A new fintech business which I was presented to previously this year. Is Currensea Card Accepted At 3 Mobile…
It has won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (providing you an affordable method to spend abroad) however what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is an advantage.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits in between you and your existing bank account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You just spend as you would on a typical debit card and the cash is drawn from your current account– just without the normal 3% fee.
Oh, and is complimentary to apply for, which likewise assists.
There are likewise some fascinating travel advantages if you pick a paid strategy, but the free strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is a business model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and for free or cheaper than the competitors
include a growing number of functions which your existing consumers don’t really want or need
add restrictions, fees or charges to the feature that made people get your product in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this procedure and will hopefully remain there. Revolut, curve and monzo are currently in Phase 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you describe it to your mate in the bar in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Is Currensea Card Accepted At 3 Mobile
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange costs, then you do not require a card, unless you desire complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which offer rewards and charge 0% FX costs are few and far in between. The only ‘miles and points’ options which use a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps 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 credit card specifically to use abroad
you desire a product which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly without any fees and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a small fee beyond �,� 500).
you desire 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 travelling.
How does work 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, internationally).
Your bank account bank instantly confirms that you have adequate cash in your account and authorises the deal.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. adds 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 automatic invest notification through the app, if you choose 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 journal, 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 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later on:.
Transforming pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime robbery that is just about to happen (frequently in a various language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion charges occurring in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Thankfully in recent years a handful of great travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards promises big savings (85%) and a great app.
But I think the very best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this suggests is you can spend cash you have in your existing bank account with less fret about running out of cash and the extra step. However that does not suggest it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the ugly and the alternatives, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Essential Plan of 0.5% per deal, enabling us to make profits from our Essential Plan whilst staying more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the complimentary quantity on all our plans, full information can be discovered on our rates plans.
Membership fees.
We charge an annual membership charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription charge likewise eliminates all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Every time you invest with your card we get a small % of the transaction, called interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Is Currensea Card Accepted At 3 Mobile