly membership charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription cost also eliminates all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest with your card we receive a little % of the transaction, called interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Is Currensea A Credit Card Or Debit Card